Grace versus Goat

One of Ben's favorite things at our zoo is the petting zoo. I use the term petting zoo loosely, as it only has a small herd of goats. Regardless, it's always been a fun activity to visit their corral where you can pet them, brush them, and feed them. The goats have always been perfectly pleasant. I have proof, I swear.

See... here you go... what a sweet goat that little 8 month old Ben is petting.

And here we are again... NICE goat. And again, a year and a half later... "How are you, Mr. Calm, Relaxed Goat?"

Well, our opinion of the zoo goats has now been tainted. We were there this past weekend for a birthday party, and I took Ben and Grace into the petting zoo area. Ben took off to say hi to the goats, while I put Grace down to walk around in an uncrowded area. She took about three steps before two goats decided that they were going to spar. It happened so fast. One minute we were walking around by ourselves, the next minute Grace was plowed over by two crazed goats. I mean PLOWED. She landed face down in the gravel and slid across the ground like she was sliding into home plate. She was covered in dirt and grime.... even in her mouth, poor baby. (I'm not even going to begin to think about the yuckiness that was the dirt & gravel in the goat area.) When I got her all cleaned up, I saw that she was going to have a nice little shiner and some scrapes to go with it. She cried hard for a minute or two, but she got over it fairly quickly. We went straight from there to the party area for cake and ice cream, and that went a LONG way to smooth things over.

Here she is with her goat injuries...

We'll probably be avoiding the goat petting area (aka war zone) for a while. We'll stick to petting Army... he's the same size and color, and he can be counted on to never go faster than 1 mile per hour.

The (Asian) Artist

Ben wanted to show off (especially for Grammy & Grandad)

using his new easel and paints!

Here he is showing off his fancy smock...

It fits great!

Working on his first painting.
Using ALL the colors and doing a great job! The finished project. It's a tree (bottom left) and a bunch of birds, for those of you without an eye for art. ;)

You know it wouldn't be a Ben activity if there wasn't a humorous anecdote to tell. When he finished painting, he told me that he had painted it for our friend Drew. (This normally wouldn't be relevant information, but Drew is Asian). I reminded him that Drew and Jamie had just moved away (Jamie is an Air Force doctor - we were sad to see them go!) He thought for a second and said, "Well, then I'll give it to Mr. Ikki." (Ikki is our neighbor from across the street, and happens to be the only other Asian that Ben knows personally.) Apparently, it was VERY important to Ben that the recipient of his work be of Asian descent. I have NO IDEA how this child's mind works, but he cracks me up!

Funny Grace

We are enjoying Gracie Belle's little personality more and more each day! She is a very silly little 14 month old. Just like her brother, she keeps us laughing all day long!

Who needs sippy cups when you can steal Mommy's water mug?

Aaaahhhhh! So refreshing!
She kept bringing me bows to put in her hair.
Then she sat down to read a book about tractors.
It is obviously very important to balance the girlie with the macho.
She also insists on having snacks at the big kids' table with Bubba.
CHEESE! (Literally & figuratively)

And finally, here she is with her new friend, Fievel. She found him in Bubba's room and has been carrying him around. He's as big as she is (actually, his head is twice as big as hers), but he does make for a cuddly bedtime buddy!

Better than a hallelujah!

I love dance parties with my Ben. He initiated this one himself. (Hence the mellow music.) Normally I would put on something a little more peppy, but my boy can wiggle to any tempo!

Ben sings "Five Little Ladybugs"

Ben is singing one of his favorites,  "Five Little Ladybugs". I apologize for the horrible quality of the filming but Grace someone who shall remain nameless was trying to turn the camera on herself. Also, please do not be concerned about the 3rd little ladybug who unfortunately was eliminated when "one of them stepped on the other one's toe." Uh-oh, there she goes!

And... she's off!

We officially have a walker on our hands. Our little Gracie Bell took her first steps (3 in a row) the day after she turned 11 months. (The EXACT same timing that Ben took his first steps - crazy). Two short weeks later and she has abandoned crawling all together. It is so funny, because crawling would get her from point A to point B so much faster. She is a determined and independent little thing. She'll pause, squat, and readjust 10 times just to make it across the room, but she is 100% committed to being a toddler.

Everyone marvels at her skills, not because she's walking exceptionally early, but because she's the size of some 6 month olds that I know, so it appears that she's doing things she is much too little to do. My cousin says she looks like a Weeble-Wobble. I liken it more to a much cuter, less horrifying Chucky Doll. This is probably my favorite milestone, though. It's so much easier to play outside with a walker than with a baby that's trying to crawl around through dirt or on cement. I think we'll be catching up on some trips to the park and the zoo in the near future!

First Pool Party!

What warm weather we've been having! Yay for the first impromptu, neighborhood pool party of the season. Double yay that Gracie Belle is big enough to get in on the action! The kids had a great time. Thanks, Liz, for always hosting these, and for reminding me of yet another reason why I'm going to miss being your neighbor!

We've outgrown 1 pool - so we designated a "boy pool" and a "girl pool". There is Avery, trying to sneak into the boys' pool. No one was surprised. :)

Check out Grace - holding her own with the big kids!

Girls rule! Avery and Elise were so sweet to Grace.

And this is why we had to have separate pools - crazy boys! Cole was around somewhere...

I LOVE POOL PARTIES!!!