Neil Riding a Big Boy Bike

So far he's doing awesome. Can make it to the Dwyers and back no problem. It took Ben a couple of days to work up to that. But we all can tell Neil is going to be very into athletics.

In the background you may here Ben asking to pet a dog that happens to be walking past. Also, yes, our lawn does look THAT bad. Grubs.

Labor Day Weekend

I wish I had the energy to write a proper entry here about our trip to Minnesota, but I've been running around like crazy since we got back. So here are the highlights:
• Attended a Twins game at the new stadium *
• Had dinner at an awesome restaurant called Haute Dish *
• Boys got to go on numerous scooter rides (Thanks John)
• Boys also had a tremendous time driving the Barbie Jeep
• Brian enjoyed playing wiffleball, while the boys and I enjoyed the playground
• Ben worked on riding a bike without training wheels
* Without any children!! Thank you, thank you Kelly & Abby.

And of course thank you to our gracious hosts the Kuebelbecks.

Yep, that's Neil in the background having a timeout against the door wall because he decided to have a massive tantrum while all the other kids smiled happily for the camera.

Neil's Chores

For the most part Ben is the one who does any "chores" around the house. He always eager, Neil… not so much. Today he was actually willing so I asked him to take a roll of paper towel up to our bathroom. So this is what I found when I went upstairs later. Made sense to him.

Ben's 4th Birthday

I'm so behind. Found these in the camera. Ben requested ice cream for his birthday instread of cake, so we had Coldstone cupcakes. I guess we all know what Ben likes since he received a fireman raincoat, a policeman uniform and a fireman backpack.

Bennet-isms

Here's a couple of things Ben has said lately that stuck me as particularly funny.

"Mommy your bed needs a pole." Hmm, now I know I have one of the most difficult jobs a woman can have, but I think he's referring to the lack of a headboard on our bed.

Warning the following contains material not suitable for readers who have not had small childern:
"Look – I made a rainbow." This one is referring to what he saw in the toilet after making a poop that he thought was shaped just like the arc of a rainbow. Brian said, "who says you can't polish a turd".

Out and About

Yesterday we took the boys to the Naperville Riverwalk. Our visit started out with a highlight for Ben. We meet two bike patrol police officers and one of them was nice enough to give the boys their very own police badge/stickers. Ben wore his proudly all afternoon and told just about everyone we passed "I'm a policeman, I have a badge."

Brian and I had what I'll call a team strengthening exercise yesterday. Somewhere I got in my head that I'm not going to allow the boys to pick up any of our irrational fears. Let them make up their own. Part of this came into play when I took the boys to the zoo Friday. I overheard so many parents cringing/whining/complaining about a particular animal they were not fond of and didn't want to observe; bats, snakes, whatever. Of course their children mirrored this. Anyway, part of the riverwalk allows you to be right up on the water and the boys were having a pretty good time of it watching the ducks and what not. Neil was expressing that he wants to hug the ducks. So for me this was high anxiety time. I was freaking out that the boys were going to topple into the river. Now, it's not very far into the water and it's not very deep, but in my head this was not going to be okay if we had to calm someone down and take them home wet. It was Brian's turn to be the brave parent and get right up there with the boys. He told me he was fully prepared to go in after either of them.

My turn to be the strong one came later when we took the boys on the guided tour of the Millennium Carillon, a very cool tower with bells. We learned on the tour that carillons are pretty rare and the view was pretty awesome. Here's where it gets freaky for Brian. He is not a fan of heights and I'm guessing he knows this is irrational cause he was the one who suggested we climb the tower. So there I was on the top observation deck taking each of the boys out to the edge and pointing out which direction our house was and the Chicago skyline and whatever else might be of interest to them. Meanwhile, Brian is standing in the center of the deck wondering at what point we can start working our way back down. So there you have it Brian is the ying to my yang.

Here's a couple of nice shots from the day. The first is with the enticing ducks and the second is of the boys playing with the Dick Tracy statue which is on the riverwalk because one of the comics artist is a longtime Naperville resident. (Look Matt & Nate, Uncle Bri doesn't only wear jean shorts.) Also a pic I found of the tower.

Our Boys are Back

The boys came back from their vacation at Aunt Donna and Uncle Dan's yesterday. (When asked if they wanted to come home they said "NOOO!". I think something about chocolate ice cream may have influenced that response.

So today we went back to Cantigny Park to check out the gardens that we missed on Father's Day because we were too busy checking out all the awesome tanks. And we were smart enough to remember a picnic basket this time.

Here's a couple of pics of me with the boys. I'm recovering quite nicely and have no complaints.