Happy Birthday Lauren and Jen!

This is the best we can do!

Linvilla Orchards

Today, we went apple AND pumpkin picking with the Siwickis and the O'Neills at Linvilla Orchards. Tomorrow, I will make some apple sauce with my "new" saucer!

Ben's all about his belly button these days.

So this picture was supposed to be of Ben....but I caught both boys posing. :)

We finished the day with a train ride. Ben: "CHOO CHOO!"

St Michaels, MD

We went on a mini vacation to St Michaels, MD to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday. I thought the town was adorable, the house we stayed in was perfect and the weather was absolutely fantastic! I would highly recommend going there for a low key getaway. There were more than a handful of pictures, so I've done a Picasa link instead of putting the pictures here....

St. Michaels, MD

21 Months

Ben turned 21 months yesterday while wrapping up his vacation in St. Michaels, MD. As I write this, it is 9:30 AM and he's still sleeping to recover from the excitement of the long weekend! Here's what else has been going on with him:

- Ben is making progress every day with his talking. He says all kinds of words and tries very hard to use them properly to communicate. He still has a long way to go, but we are making huge strides daily. I lost count at about 65 words or so!

- Ben is still imitating us all the time. You can almost watch his mind working as he tries to figure things out about the world around him. Just yesterday, we were having lunch outside and for whatever reason there were quite a few flies around and we were all absentmindedly swatting them away from our food. Ben, without really knowing what we were doing, started swatting the air between bites. It was very cute.

- Ben proved his climbing skills when he climbed out of the pack 'n play on our vacation...repeatedly. I need to come up with a solution for travel VERY soon!

- His favorite toys are probably still the same as last month. Books, his kitchen, his vacuum and suitcase, any container with water in it, phones, etc. He has started to color and draw a little bit and surprised me with his ability to stack about 8 blocks without knocking them over.

- We are excited about the fall: cooler (but beautiful) weather, apple picking, Pumpkinland, starting swim lessons, getting back into Gymboree, the beginning of all of Ben's friends' 2 year birthday parties, and visiting both sets of grandparents for overnights without Mom and Dad (it's the first time and we are doing it twice in October for weddings)!

Happy 21 months Ben! I love you.

You sound like you're finally waking up! :)

Day with Thomas

Ben and I joined Karen and Gavin and went to spend the day with Thomas the Train this morning. Don't they look excited? I don't think either of them understood what was going on until they saw the train.

Hello Thomas!

Riding the train.....a whopping 20 minute total trip into the PA countryside. It was beautiful, but way too short. :(

Still...a bit cautious with everything going on.

"What are these tickets. And why is Gavin's bigger than mine?"

"COWS!!!!"

Sadly, Ben watches the train pull away.

After watching the train, we went into a tent where a guy was playing a guitar and singing. Tons of little kids were playing instruments and singing along. Can you see where my son is? He picks the most inopportune moments to be shy.

Next, on to a tent full of train toys, puzzles, coloring books, etc.

This is where Ben told me it was nap time.

Out to the car, which was parked in a corn field. FINALLY, a "cheese" for a picture.

I have to add that even after telling me that he was tired by laying on top of the Thomas puzzle, Ben was too excited about the cows and the tractors that we saw on the way home to sleep. Lucky for me, he stayed awake all the way home and is now napping happily in his crib. Fun morning!

Saturday with Daddy

We went back to Smith on Saturday with Nick. I had fun watching my guys together!

They took a trip down the big slide...

played some music...

got a drink...

and stopped for a snack.

Inside the playhouse, Ben enjoyed showing Nick practically every toy in the place. So cute.

Second day in NJ

We took Michael and Ben on a little field trip to the Margate Firehouse (to see Michael's Daddy at work). Ben was very serious and very interested in everything that Mike showed him.

Ben got to sit in Mike's seat in the truck.

And can you see who is driving this big truck?

Let me give you a closer look. :)

Following the firehouse, we went to the beach....although it wasn't really beach weather. Ben was a little hesitant in the sand, but was willing to check it out anyway.

Loved seeing you all. We'll do it again soon!

Trip to NJ (day 1)

Ben and I ventured to NJ to visit Bern and Michael (and Mike too :)). We had a great time playing with the boys and catching up. Thanks for having us!

We took them to the park...

This ended up being the hit of the park. Never what you think, right?