Sad Day

No, the trip to the Fort Worth Zoo wasn't bad or sad. In fact, Bennett and I had a lot of fun hanging out with Tricia and Elliott in the sweltering heat.

What made the day sad is that right after Tricia took this picture I clumsily dropped my camera and killed it. I gave it some time to rest, hoping that it would miraculously revive, but no luck.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to go buy one of those SLRs I've been coveting. I still have quite a few pennies to save before that becomes reality though.

Father's Day!

Just in case any of you don't know, Jeff is an absolutely amazing dad. He wakes up early every morning with the wee one to let me get a few more precious minutes of sleep. He makes Bennett laugh like no one else can as they "wrestle", play ball, chase each other or as Jeff throws him around, tickles him or sings silly, made-up songs. He is patient and gentle at other times, reading stories or saying sweet bedtime prayers.

Bennett is totally enamored with his Daddy. He squeals with excitement and wriggles away from me in the evening when he hears Jeff come in. He is absolutely aglow with delight all weekend because Daddy is home ALL DAY! If Jeff has to work in the yard, Bennett will stand at the window, jabbering and waving each time Jeff passes by with the mower. It is too precious. I love to see my boys together.

The B Boy and I did our best to cook up some big plans to honor his amazing daddy for Father's Day. We picked out a couple of small gifts and Bennett hand selected a cute card that plays "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" when opened.

After church we met CPapa (Jeff's Dad), Aunt Jen, Uncle Rick, and cousins Haley and Dylan at the Ballpark in Arlington for a special Father's Day event. Although it was the hottest day of the year so far, we sweat out the 100+ temps and really enjoyed ourselves.

The event included having your picture made with Nolan Ryan in the dugout, a chance to run the bases, play catch in the outfield, a bar-b-que lunch, tours of the clubhouse, batting cages and media room, a q&a time with Mr. Ryan and door prizes. CPapa won a baseball autographed by (you guessed it) Nolan Ryan!

Here are a few pictures from our day:

Bennett getting lathered up with sunscreen before heading in.

Cousin Haley had her picture made with the Ranger's mascot.

And this is what Bennett thought about getting anywhere near that terrifying horse.

Jeff and his Daddy. Hope you had a great Father's Day, CPapa!

I just thought Bennett looked like such a big boy sitting on the bench and eating his lunch.

Jeff carried Bennett around the bases (they are at first base) with Haley, Dylan, Jen and Rick not far behind.

We met Jim Sundberg in the clubhouse. You know who that is, right? Yeah, well, I didn't either.

Let me educate you. Wikipedia says Mr. Sundberg "is a former professional baseball catcher for a number of teams, most significantly the Texas Rangers...He was known for being one of the best fielding catchers of all time."

So now you know. Go forth and impress you husbands.

Bennett and I head to the outfield to play some catch. Or, at least watch the rest of the family play catch.

Chillin' in the outfield. I thought it was pretty cool to get to see the ballpark from the field.

He looks like he could be a professional ballplayer, no?

Andy shows off his prize. What a great way to end our time at the ballpark!

Afterward we met up with Nanny for a yummy steak dinner at Saltgrass. Despite only about 30 minutes of total nap time throughout the day, Bennett was a champ! We were amazed that he was so easy going all day, including while we waited for a table and for our food at dinner. Even I was feeling a little grumpy from tiredness, heat and hunger by that point. What a sweet little one we have.

Jeff, I hope you enjoyed your special day and that every day you know how much we love and treasure you!

Going...Going...Gone!

This is one of Bennett's favorite new pastimes. Now when something is missing (the remote, a sippy cup, my phone) this cabinet is the first place I look.

Bluey Shooey (and Other Lake Adventures)

Last weekend we had the chance to hang out at Lake Conroe with our fabulous community group, minus the Penuel family (we missed you guys!). It was a wonderful time of relaxation and time with friends. We spent plenty of time in the sun, in the water (pool and lake) and chillin' on the screened porch.

The highlight of the trip was the BLUEBERRIES! It was opening weekend at a blueberry farm about half an hour from the house and we were all up, fed, and out the door, dressed in our berry pickin' best, by 8:30 Saturday morning.

At the farm we were handed buckets, directed to the prime real estate and told we were allowed to eat as much as we wanted right off the bushes. They don't use any pesticides or insecticides so all ripe fruit was fair game. Any extra berries that made their way into our buckets instead of our gullets were purchased at the bargain price of $1.50 per pound. What a deal!

It didn't take Bennett very long to remember that he really, REALLY likes blueberries. He was eating them about as fast as we could pull them off the branches. He quickly made friends with Charlotte, Lisa's three year old niece, as she fed him berries from her stash as well.

The boy was insatiable! He was downing berries by the fistful and there was no slowing him. He would toddle around until he found a bucketful to work on and then plop in the dirt to stuff his face. I wish we had weighed him on the way in and the way out to see how much he consumed.

We finally cut him off, thinking it might be possible to have too much of a good thing. The child even tried to pilfer some berries from the man in front of us in line to check out. As though he hasn't already consumed enough!

Poor kiddo was hot, tired and filthy dirty by the time we left. Jeff and I took home six pounds of the delicious fruit. All in I think our group of four couples picked over 30 pounds of blueberries!







Now, I'm sure that most of you moms that are ahead of me in your childrearing experience would not have been quite as surprised to find what I found that evening.

Yes, you guessed it.

Bennett had a HUGE, totally blue, berry-smelling blowout! It was the first of four major "Bluey Shooey" (credit to Russ Hulme for coining the phrase) diapers over the course of the next 24 hours. I could not believe how much blue poop came out of my darling child. It was absolutely amazing.

And, after the third or fourth diaper, his little bum was stained blue.

This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but you may notice the shadow of the stain creeping out between those sweet cheeks. For you to really get the full effect I would have had to take more graphic photos...so, you get the picture.


Lisa's mom made a couple of scrumptious blueberry pies AND homemade ice cream so we were all in blueberry heaven.

The rest of our time at the lake house was enjoyable and refreshing. Bennett loved the pool, he was pretty proud of himself to be walking around the wading pool like a big boy, but did not really enjoy swimming in the lake. I think he was freaked out by the sensation of floating with the life jacket on. We'll try again another time. The boat, on the other hand, was a hit. Especially since Mr. Clint let him "drive".





I know I only took pictures of my child (bad habit) but the weekend was really about getting away with some of our favorite people. The Lord has blessed us and our marriage so much through the encouragement, wisdom and friendship of these wonderful couples. We are all learning and growing together as we walk through life, striving to become better followers of Christ.

Thank you God for these wonderful people. They are all so precious to us!

Seeing Seattle

Over Memorial Day weekend Jeff, Bennett and I took a trip to Seattle with our fabulous friends Clint and Lisa Miller. Clint and Jeff are coworkers, we all serve together in Student Ministries and we're in the same community group. And now we are vacation buddies too. Good thing we all like each other!

The impetus for the trip was a wedding invitation from Joe, a a friend from Baylor that was in Chamber with Jeff and I. We decided a wedding was a great excuse for a mini vacation to a cool city. Somewhere along the way a long weekend morphed into to five days in Seattle with friends.

What a wonderful trip it was! I had never been to Seattle before and it is a beautiful city. We were lucky to experience two gorgeous days of sun and warm temperatures uncharacteristic of that area of the country. The locals were almost besides themselves with joy at the extra sunshine. I definitely still have the early-pregnancy queasiness and exhaustion going on so I didn't get to quite do and see as much as I would otherwise, but it was still a great trip.

Clint and Lisa have the fancy-schmancy camera which I covet (I'm saving my pennies for one of my very own) and I hope to share some of their pictures soon. For now I'll try to pare down my collection of less than stellar photos to a reasonable number that will give you a taste of our adventures.

Bennett entertained himself for much of the flight over by open and closing the bathroom door. Again and again. And again. Are we bad parents for allowing our child to play in airplane bathrooms to avoid a meltdown? I think the other passengers probably would answer "no".

With so much baby gear to haul across the country we decided to forgo a stroller and just use this backpack (thanks Rob and Haley!). I can say, as the one who did very little of the carrying, that it worked out great! Here Jeff totes Bennett back to the hotel for a nap after a yummy lunch at Noodle Ranch on the day of our arrival. Sweet B was asleep before we made it to the room.

I think Jeff looked like one hot dad schlepping his baby across town in that backpack.

Seattle's downtown library is super-cool with interesting architecture and unique interior decor. The children's library is hot pink, there is an intense red stairwell and hallway and, my favorite, neon green escalators.

Thursday evening we drove around the outskirts of the city, checking out the neighborhoods and stopping to take pictures of the gorgeous surroundings. I'm thinking I wouldn't hate to live with this view from my backyard.

Friday morning we were up early (Bennett seemed to think 5 am was a good time to be up and at 'em). After a steep walk down the the waterfront we enjoyed a yummy, filling breakfast at Lowell's in Pike's Place Market.

Jeff and Bennett outside the market. We shopped for fruit and picked up some sandwiches for the day's planned outing to the mountains.

The drive up to the top of the mountain took a bit longer than anticipated. While stopped for roadwork inside Olympic National Park we gave in to our hunger and enjoyed our picnic in the car.

This was a reassuring sign upon entering the Welcome Center.

Gorgeous. Simply amazing.

Possibly my favorite picture of the trip. The Parker family relaxing and enjoying God's fabulous creation.

Bennett was a little unsure about the snow. For a new walker it is a challenging surface.

We had planned on some hiking during our "nature day". As we weren't adequately dressed for the snow and biting wind at the top of the mountain we drove down a bit to find some warmer temps.

Lisa, Clint, Jeff and Bennett enjoyed a beautiful mountain hike while I stayed in the car for a much-needed preggo-nap. It was fabulous.

Saturday morning we just walked around downtown a bit. My favorite area was Pioneer Square. Beautiful!

Jeff, Bennett and I grabbed a pizza lunch at this tiny Italian restaurant. Cute, huh?

I have a very long story that explains why Jeff and I made it to the wedding that brought us to Seattle just in time to see the lovely couple leave the church, already husband and wife. But this entry is long enough already.

Suffice it to say we missed the ferry across the sound. Twice. The drive the long way around gave us plenty of time to let go of our extreme frustration.

Clint and Lisa were so kind to take Bennett for the day so we could attend the wedding (er...reception). Joe and Blythe could not have asked for better weather for their lovely outdoor reception. Here we are with the happy couple and the rest of the Baylor crew. Sic 'em!

Sunday morning my precious, amazing, fabulous husband took our early-bird boy out for a walk around town and let me sleep in dark, quiet hotel bliss!

Then we joined up with the Millers and went to church at Mars Hill. We scoped out a huge REI and had a fantastic lunch that (surprise!) ended up really cheap because of their unadvertised half-off Sundays. Sweet!

Sunday night we had our "grown-ups night out". Before leaving Dallas we researched childcare options and decided to leave our darling child with a stranger from a highly-recommended babysitting service. The sweet, grandmotherly figure came to our hotel and made the easiest $64 of her life reading and watching TV. B was asleep before we left and made not a peep the entire time we were gone.

On to our date night. We ate at the A.MAZ.ING. Dahlia Lounge of renowned Chef Tom Douglas. The food was delectable, the service impeccable and the decor lovely and intriguing. Good choice Clint!

After dinner we used up the rest of the babysitter's minimum four hours by finding a coffee house (not hard to do in Seattle) and playing a mean game of Spades, girls against boys. We haven't finished yet, but upon leaving Seattle the girls were in the lead.

Before leaving on Monday we headed back to the market where Lisa and I got to witness the fabled fish-throwing in action. They really do it! I didn't catch a picture of the fish in air, so you'll have to trust me. Lisa and I felt that this was an appropriate conclusion to round out our Seattle experience.

We wised up and didn't check the car seat on the flight home in hopes of getting an extra seat on board (since we didn't by Bennett a ticket). We were blessed with the extra room and the B Boy flew home in style.