June Flashback

Where have my babies gone? A year ago, Ben got his first haircut and had his first ride in the bicycle trailer. Ben was also learning to play basketball and started to play water. His big brother finally learned to poop on the potty and started playing t-ball.

http://elcheekogordo.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html

Making A Run For The Border

The family took a mini-vacation this weekend. Mini as in less than 24 hours. The first stop was Charles Mound, the highest point in Illinois. The summit is 1.4 miles from the road. Despite a good effort from all, there was a 75% dropout rate on the trek. Since we were so close to Wisconsin, we popped over the border so the boys could check one more state off their list. The next stop was Dubuque, IA. It was lunch time, so we went to McDonald's. (I think the boys are secretly trying to eat at McDonald's in all 50 states.) After lunch we found a park and played for a little bit. The boys did a lot of climbing. This was Ben's first trip to Iowa. Bradley had visited once before. He needs to watch out. Ben is only one behind in states visited. He was three behind at the beginning of the year.

The Big Day

We had a full day of celebrating Ben's birthday. The first stop was the zoo, where we saw a tiger, bears, meerkats, giraffes, and dolphins. After a nap and lunch we opened presents and had a cupcake. Ben didn't each much of his cupcake. Bradley thought that Ben would want to go the Chicky Rice store (Flat Top), so we went there for dinner. Both boys were remarkably well behaved. We wrapped up the day with a trip to a park.

My Chair!

Ben is getting better at talking. Most of his sentences start with the word "my". He declared Poppy's chair as "my chair" and promptly took possession. A few of his newer words are goldfish, airplane, car, truck, bus, bike, hot, poop, and yuck.

Training Buddies

Ben went out for his first solo trip of the year in the bicycle trailer on Thursday. Even though he is over 30 pounds, he didn't really slow me down. It was a much different story on Saturday when I towed both boys (70+ lbs) to the French Market. It was about 3.5 miles ones way, but it nearly killed me. A snack and a rest helped ease the return trip a little bit, but not too much.

Fast

Bradley finished his first one-mile race today. It took over 16 minutes and there was a lot of walking, but that's OK. It was a significant improvement over last year.

New Bike

Brad took out his new bike for a spin on Tuesday. He learned how to ride pretty quickly. He hasn't quite got an understanding of the brakes yet.

Happy Birthday!

Bradley had a good birthday today. He took a big lion cupcake cake to school. (It was pajama day, too.) After school, we had a picnic, presents, and more cupcakes. Bradley said they forgot to sing Happy Birthday at school! That's OK. At least 3 callers sang to him after dinner.

Who's That Girl?

Mommy! Mommy's test is all done, so she gets to go on weekend adventures now. Today, mommy went to the airplane restaurant for the first time.

Back in the Habit

Ben's 23 month birthday is just around the corner so we resumed our tradition of going to Heaven on Seven to celebrate.