He did it!

 Ben has been struggling with some parts of his potty training,  so we made a poop chart. He earned a sticker each time he actually went in the toilet and the grand prize was something he was REALLY excited about! A BIG remote control truck that we purchased and put on display for him to drool over the past month. 

 He finally earned it on Friday and he was over the moon! Look at that smile!!!

 He loves this truck so much, its pretty darn cute to watch him drive it all over the neighborhood! 

Yay Ben! Now lets just cross our fingers he stays potty trained:) 

I love this

I love that Lauren is getting to the age where she is starting to make signs and label things. I just love 5 year olds and the way their minds work, it's so fun to see. This was the sign she made for her and Ben's restaurant. Creative name, huh? 

More Gymnastics

 Lauren had her 3rd gymnastics class today and she is really getting into it. Of course she convinced me that she HAD to have a gymnastics outfit, but I managed to find one at a consignment shop for $3.97 as opposed to the $43 they are going for at the specialty shop! She does look pretty darn cute in it!

 backbends

 a little help from the teacher

leg dips, I think that is what they are called. 

8th Anniversary in Vancouver

 We headed up to Vancouver, B.C. for our 8th anniversary and we had a fabulous time. We lucked out and had 80 degree weather! We didn't get into our car even once and walked everywhere we went, it was so nice to not be on a schedule and do whatever we wanted for a few days!

 We stayed on the harbor by Stanley Park and it was so pretty. So many great places to walk around and sights to see. 

 Vancouver was amazingly gluten free friendly. Every restaurant had a gf menu and I felt like a kid in a candy store, it was so exciting! One of our favs was Earl's on Robson street, they had tasty sangria too!

 The view from our room! Thank you Marriot points:) 

 On the little foot ferry to Granville Island which has lots of cute shops and a market, similar to Pike Place. 

 I seriously thought I died and went to heaven in this restaurant on Granville Island, called Edible. They had gluten free fish and chips!!! Fish and Chips are one thing I was quite certain I'd never eat again and they used to be a fav of mine. I was hesitant to believe they were really gf but the server assured me they were and WOW, they were AMAZING! Kevin also agreed. We might have to make another trip up there just for these!

 Last year when we were in Vancouver we discovered Cin Cin, this amazing Italian restaurant on Robson street. We went back for our Anniversary dinner and we were thrilled to see they also had a gf menu now. Not only did they have homemade gf pasta, they made me a little loaf of gf bread! It was so fun to feel normal and get to have every course at the restaurant! 

 Yay for our 8th Anniversary:) 

 We spent tons of time walking along the water, the last day there was kind of gray but no rain so we were happy. So nice to walk along the water with a latte in hand and just relax. 

Of course Kevin had to read every sign:) While he did that I looked at the fancy boats. There was one amazing yacht that looked like something J-Z and Beyonce would hop off at any moment, but something tells me Vancouver, B.C. might not be their dream getaway. But hey, it was good enough for us! 

Crabbing & Jetty Island

 Last weekend we went out crabbing, it was July 16th and it was cold and rainy. Where in the world is Summer??? We still managed to have a lot of fun though:) 

 Me with the cutest boy! 

 Well I guess it's a tie for cutest boy because this one is pretty darling as well! 

 Haley & Sydney had fun checking everything out, it was their first time crabbing with us. 

 Carsie loves the boat!

 Hadley Jane doing what she does best, crafting. She helped everyone put together necklaces!

 We caught a crab (well actually 9 by the end of the day!) 

 The crab we got was missing it's claws which made it really nice, the kids were able to touch it without too much fear!

 We saw a few seals, I just love them. I think I get more excited than the kids over them, I think they are so so cute!

 Exploring on Jetty Island. The tide was really far out which was pretty cool. 

Ben did not like the seaweed or the mud at all so he and I headed back to the boat. 

I give us all an A+ for still boating and crabbing in the rain in July. If there were merit badges for true Northwesterners we'd have a lot;) 

Welcome Home...

 Poor Kevin, he was out of town all week and this is what he was greeted with when he returned. Someone smashed into his car at the airport and didn't leave a note or anything! Now we get to pay the deductible and even though our insurance company says our rates won't go up, I'm expecting them too:( 

I hope it's true what they say about Karma because whoever did this deserves some kind of punishment!

The Cuddler

This boy likes to cuddle all the time! He always has his arms wrapped around whoever is sitting next to him and snuggles up. Lauren is okay with it sometimes, other times not so much. Kevin & I love it though, it is so darn sweet. 

Soon he's going to need lots of cuddling as he's getting his tonsils taken out on September 7th! I'm so nervous for the week of recovery, I've heard it's pretty painful. Luckily he has no clue what is about to happen so he's not nervous. I told him about it and he said, "So they are going to take my teeth out?" Tonsils are kind of a mysterious thing since we can't really see them!

gymnastics

 Lauren had her first gymnastics class today at Northshore Gymnastics. In the summer their classes are drop in so the class that she dropped into had a wide range of girls! It worked well for her though because she was trying to keep up and follow along. She is the tiny one at the end of this line. 

 It was pretty cute to watch her try to keep up with the big girls! (of course by "big" I mean, 6 & 7 year olds)

The class was an hour and about 45 minutes into it her attention span started to dwindle...she had fun but it was definitely a challenge for her, which I think is great! Next week she might try trampolines and tumbling instead, that is the cool thing about the summer drop in program.

First T-ball Game

 Ben's team, the "All Stars" had their first game on Tuesday night. Kevin was out of town so Pa came to be Ben's personal coach (pretty much every kid had a parent stand with them the whole time).  Thank you Pa!

 The whole thing is pretty comical. None of the kids have any clue where to run, where to throw, where to look. It is like going to a comedy show! 

 attempting to get the ball

 on deck

 look at that line drive! 

 For some odd reason Ben refuses to run to the bases, he walks very slowly with this bashful look on his face. The boy is too funny. 

Teaching them to high five at the end was kind of a challenge as well. But oh so fun to watch them playing and having fun! 

Baby Birds

 Last weekend Kevin pulled out some dead trees in our backyard and he found this!!!! He felt so bad, he carefully carried the dead tree with the nest in it to the woods behind our house and set it upright between some other trees. But 3 hours later and the mama & papa bird were swarming all around where the dead tree was trying to find the babies. It was heartbreaking! So Kevin put on some gloves and got the nest out of the dead tree and put it in the new tree we planted in it's spot. We were worried the parents would reject it but they flew right in and everything appears to be fine. Fingers crossed. 

It's funny how much being a parent changes you. If this had happened 5 years ago I would've thought it was sad and wanted to help them but I wouldn't have been overly concerned, I probably would've thought it was just part of nature. But this totally consumed Kevin & I. We were both so worried for them and felt so bad for the parents that were searching for their babies, though we did realize that the term "bird brain" really holds its meaning, they are so stupid. The nest was only moved 5 feet away and the babies were crying/chirping like crazy but the dump birds could not find them! 

Sleepover!

Braelyn and Bennett spent the night on Saturday. The boys shared a bed for the first time, this was big! If you know Ben & Bennett you know that Bennett has a lot of energy and Ben is usually the mellow one. Well that all changed when it came time for bed. Ben talked Bennett's ear off for a good hour! Bennett finally just fell asleep and Ben kept on talking and talking. It was hilarious to listen too. Love how our Benny Boo is growing up and coming out of his shell.