Too. Much. Fun.

This summer has proven itself to be PACKED full of fun.  For the boys, and for us!  Lucky Noah got to go to the Dells last week.  Pops and JoJo (my uncle and aunt) decided to take their grandson, CJ on a special trip.  CJ needed a buddy, since he doesn't have any male first cousins on the Benhart side, he opted for a 2nd cousin, NOAH!  The left on Tuesday and returned on Thursday.

The lucky boys even had their own Wolf Den with bunk beds and their own TV, how COOL?!

They did lots of fun things including going to the water park, taking a duck ride, hitting the arcade, and going to Paul Bunyan's for breakfast.

Ice cream, toys, balloon animals, face paint? Yes, please!  They came back tired but happy!

Don't worry about the middle man, he had his share of special fun too!  He celebrated his "birthday buddy" status with Nina, our fav server at Palmer Place.  And he had a special day and night with Bamma and Bampa!

 This dude just hung out at home with Mommy!  He's figured out more and more how those hands work, putting them to good use grabbing his pacifier.

 Sam's birthday extravaganza (that will last a good 2 weeks) continued as Uncle Josh gave him his own Angry Birds suitcase.  Noah has one, so now they match and can both pack for weekend trips.  Excitement!

 Noah has been earning his allowance by diligently feeding the dog.  He finally chose to spend some cash on a new superhero playdough set.  Good choice, considering he strongly thought about some "seen on TV" items such as Oxy Clean.

 We took a Saturday family trip to our local pool.  It was so fun to take turns swimming with our little fish/boys.  

 This guy did amazingly well just sitting with his feet in the water.  His hair gets so curly when wet!

 And... He turned 4 months old!  He wants desperately to crawl these days, swimming those legs while on his tummy is hilarious to watch!

 He loves being outside and watching his brothers play.  We think those eyes are looking hazel right now, but we'll see.  He's sleeping through the night no problem, and gives us lots of smiles and the occasional grunty chuckle.  

 We've also spent lots of time outside lately.  Trying to wear out the big guys in the early part of the day to prevent fighting or boredom has been the mantra.  Sammy strikes a "Spiderman" pose during a break from our little pool.

 We did some mentos in Coke experimentation...

 as expected, Diet always works best!

 And the bottles got reused for jet packs!

 There was a bike/car wash in the driveway this week.

 And a vet trip for Ellie who licked an elbow sore open (gross!).  Always something around here, never a dull moment.  

 Slip n Slide at the end of the slide?  Sure, why not?!

 Popsicles at 10am, sure, why not?!  Summer is flying by, but we're living it up here!

It's July whaaaaaat?

How the HECK is already July 10th!  We just started July!  Well here's a recap of our early July activities.  We've been embracing box projects lately, since we have plenty of diaper boxes (eyebrow raise to my almost 3 year old who refuses to potty train).  We did rocket ship boxes and used our spiderman duct tape to make straps (the headbands were an afterthought).  We took them out to test outside, despite the windy conditions they held up well.

 Ike did his best impression of a fat Australian.

 And Sam was just... (sigh)...Sam.  This picture could be useful blackmail in the future.

 Ike also got his first try at dress up.  Of course we have a cape his size, what kind of household do you think we have!?

Then we headed up to the lake!  The boys and I stayed for nearly a week, Mike was able to join us for 3 days which was fantastic.  The older guys went fishing off of Big Uncle Dave and Aunt Deb's new dock on the channel.  My dad's brother, Uncle Scott came too.  It was awesome!

Noah was psyched to catch an actual fish, Sammy just kept saying "I caught a worm!" excitedly over and over again.

There were several boat rides...

 ...and wardrobe choices made by the "Original Three" that we dare not speak of again.

 I brought my pump and my husband (who took one for the team and allowed me to let loose), so I had a few of these :) with Josh's girlfriend Kjersten.  We had a GRAND time!

 Daniel and Brian enjoyed a Sam style wake up, "Yeeeehawww!"

 Uncle Scott brought some of my grandpa's things from his days in the Calvary, cool!

 Sam tried on Daddy's glasses and did his "smart" look!

 My mom thought it would be "funny" to put Ike in THIS.  It was not funny, he was not amused.

 So after a change into more appropriate college gear, he showed Uncle Josh his dance moves!

 Noah spent a night over on the island with CJ.  This was a good precursor to their 3 day/2 night trip to the Dells with Pops and JoJo.

And, as always, there was the 4th of July parade on the island.  This years theme was military.  So Brad converted the trailer to a bomber.  Pretty amazing!

Ike sported some camo pants, but opted out of the parade.  Rather, mommy opted out of walking on the muddy dirt road in flip flops.  Maybe next year kiddo!

So, we returned home to Roselle to another dog.  We're watching Faith and Evan's pootch, Anya, while they are on vacation.  She is very sweet and does well with the boys.  

 We did some cornstarch/water/paint art in the bathtub.

 Art or crime scene?  You decide.

 This guy had some solo time as Noah headed off to the Dells and Sam had a special day/night with Bamma and Bampa.  I think he relished the quiet and mom's full attention.

 So, that was our week!  Tune in next week for pics of Noah at the Dells and other summer fun!  

June wrap up

While we prepare for all the fun that July has to offer (4th of July, Sam's birthday, etc) we had a pretty quiet week around here.  But it was still fun and productive, which are my main two goals of summertime.  Bampa has managed to successfully indoctrinate the boys into the Colorado State/Cam the Ram fan club.  I'm amazed we have gear to fit all three boys in their current sizes.

 The reward for last week's behavior chart was mini-golfing with Mommy.  Ms. Laura stayed home with Isaac so the big guys and I could hit the links.  

 The project of the week was Lego organizing!  It may not seem glamorous, but it's been on my mind lately as we acquire more and more Legos and I realize this is only the beginning of Lego Land in our home.  Ergo, a simple system was needed.  Boom, Pinterest to the rescue!  I found a system someone was using for Lego storage that was from Ikea.  So after mini golf I ran out and got it.  The boys and I spent the better part of 2 days sorting legos into colors.

 And voila!  Here it is!  Again, may not be the most exciting for you all, but for me it made my week :)

 We made some glitter goo/slime with clear glue, glitter, food coloring, water, and borax.  Awesome!

 Some cheap eye patches more than paid for themselves through hours of Nick Fury and pirate role playing.  Yep, that's a one eyed spiderman there, betcha never heard of him, eh?

 And Sam walked Ellie, or Ellie walked Sam.  Depending on how you look at it.

 Lastly, we got Isaac's 3 month pictures.  He is so dang cute with his coy little smiles now!

So here are our 3 boys each at 3 months.  First Noah, then Sam, then Isaac.  We think that Isaac looks like both of his brothers.  He has more Noah-like features (coloring, face shape, and nose), but some Sam too (eyes and mouth).  And the hair, well the hair stands on it's own.  Ike makes a very strong case for us to stop having kids before I give birth to a 14 pound chimpanzee.  He is the biggest and hairiest of the brood!  We can't wait to see who he looks like as he grow!