Family Fun

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but Ben & Jack love, love, love their family - and it probably goes without saying, but their family loves them just a little, too. Here are a few cute pics with Gigi & Poppy, Grandma & Pawpaw, & Aunt La.

Summertime Fun 2

We went back to the zoo and had time for the carousel - the boys loved it and had a great day :)

 

 

I'm not sure I would actually include "Potty Training" in the category of "summertime fun," but the pics are cute! We did the 3 day potty training method and it really didn't go so well. Jack actually got it the first day with very few accidents, but Ben had trouble catching himself before he started to go. Here's the thing; I wanted to potty train them to make it easier on myself during pregnancy, but I found potty training to be more difficult than diaper changing, as I had to remind them frequently throughout the day, clean messes/do more laundry, and it made going places more difficult. I see why people wait for boys! I decided to put it off for a while and come back to it when I'm more ready - them, too, I guess :)

 

"Baking" in the kitchen, dancing at Tickles for Toddlers, and dancing to some praise & worship music at breakfast:

 

We forgot to bring our pack & play to Gigi's one weekend, so Ben & Jack slept in Gigi's daybed & pull-out like big boys! They went right down and slept all night without falling off. The next morning we found Ben up on Jack's bed, playing. :)

We also went to the Children's Science Discovery Place in Tyler and had a great time! :

 

 

 

We do "hot dogs" (kolaches) many weekends, and this was the first time J took the boys while I slept in a little. They went in their jammies and were pretty interested in all the different donuts! I think they got a sprinkles & chocolate, but weren't really interested :) Also below, are another lazy weekend morning, and an evening with dad while mom was out - what little dudes!

And for a bonus summertime fun event, Beth & Matt visited from England! It's hard only seeing my favorite friend once a year, but I love getting to see her in person! We had some family/couple time, and we also got some girl time in with Amelia & Hilary while J & Matt babysat :)

Children's Garden

We love our Dallas Arboretum ("aboreta") membership and are thrilled with the new Children's Garden! We got to go to a sneak preview before it officially opened and had so much fun - the boys LOVED it! Jonathan and I frequently talk about how fortunate we are to live in Dallas, especially during this time of so much growth, with so many cultural and family-oriented opportunities/activities to enjoy. We didn't even get to see the whole thing, but J&B didn't want to leave! The toddler area was a hit, as well as all the water features, and they thought the treehouse was pretty cool, too.

Ben & Jack, I love watching your joy as you make new discoveries and have new experiences. There is nothing quite like hearing your delighted giggles as you enjoy something new. What a gift, to see the world through your child's eyes.

2 year pics - a little late!

These were the boys' 2 year pictures from Kimberly Wylie Photography. I won a sitting at an auction, and she is truly fabulous, but I'm pretty sure we are still making payments on the canvas prints from this session! My big 2 year old boys are so beautiful (okay, I will start saying handsome) and I love these pics!

Big Boy Beds!

These milestones are so bittersweet - J&B are ready for big boy beds. They haven't yet attempted to climb out of their cribs (thankfully) but we want to make sure they don't try, either, so we transitioned to big boy beds. The boys got out their handy manny tools and "helped" as we changed their cribs into toddler beds, and they did great! As you can see below, they couldn't wait to try out their new big boy beds :)

The transition went great, much better than I anticipated! The boys climbed right into their beds the first night, and we only had one fall. Ben fell out the first night and when I went in to put him back in bed, as I patted his back and tucked him back in, he said sleepily, "Tank you, mama," in the sweetest, softest little voice, and went right back to sleep. They stay in bed all night and wake up with the sun - what good sleepers we are blessed with! Ben sometimes says "It's time to start our day," or "It's a boo-tee-ful day outside!" - while Jack usually tries to snuggle in bed a little longer. I love these boys :)

Jackson Hole

This summer we were so fortunate to get to visit Luke & Sami in Jackson Hole, WY. If a couple of your closest friends have to move out of state, Wyoming is not a bad place to visit! I've never been to that part of the country, and it was really breathtaking. Not only was Jackson Hole a great place to visit, but we also drove to Yellowstone while we were there, and it was beautiful! I'm not really "outdoorsy" and have never quite gotten the allure of national parks/Yellowstone, but after visiting, I totally get it. Definitely a place we would go back.

This was Ben & Jack's second plane ride, and their first to have their own seats! Also, it was basically a free upgrade to first class seats, so while my first time to fly first class was this summer to Boston, J&B got to fly first class to Wyoming at the age of 2. Daddy said don't get used to it, boys.

They were so great on the plane; they looked out the window, colored, ate, slept, played with toys, and they watched a couple of shows on their iPads.

This was just the view from the car window on our way to the cabin:

 

Speaking of the cabin, we stayed at the Fireside Resort and they were the cutest little cabins ever! They were small, but cozy, and they even provided us with the makings for smores in the outdoor fire pit :) 

We went hiking with Sami & Luke, hiking with just Sami one morning, and various lunches/dinners/etc. We also rode the gondola up the mountain together and the view was breathtaking!

This is Luke's pic of a moose that I borrowed. We were unlucky in our moose-seeking!

J & Luke went golfing one morning while Sami & I took the boys swimming, and then we ate at the golf course - outdoors - during a light rainstorm - that we got to watch roll in - amazing. Seriously, check out the picture below - all I could do was sit on that porch by the fire pit, take in the view, and think "this would be the life." And afterwards the boys played a little golf on the practice greens :)



The downtown Jackson area was so, so cute - it was a little square and we loved just walking around, looking at shops, and I will just go ahead and tell you we spent a significant amount of time in the toy store while the boys played trains!

And finally, we spent a day at Yellowstone! We woke the boys and took them in their jammies, because it was a fairly long drive, then changed when we got there. We saw deer & bison, but no moose, and all the natural beauty of Yellowstone was just amazing.

Old Faithful!

Grand Prismatic Springs (I think) - these were ahhhmazing, wow!

It was a beautiful place to visit, and can only get more fun as the boys get older and we can do things like swim in natural water features at Yellowstone, go horseback riding and white river rafting, etc, etc.  Someday we will go back! Thank you, Luke & Sami, for the hospitality & showing us your new town :)