Who knew that you could have so much fun on a driveway?

Our dear friends, the Pullins, invited us over this past weekend for a fun evening out. We spent several hours at their house and never left their driveway. How can you have so much fun on a driveway you ask? Well, I shall tell you.

We got to their house and the kids immediate joined their best friend Levi at his water table.

Popper tried to eat Will's food. I think the dog scored a whole lotta cheese puffs that night.

My girl. Already playing hard to get. Love her.

Slippin-n-Slidin'

So, are we rednecks for cooking hot dogs on the driveway in the front yard? If so, I say bring it. You know you're jealous.

Does my daughter look like a teenager here? Talking to a boy on a porch step with her leg all drawn up? Momma ain't happy about this one.

Going in for the kiss. They can keep this up until they're three. Then the party's over.

Popper turned into a devil dog. That was for eating my son's cheese puffs.

Swim goggles are the new duct tape. So many functions. Keeping water out of your eyes, keeping smoke out of your eyes, keeping you on the front of GQ.....

Bennett was mad because she didn't have swim goggles.

So was Will.

Bennett took her first ride on a tricycle. She did great!! Still hanging out on the driveway. Are you seeing all of the possibilities here?

Levi burned his finger which was not good. All of the adults were so concerned. But look who is the background getting more food. Someone was clearly more concerned with finding left over cheese puffs. Poor Levi.

Bennett's first introduction to smores.

Good to the very last drop.

You know they party's over when the naked baby melts down on the slip-n-slide.

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Good times on the driveway. I highly recommend it.

Stuff and Such

We got a new dollhouse! That's a big thing, folks. It just adds another thing for Bennett to yell at Will about. He is not allowed within 15 feet of the dollhouse. Of course, Mommy is really the one who needs to stay away because I accidentally (?) decapitated the head of the Daddy doll. I would post pictures, but I don't want to traumatize you.

Here's Will staying away from his 15 foot warning line. He's standing!! Again! Now, walk please. Bennett only started walking 2 weeks before Will was born and so I am ready to have 2 children walking!! I have been carrying a child for 2 1/2 years now. I'm done. For now. :-)

So, do you remember the blueberries we picked last weekend? I made homemade individual cheesecakes and pureed the blueberries to go on top. Delicious.

It's finally sidewalk chalk time.

I leave subliminal messages for Benentt everywhere. Okay, maybe they're not subliminal. Maybe more like positive reinforcement. You will find these messages all over our house. They don't work, but it's all about the effort, right?

Well, whadayaknow? They actually worked. For now. Here are the kids pre- slip-n-slide and popsicle heaven.

Thanks heavens for summertime. After a very long and cold Kansas winter, I am LOVING being outside and playing. Now, I'm off to cut "Bennett loves Will" into the grass.

Bennett's first movie- Toy Story 3

I won't really go into my thoughts on the movie in case any of you haven't seen it yet. I won't talk about the fact that it made me come home and hug my teddy bear, Jack. Yes, I still have him and no, you better not have a problem with that.

But I digress. I still don't know if Bennett was ready or not. She did great during the movie. Maybe it was because she ate popcorn for an hour and a half. But she barely moved, seemed fascinated, and smiled a lot. However when I asked her about the movie today all she will say is, "It was so dark. I eat popcorn. I see Woody and Buzz." So I guess I can count that as a success.

But it was so sweet for me and Rob to have our little girl sitting between us at the movies. That was more sentimental than anything up on the screen. And that's saying a lot.

Doesn't she look beautiful here? I don't know why, but I love this picture of her waiting to go inside the theatre.

Chilling with Daddy before the previews. Bennett doesn't weigh enough to keep the seat down and it keep folding up on her. We had to hold her seat down with the camera bag after we took this shot.

A quick shot post movie. I couldn't be in the shot because I had mascara all underneath my eyes. Darn you, Pixar. And notice how Bennett is STILL eating popcorn. Do they make tums for 2 year olds?

A weekend of epic proportions

I could write about 50 paragraphs about how amazing Rob is as a father. Honestly, the love he shows me and our children is hard to put into words. I will just say that he is an amazing Dad. And I don't say that lightly. He plays, he runs, he makes lunch, he cooks breakfast, he kisses boo boos, he read stories, he throws them in the pool, he takes swimming lessons with Bennett, he plays hide and seek, he points out rainbows, he shows them different types of birds, he plays the guitar, he pulls wagons, he lets them climb all over him, he throws a ball, he goes down slides.... and that is just the beginning.

So, to celebrate our Dad, we had a weekend of epic proportions. Yes, I said epic!! I will let all of the pictures (and there are a lot) speak for themselves.

We started off our weekend with a picnic in the backyard. It was hot, it was sticky, it was messy.....

.... so we cooled off in our brand new slip-n-slide!

What a great new toy.

Even Daddy loved it. Can you see Rob in all four of these shots? LIke I said, epic.

Will preferred to watch from the sidelines. And look adorable.

The next morning we had Bennett's gymnastics class and so right after we went to a fabulous blueberry patch and picked blueberries.

Picking blueberries with my girl. It doesn't get much better than this.

Bennett insisted on carrying the bucket herself. Bennett having opinions? Shocking.

Even Will got in on the action.

After naps we headed to downtown KC and checked out the Clifford exhibit at the Crowne Center. That's Emily Elizabeth on one paw and Bennett on the other. Just a little perspective on the big red dog.

Will joined Bennett in digging for some bones in the sand.

Will is standing!! He can stand by himself so walking should begin any day now, right?

Clifford's bowl is slightly bigger than our dogs.

After Clifford we went to our favorite train restaurant. They bring the food to your table on a little train. That is about as exciting as it gets in the eyes of my kids.

Almost got a good one, but the hat kept slipping. Still cute.

Afterwards they were having a chalk festival across from the Crowne Center. They had balloon animals, puppet shows, chalk drawings, snow cones, music.... SO fun. And I love this shot of Rob and the kids. I love little grassy areas in the middle of large downtowns. If I close my eyes and really pretend, I can imagine that I am back in NYC. Humor me.

Bennett loved looking at all of the chalk drawings.

We woke up this morning and had presents for Daddy and I made pancakes from scratch using the blueberries we picked yesterday. Plus my grandmother's cheese egss. Rob's favorite.

We then drove out to a small town in Kansas to take a train ride through the beautiful Kansas country side. Here are Rob and the kids waiting to board the train.

Will was terrified of the train whistle.

Quite possibly my favorite picture of these two.

Fascinated by the view.

We found it!

I am kind of crazy about these two.

Afterwards we found a great hole in the wall restaurant. I took this picture because I was so happy to have sweet tea in a mason jar. I felt like I was back home. Bennett was clearly done with pictures by the time we took this shot.

More Daddy time. Snuggling in the bed with our kiddos and our golden lab, Meg.

One final Father's Day treat. A trip to our favorite ice cream store.

After baths, Bennett requested to sit with Will. That is such a rare occasion that we had to had to get a picture of it.

And finally- after picnics, slip-n-slides, blueberries, Clifford, chalk festivals, train rides, and ice cream trips- Rob ended our "Daddy Day" weekend with bedtime stories and songs.


This weekend = perfection.