Ben's 4th Birthday

After the trip to Holdiday World yesterday, we expected the kids to be completely wiped out, but they were so excited about Ben's birthday that they kept the energy high. Maggie said that she wanted to have her birthday again, so Ben said he would share his with her. He even let her open most of his gifts for him, and they have been sharing his new "GeoTrax" all day.

We invited both sets of grandparents over for a grill-out to celebrate.

mmmm.... BIRTHDAY CAKE....

Ben has celebrated all four of his birthdays thus far wearing this same birthday crown and topping his cake with this same frog-prince.

He asked for a chocolate cake with fudge for frosting. He even specified that he wanted frosting in the middle of the two layers. (picky, picky) I have always remembered that my sister, Amy, made my fourth birthday cake. It was pink and blue with big marshmallows baked inside. I don't know how she accomplished this. I put marshmallows in Ben's cake batter, but they mostly melted during baking. There was only a hint of marshmallow by the time we ate the cake, but it was still really good!

Holiday World 2009

Our first trip to Holiday World was a HUGE success. The kids were great travellers on the 3+ hour trip, not even asking to stop once, and they were total troopers the entire day. Brian and I thought we would be leaving the park by mid-afternoon, but we actually stayed until after the water park closed. We spent almost the entire day in the water park (since it was above 90 degrees), but I got most of our pictures during our last hour, which we spent in the "Christmas" section where the toddler roller coasters are located.

Airplains, mini-rockets, bumper-boats, a seahorse carousel, etc. My favorite thing was to accompany Ben on this crazy ride that took us slowly up and then dropped us straight down. I thought he would hate it, but our little dare-devil LOVED it. He giggled and giggled. He rode it two more times - once with Mommy and once all by himself (so I could watch his expression).

We ended our day with theme-park food: a funnel cake and cotton candy. This was Maggie's first experience with cotton candy. It was so funny. She kept saying, "My hands... STICKY!"

Oh, and we had our picture taken with Santa Clause. This might have to be this year's Christmas card picture.

First Day at the Pool

After MUCH begging on Ben's part, we have finally made it to the swimming pool for the first time this summer. I'm sorry to report that the heater is broken in the main pool (as it was last year), so the water temperature was less than desirable. Ben didn't seem to mind. Maggie's lips turned blue, but it didn't stop her either.

Dan Zanes Concert

Last weekend (May 31st), we went to the Dan Zanes concert at Hilbert Circle Theater. We have been waiting for this concert for months. I was so bummed that about 90 minutes before we were supposed to leave, Maggie suddenly came down with a fever and began vomiting. She LOVES to dance, and this concert would have been ten times as fun with her there. Of course, she won't remember that she missed it, but we will. It took Ben until about the 3rd-to-last song to really come out of his shell, but when he did... WHOAH! He was a dance-machine! We had a blast, and we will definitely get tickets again the next time Dan Zanes & Friends are in town!

Neighborhood Campout 2009

Once again, the end of the school year signifies the time of the Annual Lakes at Hazel Dell all-neighborhood camp-out. Perfect weather this year. We invited our friends, the Sweeneys to join us for the fun.

Bub's Burgers sold dinner, and everyone ate burgers and dogs. I worked the kids' games, which Ben and Maggie totally enjoyed because of all the awesome stuff they won!

Definitely, the best part for our kids is the whole tent experience. Maggie really wanted to spend the night, but we thought it would be too much for a two-year-old to stay out all night with Daddy and Ben. She still got to put on her jammies and watch Madagascar 2 with all the kids, but she went home with Mommy after the movie.

Yes, for those of you who follow my blog, I'm actually creating this entry a year after it happened. I was putting in the 2010 camp-out pictures, and I realized that I hadn't made an entry last year for the 2009 camp-out. These are the kind of fun events that I don't want to exclude from my blog, so I'm putting it in - a full year later!

Avery & Alex Wall

We FINALLY got to meet our new friend, Alex Wall today. We have been waiting since January to meet this little guy, and the wait was worth it. He's the happiest little dude under the sun.

I thought that Maggie would be so interested in the baby since she loves to play with her "baby," but she paid him no attention. She was more interested in posing for the camera (as usual). She and Avery also managed to get into a bit of trouble spilling yogurt smoothies and playing in the pantry. Thanks for coming over today, Avery and Alex!

Farm Fieldtrip

We took a fieldtrip to Uncle Jim's farm today to see the cows and chickens. Ben remarked that he had never seen chickens before. He was really timid about the chickens, but Uncle Jim convinced him to walk right into the cow pasture and up to the cows. Ben and Maggie were fascinated by the new "baby cow." Maggie kept calling to them, "Cow... Cow....!"

Happy Easter!

Easter morning was just as much fun as Christmas morning had been this year. Ben came to our room after finding a candy-filled egg outside his bedroom door. He didn't even open it until he found us to tell us about it. I asked him what was inside, and he said, "I was waiting for you and Daddy and Maggie to wake up first!" (good kid, or what?) So, we went to Maggie's room, armed with cocoa in hand to wake her up. She was thrilled to find some candy-filled eggs too. However, I think she would have been just as happy to sit on the stairs and eat the contents of the first one she found -- and do nothing more.

She had her face covered with chocolate within seconds...

and she ended up eating nothing else for the entire day.

We participated in the egg hunt at our church where we once again ran into our friend, Alexa, and her mommy, Michelle.

And when we returned home, it was MORE chocolate for Maggie!

Maggie's first haircut

Maggs finally got her first haircut today. No Cookie Cutters for this kid! No-no, she had to go to a salon... in Broad Ripple. I couldn't let just anyone cut her hair, and I wanted my own hairdresser to do it, so Maggie got to visit Static Salon. Ben was happy that even Mommy's salon had suckers.

BEFORE...

DURING...

...and AFTER!