I've been terrible at taking pictures lately. I took our nice camera with us when we visited family/friends up in Michigan last weekend and I never took it out once. :( I have taken a few photos here and there with my phone. The picture quality isn't great, but at least I captured a few memories.  Ben's friend Olivia has morning kindergarten, so we were able to meet one afternoon at Bounce Mania. They were the only kids there! They spent most of the time going down the biggest slide over and over.  I met my friend Erin (and her kids Will & Lauren) at Parkview Park on a beautiful sunny morning. Ben had fun running up and down the hill with his friend Will. (They are the little specs at the top of the hill).  When we recently visited my family, Lucy had a good time hanging out with her Uncle Joe. She was so tired (she would not take a nap that day despite all my efforts) that she was practically falling asleep on him.  Lucy loves pla...

Last Friday I spent the morning at the zoo with the kids. It was a perfect day for the zoo. The sun was shining and it was in the 70's. Since most kids were back to school, it was not very crowded. It's never fun to be rushed through certain spots because there is a huge crowd waiting behind you. I like to let Ben take his time at whatever he's interested in that day. In the African section, the swamp monkeys were really active. Ben enjoyed watching them jump around and wrestle with each other! I hope we'll be able to fit in a few more zoo days before it closes in October.   No long wait for the safari car!  Lucy did a good job in the stroller for about half of our visit. Then, I had to switch to the carrier. She does love being able to see everything going on around her.  The leopard was walking around and jumped right up on this branch while Ben was watching. He thought that was so cool!  The giraffe area only had a couple people, so we were abl...

Curt's parents and sister Molly's family (husband Tim & kids Abby, Katie, Brady) took a vacation to Pigeon Forge, TN last week. On the way back home, they stopped at our house to spend the night. They showed up at dinner time on Saturday and left Sunday afternoon. It was nice to visit with everyone and Ben had so much fun playing with his cousins! Ben & Lucy with their cousins Katie, Abby, and Brady.  Ben and Lucy with Curt's parents 

Pirates are on the loose!  Such a cute pirate. Ben said he was a "super hero" pirate.