It's been quite a long week around here. After many healthy months, sickness hit our house... poor Ben came down with the stomach flu. Curt and I are still healthy and will hopefully stay that way. Ben started the flu early Tuesday morning. I thought it might just be a 24 hour thing at the time, but then Wednesday he woke up with a fever. The next couple days he seemed a little better. Then out of the blue yesterday morning, he threw up again. He spent most of the day laying around and watching movies (that included Cars for the third time this week). Today he looks like he is feeling much better. He wants to eat everything and has kept a mental list of all the things he wasn't allowed to eat this week. The list includes: mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, eggs, waffles, cake, goldfish crackers, and goes on and on. I hope this sickness is over now. I am tired of doing laundry. :) On a more postive note, Curt and Ben are ready to cheer for the Spartans this afternoon!

We traveled up to Lansing yesterday to spend some time with Curt's family and for Curt to go to the MSU game today with his dad. We haven't seen everyone since Christmas, so it was wonderful to get together. Ben was so excited to see the family and play with his cousins. After we were driving home today, he kept asking if we could go back to Aunt Betsy's house! The boys before they headed to the MSU game: Curt, Jacob(nephew), Mark (brother-in-law), and Curt's dad. Mark and Jacob were able to get tickets at the last minute from a friend that couldn't use them. They were all excited to go see the game. The Breslin Center Curt and his dad in their seats...WAAAY up at the top. Mark and Jacob's seats were quite a bit closer. The teams warming up. Sparty! Ben and his grandma on Saturday night. This picture is the result of me asking Ben to "show me his lips." He looks like he's ready for a kiss, but I don't think I want to kiss that messy face...

This morning we met Erin and Will out at It's Playtime. We haven't been there in a little while and Ben was so excited to go on the big slides and see his friend Will. The kids played for a couple hours and after we ate some lunch it was time to head home for naps. Ben is looking through a telescope on the little pirate ship. Erin and Will having fun on the slide. Ben found the trains and cars...of course. :)

On Monday, I picked up the game in the picture above for Ben at Target. He got some Valentine's Day $ from his Grandma and Pop and we decided to use it on a game. I wanted to find something that looked fun, but was also educational. Ben is still getting the hang of following the directions, but he loves counting and playing with the mommy and baby ducks. Overall, I think it's a great game for kids to practice counting. Ben helped to put the ducks in the right places before we started playing the game. After we played with the ducks for a while, it was time to move on to cars. Playing with cars fills up a lot of our days! :) We got out some of his Cars cars and played on his Radiator Springs road map.

This morning's adventure involved a trip to the downtown library. I love that the parking garage is underneath and we don't even need to bring in our coats. It's a little bit of a drive, but worth it once we get there! There is a Dunkin' Donuts inside the library. I thought it would be fun to eat a donut treat before we went to the play area. Ben was very excited about his donut with heart sprinkles. Ben likes to play with all of the letters on the magnetic wall. Putting some track together for the trains.

Last week, Ben got a package in the mail from my parents. It had lots of treats and Sarge from Cars. Ben was so excited to open it up and has been devouring his treats ever since! He loved the candy hearts. He would have eaten them all in one sitting, but somehow we made them last two days. We decided on Friday night that we would put Ben in his toddler bed this weekend. We're going to get him a twin bed in a few months, but thought it might be good for him to try out a bed closer to the floor first. Since we had the toddler bed already, Curt got it out of the attic and put it together last night. Ben was so excited to try it out today! After we put it together, he laid on his pillow to see if it passed the test. I tried to put less animals on his bed, but he just kept adding more on. He loves to sleep with his "buddies." Ben was a little nervous for his nap, but I sat with him for a little bit until he was comfortable. Hopefully he will be able to sleep well tonight t...

Ben and I took a trip to the mall today. After we were done shopping, I let him go on a few rides. This ice cream truck was Ben's favorite ride. There was a little tv screen inside the truck that showed cars traveling on the street. He wasn't so sure about this worm, but enjoyed the ride anyway. :)

Ben is yelling, "GO COLTS!" We are ready to cheer them on to victory tonight! Update: I guess we should have let Ben stay up cheering, instead of going to bed. The Colts needed him. :(

Pull Daddy from Curt Walker on Vimeo . Tonight I met a friend for coffee and this is what Curt and Ben spent their night doing. Looks like they had fun without me. :)

Ben has learned the art of getting comfortable on the couch. After I was done unloading the dishwasher, I found him flopped on the couch, pillows thrown on the floor, enjoying a Disney show. Now that's a good way to start the day!