Curt hasn't been to the zoo yet this year, so we thought this morning would be a great time to go together as a family. We went right when it opened and it wasn't too busy (or too hot yet). It was nice to be able to take our time without feeling rushed to move (with many more people waiting behind us). Ben always likes to drive the safari car. This hyena was really active today. Ben wanted daddy to sit in the tent with him. You can tell that he was really interested in taking a picture with me. :) Playing in the big tent. The leopards were jumping/climbing around today. It was really fun to watch them. Playing the drums with daddy. Ben never sat in these eggs before (because it's always crowded with other kids). He had fun playing in them today. Ben went for a pony ride on Sadie. He rode on her last time and he specifically requested to ride her. I've never seen the alligator this close to the fence. Ben and Curt feeding the ducks and geese. We finished up our zoo trip...

Ben and I had a fun morning at Erin and Will's house. Rebekah came too with Tiana, Isaiah, and Amarah. The kids had fun playing together in the backyard while the adults got to chat. Erin had the pool set up and after it warmed up all of the kids wanted to put on their swimsuits. Ben even went down the pool slide a few times which really surprised me. He seems to be braver when there are other kids around. Isaiah, Will, Ben and Tiana playing in the sandbox. Ben trying to play horse shoes. The kids all had fun playing in Will's pool. Ben relaxing with an apple while Tiana strums some music. :)

We saw Toy Story 3 this afternoon. It was Ben's first time at a movie theatre and he was very excited! We've been talking about going there for the past week. The movie was great and Ben did really well sitting through the whole thing. Since there were about a million previews at the beginning, I thought he might get bored before the movie was over. But, Ben loves Buzz and Woody and they were able to keep his attention the whole time. Ben and Curt enjoying some popcorn before the movie started. Ben was too busy eating his popcorn to pose for a picture with me. :) Ben even brought his Buzz Lightyear along to watch the movie with us.

Today is Curt's 31st birthday! He took the day off of work and we have lots of fun things planned for the day. He played golf this morning and we are going to see Toy Story 3 after Ben's nap. We were going to eat cake after dinner, but decided to have some after Curt got back from golfing. It was a new recipe and tasted so good! Right now Curt and Ben are trying out his new Wii Mario Kart game. Well...I gotta get back to the birthday celebration! :) Ben helping Curt open one of his presents. A new Tiger's hat. His old one is pretty dirty. More help from Ben. This is the cake I made. It is called Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. You can find the recipe if you click HERE . I'm sure it has a million calories, but it was worth it! Ben sang "Happy Birthday" to Curt so sweetly right before I took this picture. Ben and Curt playing Mario Kart.

Curt, Ben, and I spent a sticky Sunday afternoon at the ballpark. We had tickets to see the Fort Wayne TinCaps . Last summer we went to three games together, so we thought we should try to fit at least one in this summer. The whole drive there it was pouring rain. I was a little worried that we would spend the game in the rain, or not be able to attend at all. Thankfully, it cleared up while we were parking. Then, it got really hot and humid out. Ben was already dripping sweat before the game even started! The wind picked up during the game and that really helped cool us off. We left when the 7th inning started with black clouds rolling in. As we drove home it was pouring rain again, so I guess we left just in the nick of time. We got lawn tickets, which we love, because Ben can move around and we can all stretch out our legs. A family photo before the game started. It was hard to get everyone looking at the camera. :) The game getting started. This is Ben's head at the start ...

"Snakehead Ed" was at the library this morning as part of the summer reading program. I took Ben to see the snakes and we even ran into a few friends while we were there. In order to get ready for our snake adventure, we read Verdi before we left for the library. I love this book! It's a fun story about a little python who does not want to grow up, turn green, and be slow like the older pythons. He wants to stay young so he can jump and fly through the sky. One of the first snakes we saw. Ben clapping for one of the snakes. At one point he was even able to touch one. He wasn't nervous about it at all. Erin and Will came to see the snakes too! Rebekah & her kids (Tiana, Isaiah, and Amarah) sat with us too, but I just got one picture of Isaiah. He had a python that looked just like Verdi. It was fun to see a snake that resembled the one in the book we had just read this morning. The last snake we saw was a boa constrictor. It was pretty big! Ed did a lot of...

After a little shopping, Ben had fun playing at the mall this morning. Ben was so proud of himself because this was the first time he was able to climb on the top & slide down without any help. Being silly I let him pick one thing to ride on and he picked the ice cream truck. It's one of his favorites. He took his "Buddy" along for a ride too. :)