A hike in Sam Houston Jones State Park

We got up early this morning to test out our top of the line hiking backpack that Grandpa Stan bought Benjamin for his birthday last December (he is finally ready to fit into it!)...After packing food, water, snacks and bugspray for the baby boy (and a leash for Gracie) we headed off toward the wilderness. There was a bike race there this morning, so we were dodging bikes the whole time we were trying to get on the trial, but we finally made it!!! Grace led the way (as usual) and Seth packed Ben the first leg...he seemed to be enjoying himself, looking side to side at the trees, leaves, dragonflys, etc...After a quick water break (and to re-apply bugspray), I took over the pack. It was surprisingly lighter than I anticipated - I felt comfortable and was hardly aware of the extra weight on my back (all 23.1 pounds of him!). Thanks to Grandpa Stan for the great pack!! We are planning a trip to Tunica Hills in October to do some "real" hiking with Ben.

Unfortunately, after Ben's afternoon nap, he woke up with a high fever (102)...our sweet baby boy is sick. After numerous calls to Aunt Emily and Uncle Jason, Ben is now (Sunday afternoon) feeling better, and his fever has broken (now 98.2)...whew! I was worried we might have gotten the swine flu or something yucky like that this past week. Thanks goodness our little baby boy is now his happy-go-lucky self now!

Our curious boy

Benjamin is a tough cookie...he is VERY curious (he investigates everything, no matter how scary) and seemingly fearless. When his little friends are scared (or even show a healthy bit of caution), Ben plows forward. Where does he gets this from? Anyway, he is twisting, turning, nosediving off the couch any chance he can get (we always catch him, of course) and grabbing everything in sight. Today he played with the vacuum cleaner - he loved the noise, loved the spinning, loves the color, (bright yellow) and laid on the rug right next to it while we vacuumed. Afterwards, we let him stand up and touch it - he was thrilled! Finally, when our dinner guests were arriving, we put it away...immediately he started fussing (his new thing...fuss, fuss, fuss). Here is a clip of him playing with the sprayer in the pool - he doesn't care how much it splashes him, gets water in his eyes, nose and down his throat.....he is going to investigate!

Happy Birthday Nana!

Last weekend we went to Baton Rouge to celebrate my mom's birthday (and I am just now getting around to writing about it...boo). We met the Pearce clan and Paw Paw and Grandma Betty for lunch on Saturday afternoon. Then the girls went to see a movie (Julie and Julia, which Ben thouroughly enjoyed in lieu of a nap), and the boys went to Bass Pro. Finally, we had dinner at Champ's and went back to the hotel to sleep. The next morning we met at Coffee Call for breakfast, then off to see Mike the Tiger at LSU. Mike was very tired, and was sleeping in a corner of his habitat. Ben was definitely not impressed - Mike will need to run, jump (maybe a little roar?!), for Ben to take notice. He did, however, really enjoy Mike's big purple ball floating in the water of his cage. Thanks everyone for coming in to celebrate...we had a great time!

New pictures of the baby boy

Here are a few new pictures of Ben. We brought him to the park last weekend to play in the water (shoots up from the ground), and he LOVED it!!! He couldn't quite figure out what was hitting (or splashing) him on his head. It was very funny to watch him try to catch the water.

It's raining....

It's pouring!!!

No fear or hesitation at the waterpark

We are teaching him very early the importance of brushing your teeth (when you get them, that is...)

headshot outside by the pool

Taking a bath in Lake Arthur

Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting....

Last night we went to the Lee's house to have gumbo and visit with Jeff one more time before he flies back home to Alaska. Aunt Duby, Uncle Mark and Chelsea drove in from Alexandria to join us. We had a nice time...Ben entertained everyone by singing and dancing (really just bobbing his head to the music). He grossed uncle tommy out by rubbing his wet, sticky "cookie" (teething biscuit) all over the tablecloth, Aunt Mary, his PJ's and even tried for Uncle Tommy's nose!! After dinner we played washers (when did I get so rusty?) and visited outside.
Here is a video of Ben king-fu fighting (the things his daddy teaches him)...

Catchin' up....

jenny and aunt mary by the pool our last night

nana and her three grandbabies

group picture our last night..we listened to live music by the pool

ben with two fists full of sand

mommy and ben sharing a moment in the pool

ben loving the sandcastle virginia and aunt duby made for him

mommy and ben - beach ready

ben in his "turtle suit" ready to see sand for the first time

virginia playing with the crab she found in the ocean

Em called me last night to tell me I had not updated my blog in over a month...wow - where did the time go? Anyway, our family has had some great times and fun adventures since then - so here goes...

Vacation in Gulf Shores

GIRL TRIP!!! Our first annual girl's only (and babies) vacation was a few weeks ago. We (me, Em, mom, Aunt Mary, Aunt Duby, Jenny, and Chelsea) went to Gulf Shores for a few days of beach fun. We stayed at the beach club (http://www.beachclubal.com/). Benjamin LOVED the sand and the pools - he only tried to eat one handful of sand before he realized it was not for him. Virginia ran and splashed in the surf with no fear (she definitely outswam and outpplayed the older kids on the beach). Baby Owen also seemed to enjoy being outside in the sun by the ocean...We had a day of shopping and an interesting lunch at Lambert's, and our trip was over before we knew it!

I will write more later tonight or tomorrow about the rest of the month...