Easy Entertainment

Ben got Sam his new favorite toy at the grocery today...a 99 cent flyswatter. Carried it around all day. He likes to drag it, push it, hold the handle between his teeth, wave it around....who knew there were so many fun things you could do with one?

Day at the Dairy

Earlier this week we went up to Yellow Springs and Young's Jersey Dairy for our last hurrah before I went back to work. Young's has the BEST malts (besides the ones Ben makes), a petting zoo, and other things for kids to do there. Sam went crazy over the goats and had no qualms about feeding them.....or pulling on their ears, trying to poke out their eyes, putting his hands in their mouths, etc.

Ben might be a little big for this...

Eating some dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. Not natural.

I'm so proud...I think he can drink those malts down quicker than even me

Michael Jackson's fourth child

Trying to mask the cow

Pool Collage

Another project from my class....made a collage!

Beloved Frog

Sam loves his frog. My mom got it for him as one of my shower gifts. He WILL NOT go to sleep without it. It's very soft and the perfect size for him. He started a ritual a couple months back at bedtime...when I ask him if I can have a goodnight kiss, he always has me give Frog a kiss first. It's very cute. What is not cute is how he will not sleep without Frog. If Frog gets snot on him, a leaky diaper gets too close, or some other dirtiness, it is Operation Wash and Dry Frog before the next nap/nighttime so that he has it back in his crib in time. To avoid this problem, my mom tried to get a second "backup" Frog (a.k.a "Frog 2") about 7-8 months or so ago from the same company. Well, they CHANGED Frog!! It's really only slightly different. Didn't think Sam would notice. He was about 9-10 months old when I slipped it in his crib and hid the original Frog. He picked it up, looked at it from different angles, and promptly pitched it into the corner of his crib. Then he looked at me as if to say, "you really didn't think I'd be fooled by that imposter, did you?" I tried a few more times with the same result. Frog 1 would be tucked under his arm and Frog 2 would be tossed aside, under a blanket. Two nights ago, I decided to give it another try. Sam has to start a new school in a few weeks, and I wanted him to have something to take without taking Frog in case we forget it or it gets lost. This time I put in Frog 2 and while he seemed to recognize he was different, he still accepted it! I was so excited. I slipped in his room later that night to see what he did with Frog 2. He was lying there fast asleep with a Frog under each arm. Success! Of course, I had to run out to get my camera and take a picture. Now he has 3 items he loves to sleep with: Frog, Frog 2, and his special blanket Ben's mom made for him and gave me at that same shower.

Little Miami Bike Trail Trip

Yesterday morning we embarked on a 3 hour bike trip with Sam. We rented some bikes and and a trailer and took off from Loveland. We couldn't really tell how Sam liked it at first - he just kind of had a blank stare on his face with his hair flying up from the wind. We stopped for lunch at a little picnic area with a playground, then biked back north past Loveland. Sam got most excited when we saw dogs on the trail, of course. Lots of "ga!"s! It was good exercise for us - we were so tired afterward we had to fuel up with some malts from the candy shop in Loveland. 

 

The view from our picnic of the Little Miami

Sam loves to eat our leftover apples!

Zoo with Papa Jay

We went to the zoo yesterday afternoon with Papa Jay. Mom is in South Carolina with Rach and her in-laws, so we took Dad to the zoo with us in the nice cool weather. It felt like late September/October! We had a great time. Sam got to see some monkeys we hadn't seen before, so he liked that. He does a pretty good impersonation of a monkey, it turns out.

Dad and Sam feeding wafers to the giraffes. Giraffe tongues are a little different from poodle tongues he's used to

Getting sleepy....

Pretty Flower

I can't stop! This is a flower from the Biltmore gardens. Last one, I promise. At least for today. Only because Ben wants to go somewhere. Haha!

Biltmore picture

Ooh! I just love this class I'm taking. I just finished editing this picture I took when Ben and I went to the Biltmore Estate for our anniversary 2 summers ago. We went on a hayride for a tour of the land around the winery and I took this picture. It was a nice picture before but I really like these editing techniques! The writing is just kind of fun.

Cedarburg trip

I'm finally getting some pictures from our Cedarburg, WI trip up. We went over the 4th and had a great time visiting with Ben's sister and brother-in-law, Susan and Tim, and their four kids. We piled Ben's mom, Paul, and Carrie in the van with us and drove up. Sam did pretty well with the ride, even better than I did when it took forever for us to get around Chicago! Cedarburg is a great town and there was so much going on for the 4th - a band at the park one night, a 5K Sam and I walked with Susan, a parade through town, fireworks, and a great pool to go to. I took a million pictures I think...

Sam, Paul, and Carrie on the pier at Port Washington, near Cedarburg

Jack, Carrie, Paul, and Susan

Sam and Sue at the park for the concert

Sam and Margie, their dog. Sam loved Margie. I don't know that Margie felt the same way.

Sam checking out one of the many dogs in the parade. He kept shouting "Ga!" which is Sam speak for "dog."

Sam and Ben at the pool. I love this picture. Sam was having such a good time.

Another Practice Pic!

Okay...I'm having way too much fun with this. Here's a picture of one of the clowns from the parade. I have no idea what to do with this picture, but it was fun playing with it!

Parade Picture

Sam is taking a nap right now and while he slept I learned another photo editing technique! I love these ways of making new pictures look old. This was one I took at the 4th of July parade in Cedarburg. The parade lasted about 2 hours - this picture was taken toward the end. Sam looks pretty comfortable on his daddy's shoulders.

Photo Project

I'm taking a new photoshop elements photo editing class online through Jessica Sprague's website. It's so much fun! Here are some pictures of Sam I worked on. I'm pretty proud of myself. Now, if I only had the time to add these cool effects to all of my pictures of Sam! The first photo was one I took at Ault in May. The second is one from our trip to Wisconsin last week. More pictures from our trip to Wisconsin will be coming soon!