The fair

We all headed down to the county fair a couple of weekends ago. It was so hot there, and crowded, and so not our thing but the boys had fun.

A busy busy July

It's going to be a on the go kind of month for all of us. We had one week of calmness but that all changes tomorrow. Drew leaves super early in the morning to catch his flight to Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri and will be there for the next 15 days. We have to keep ourselves occupied while he is gone so that is what we are going to do. Saturday morning we will head over to Ben's last tee ball game. You might remember me posting last month about not wanting to take him to a game on my own but I really have no choice. It's the last game and he'll be getting his trophy there. I can't deprive him of that now, can I? After the game, we are driving down to Fresno for a few days. We'll be back in time for our normal weekly activities. Next Saturday, my dad is flying up here so that he can drive down south with us. I don't feel comfortable driving  down there with just the boys and I so my dad offered to help us out. How awesome is that? I will feel so much better having him there in the car and he can drive us through the LA traffic. That would definitely give me an anxiety attack if I was driving. We will spend the week hanging out with the fam and trying to keep ourselves sane while the cousins have fun together. We haven't seen Luke in four months and I can't wait! After a week down there, we will head back home. My dad will drive back up here with us and then fly home the next day. When we get home, Drew will be waiting for us :) The month will end with a trip to the beach for the weekend. Loree and Cary will be staying there for a week and invited us to come spend some time there with them. It seems like the perfect way to end a hectic month. And it's the last weekend before Ben starts school. That is if he's peeing in the toilet by then. Another story for another time.

A normal lunch at our house

July 3 from Stacey Hanson on Vimeo.

T-ball

I find it all pretty humorous

A gift we can share with all of you

Today we opened up a very awesome birthday gift for Drew and I from Loree and Cary...

a new video recorder!

We have only begun to play around with it but we can already tell that we are going to love it. And all of you are going to enjoy it too because it means lots of videos on the blog. Here is a compilation of a few of them...

June 24 from Stacey Hanson on Vimeo.

Our weekend

We all had a wonderful weekend 

It was just what we needed, a little time away

with just the four of us

We headed down to Monterey on Saturday

upon checking into the hotel, we were given chocolate chip cookies

as you can see, Ben very much enjoyed his

we were also given a treasure map to guide us on our own hunt for treasure

Ben is studying it carefully

He's ready to starts searching for that gold

but first we walked over to fisherman's wharf

the boys liked looking out at the water

we were trying to figure out how they got that cover on such a huge boat

if Drew's around, these two can be found together

looking at the sea lions 

next time you see Ben, ask him to show you his sea lion impersonation

Jack wasn't too happy that he had to stay in the stroller

when we set him free, he ran off

how could you not love this face?

I'm telling you, he was constantly running off

we took turns chasing after him

but we didn't mind since he was having so much fun

loving each other at dinner

Jack woke us up at 6am on Sunday

so we got an early start to the day and played at the Denis the Menace Park

no words needed for this one

this park is huge and Ben and Jack had so much fun exploring it

right after I took this one, Jack slipped and landed on his backside

didn't phase him and he got right back up 

I love that he is old enough to stop and pose for pictures now

still having a great time

once we got back to the room, Jack opened up the drawer and climbed in

after checking out, we headed up the coast to Santa Cruz

we met Pam and Jim (my aunt and uncle who live in Colorado) for lunch

it was great catching up with them and I know they loved seeing the boys

to end our time there, we went to the beach

it was Jack's first time in the sand and water

both Ben and Jack loved chasing the waves

they would have stayed there all day playing if they could

seriously???

Jack enjoyed walking over to other people on the beach and going through their bags

after the beach it was time to head home

it was a great weekend and we enjoyed all the time we had together

I can't help but love my family more than anything :)

Are you sure he is our child?

Jack is not like the rest of us when it comes to getting dirty

When Drew and I were younger, neither one of us wanted to get our hands dirty

Ben freaks out when he gets anything on his hands

Jack goes right for the dirt and starts digging (or eating it)

This little guy loves to get dirty

Happiness

A day of celebrating our dads

We are heading out for the weekend (I promise I will take lots of pictures)

but before we go, I wanted to take a moment to say

Happy Father's Day

I am lucky that in my life, I am surrounded by great dads

Not only do I have my dad, whom I love very much

I have a wonderful step-dad and father in law

and I am married to the most perfect dad that our boys could have

I hope that you all enjoy your special day

We will be thinking about all of you

Ben before t-ball

Another Jack video

Jack and me

I just took this video using our computer. We are enjoying some quiet time before Ben wakes up.

Please visit me...

This afternoon the boys and I went grocery shopping. It was very windy and as I was loading Jack into his carseat, I told Ben to stay sitting in the cart or he's going blow away. With a complete look of innocence on his face, he said "I'll miss you guys. Maybe you'll come visit me."

And in case you were wondering, we had lots of rain this morning and t-ball was in fact cancelled. We did end up going to the farmer's market though. The rain cover came in handy on the double stroller and the boys stayed dry while I got wet. It was so empty there at 9am and we got we needed and made it back to the car pretty quick. I love getting fresh fruit and vegetables every Saturday morning.

Does it make me a bad mom...

That a part of me hopes that the 90% chance of rain we have tomorrow actually happens so we don't have to go to t-ball? Drew is working this weekend which means the boys and I are on our own. Ben has his second t-ball game at 10:30 tomorrow and I am exhausted at the thought of it. His first game was exhausting and there were three other adults there to help with Ben and Jack. Tomorrow, it will just be me. How am I supposed to stay with Ben when Jack runs off every time I set him down? Last time it was really crowded, we had to park far away, Ben was clingy, Jack didn't want to stay in his stroller.

Oh my, I hope it rains. Please don't judge me :)

Next week we can get back at it when Drew is here to take him.

Just another morning...

in our house