Happy 2nd Birthday Ben!

Ben turned two years old on August 29th. We celebrated it Labor Day weekend with Nana, Mimi and Papa, the Duerres. The day Ben came into our lives was like a whirlwind. He was 8 weeks early and really just wanted to come out, I guess. He is growing, but still seems so young and tiny to me. He is getting pretty tall and is in the 59th percentile for height, but only the 4th for weight. He loves playing with cars and wrestling with Jake. We celebrated his birthday with a cookout, cake made by Aunt Gina and some ice cream. He wasn't too interested in actually opening the presents, but more interested in seeing what was inside. He loves Buzz Lightyear, so aunt Gina made him a Buzz and Woody cake. It was sooooooooo yummy!

Ben's Buzz cake

Best friends Jake and Emma



Baby Joshua

Me and my best friend Gina

Getting a little taste

Nana looking on as we get ready to blow out the candles

Ben, Jack, and Jake

Ben playing with some of his toys.

Daddy putting together Ben's toy garage from Nana

The Duerres

Jake really wants to play with some of Ben's new toys

Ben loves playing with cars

Ben with Mimi

Me and my little boy

Papa and Ben

Nana and Jake playing with his invisible note pad she gave him

1st day Preschool!!

Jake started the 3 year old preschool last Tuesday. He did great when I dropped him off and he likes it a lot! He told me "It was fun, but not too much fun". Here he is with his bag Aunt Gina made him. She made him a small one, but when we went to open house, the bags they had were huge, so we thought they may need bigger ones. He has taken the small one too and it was fine. Ben tries to run into the room every time I drop off or pick up Jake. It may be a little young for him to start going to school, but I think it will be a good environment for him. I need to get a picture of his teachers soon to post. Their names are Mrs. Tara and Mrs. Teri. Sounds easy, but Jake still can't remember their names to tell me. I think I asked Jake 50 questions the first day to see what they did, who he met and so on. He told me a little, but said he didn't know any of his classmates names. I asked him why and he said they didn't tell him.

Cape Cod Vacation!

We just got back from our vacation to Cape Cod with Lee's mom last week. We had a great time filled with wonderful seafood, the beach, a pool, children's museum, and gorgeous weather! We stayed in a golf course community called New Seabury in Mashpee. It was very nice and had a pool at the house. Here are several pictures from our trip.

Playing on the beach, or as Ben and Jake say "the big sandbox"

Ben playing. One of the few times he was happy playing on the beach. He wasn't too fond of the beach. Hopefully that will change

Catching some sun

Nana and Jake in the pool at our house

Ben at the pool

Silly brothers

Ben and I in Hyannis in front of the JFK Museum

Enjoying some lobster

Ben kept looking at my lobster like it was a monster

Nana eating lobster

Lee

Posing in front of the water in Hyannis

Ben and Jake posing as Ben and Jerry

Ben and Jake playing with the trains

at the Children's Museum of Cape Cod

One night Lee and I got away and went out to eat.

It was a restaurant right on the water and this was the view.
It was a long wait, but we sat outside and watched the sunset while we had a couple of drinks.

The gorgeous sunset

The pool at our house

The Deths are friends of Lee's family and they have a house nearby. We ate dinner there one night and the kids sat with Mr. Deth on the hammock.

Boston!

We returned from Cape Cod on Saturday and stayed that night at Nana's house. So that day we went for a walk in Boston Common and Gardens. It was a beautiful day and the weather ws great! We also rode the Swan boats.

The flowers in the garden were beautiful!

Swan boats

Statue of George Washington

Ben and Jake watching a movie on the plane ride home

Swimming 101

Jake took swim lessons a couple of weeks ago. The sessions lasted 30 minutes for about two weeks. They learned to put their face in the water, blow bubbles, and even jumped off the small diving board. I felt so sorry for that poor girl teaching the class. One boy cried every single day, one girl wanted to jump in all the time, and Jake fought it for the first couple of days. He wasn't too excited, but then began to do really well. He is no Michael Phelps, yet, but he is definitely more confident in the water.

Jake and his class. I think the teacher thought the class was a little challenging too because after a few days, we had two teachers.

Swimming with the fun noodle

Kicking

Jumping off the small diving board