Ben's First Job

I can't believe its December already.  It seems like fall just started and now we're already close to winter.  Fortunately this year I had Ben around to help me with all the yard cleanup.  He was a big help.  Maybe not so much with actually getting the work done (of which I still have lots to do), but more with keeping us all entertained while doing the yard work.

Since this was the first fall where I could finally put Ben to work, we first had to explain to him how the leaves fall off the trees this time of year. 

I think he understood, but more likely he was side-tracked by the airplane that flew over.

So now it was time to get to work. Of course Ben wanted to use whatever tool I have no matter how big it is.

That obviously didn't work out very well for either of us.  Ben wasn't very efficient with the big rake, and well, I'm not very efficient using my hands to rake leaves.  Something had to be done.  But not before we took a break from all that work and took a ride around the neighborhood to watch all those other crazy people who try to blow their leaves off their lawn. 

I explained to Ben that raking leaves is the better method because then we could rake together and talk at the same time.   So on my next trip to the Depot, I came back with this...

 I think he actually did move a couple leaves, but mostly he was just combing the grass.  We moved to the backyard next where he provided some more entertainment.

Ooops, we're thirsty.  Time for a break again!

OK, back to work again. 
Things were going well until Ben decided that two rakes were probably better than one.

 

Yep, time for a break again.

Sorry Ben, Daddy can't sit down yet, there's still lots of work to do. 

How about you go and feed the gargoyle?

Yes, raking can be lots of fun...

 ...but I think it's more fun to play in the yard with your friends.  

So Ben invited some of his friends over from daycare for a play date.

And everyone piled into the wagon for rides around the yard!

Later on we even had car races!

Grandma came over one day to play with Ben in the yard too.

Ben wanted to show off his new cottage.

 So the two of them sat down on his front porch and talked about things.  I'm not sure what they were talking about, but Ben seems pretty serious about it.

Fall is lots of fun. It's so much fun that, well... it makes you just want to hug a dog!

Rest in Peace, our beloved Lybbie Marie
~1992 to December 3, 2010
We miss you!

Treat and More Treats

There was nothing 'Tricky' about our Halloween this year.  It actually turned out to be a great holiday weekend for us.  It worked out that we got to spend lots of time with family over the weekend - with family members that we don't usually see.  AND, we got to eat candy, so it doesn't get better than that!

We started out our holiday weekend with Ben's first daycare Halloween parade.  Well, I can't really say that it was much of a parade though.  There were a bunch of little kids dressed up in costumes, but you can hardly call it a parade when they were all just running across a parking lot to get to the area with all the candy.  It was still a great event though.

Ben was a skeleton for this first Halloween event.  It was an easy costume that didn't require any head gear, which Ben hates.  Well, actually, to be honest, this 'costume' was a pair of pajamas that Jill had bought.  It didn't matter though.  Ben was very excited to be a part of this event.  Can you tell?

After the 'parade' the older kids all sang a few songs, but there real focus was on all the little tins of candy placed around the edge of the play area.  After a few songs they let the kids all go 'trick or treating' to each of the little tins where they got to choose a piece of candy from each one.

Ben, never really having experienced candy before, got a little extra help from Mom & Dad as to which pieces of candy to choose.  We made sure he picked things that we liked...   This whole event was all very interesting to him at first... Once he got his first taste of candy, then it was all about the candy!

Ben enjoyed going around and picking pieces of candy to put in his bucket.  But then he started getting a little carried away as to what he could take...

No, no, Ben...  you can't take the pumpkin. 

One of the really nice things about this afternoon was that Ben had BOTH of his Grandma's there to help celebrate Halloween with him.

The next day of the weekend was not a Halloween related event, but we spent the day with Jill's cousin and his wife at their home in North Jersey.  This was the first time we were visiting them and they live in a beautiful old farmhouse right on the Delaware river.  We all enjoyed our time together with family.  Then the next day was Halloween and it worked out that my brother and his wife (who live in Kentucky) were able to spend the day with us on their way back from visiting their daughter in Boston.  This was the first time that Ben got to meet his Uncle Dan and Aunt Jan.

But when it came time to go out Trick or Treating, he didn't care much at all about anything.  We tried getting him in his Elmo costume first, but let's just say that it didn't fit right.  As a result, it put him in quite a sour mood.  But it was Halloween and he had to dress up.  It was too cold for the PJ Skeleton outfit, so we put him in his 'backup' Monkey costume.  As you can see, he wasn't happy about that either.

Not even Grandma could make him smile at this point.   

But can you guess what finally did make him happy?

I bet you guessed it...  CHOCOLATE!

Trick or Treating was a little bit confusing for Ben at first.  He didn't want to carry the bucket..  he didn't know why were were going up to the houses when we normally just walk past all of them on the street.  And what were all these other strangely dressed kids doing out running around?   I think he thought we were nuts, but he was a good sport and just going along with everything.

At first I think I was happier about Trick or Treating than Ben was...

But once we realized that he needed to taste a piece of candy to understand why we were doing all of this, things changed.  Then it was all about getting to the next house to get more candy. 

Ben led the way...

Even with both hands were full with Candy,
Ben still indicated the way to go!

Oh, and if there was a dog at the house... well, we were there for a while.

(Got to love that little curly tail!)

We weren't sure how this idea of Trick or Treating was going to work out when we started, but it definitely turned out to be a fun time. 

Especially because both Ben's Aunt Donna and Uncle Dan were there too!

So the, what do you do after a hard day of trick or treating?  

Well, now its time to trade up..

How about if we trade these peanut butter cups for that big bag of M&M's?

Fall Pocono Adventures

Jill, Ben & I recently spent a long weekend at our friend George's Pocono house.  I've been going to this house with George and our other friends at least once a year since high school (almost 25 years ago!).  So going with with Jill and Ben was a new experience for me.  We had a great time and even did some things that I've never done before in all the years that I've spent in the Poconos.



We drove up late on a Friday night so Ben slept the entire way there and stayed asleep until the next morning.  Since we've done with this Ben before, I've often thought that it must be really weird to fall asleep in one place and then wake up someplace completely different.  So it was no surprise that when he woke up on Saturday morning and he was definitely confused as to where he was.  I walked him around the house and pointed out all the cool things around and in about five minutes he was off exploring.  There's lots of interesting things to find and play with in George's house.  This horn being a fine example....

There were also two kayaks sitting in the living room and porch that he climbed in and out of a dozen times, a couple TVs with about 6 remotes that he carried around the house for most of the weekend.   I was excited to show Ben the lake, because he's never seen one before.   I don't think he realized that the lake was actually water until I threw a little rock in to make a splash.  As soon as he realized the lake was actually a big pool, he wanted to go in.  This is pretty much why I don't have any pictures of this moment; I was busy trying to keep him from running into the cold lake!  I finally just had to pull him away and we explored some other areas and we even made a new friend!

 Then we discovered that leaves are fun to walk around in and kick...

Whew... time for a break..



There are a few things that we know Ben likes to do that are also available in the Poconos - playgrounds and zoos.  We've taken him to both many times before, so why not in the Poconos too!  So that afternoon we took a ride to a local zoo in the woods.  The nice thing about Pennsylvania is they are a little more relaxed with things..  When we go to zoos or petting zoos in NJ, we usually have to pet or feed the animals through the fence.  But not in Pennsy!   Ben got to jump right in and get real close to the animals!

Look at Ben feeding a giraffe! 

And here he is herding some turtles!

And having a discussion with some goats!

No, no, Ben... you can't stick your finger in the goat's nose.

Then throughout the weekend we took many walks around the neighborhood and of course stopped at a couple of the playgrounds.  We certainly can't walk by a playground without stopping - especially when there's a big duck staring at you!

And a Frog too!

After checking out the duck and the frog, we headed to the swing - but we usually only last a few minutes here...

And then we're off to the slide.  

Little slides are fun, but...

Ben decided he was ready for this big slide!  Up we both went!

  And down Ben goes!!
And check out they psychedelic picture on the way down! 
Yes, that's Jill at the top end and there is a big smile on Ben's face too. 
We must have gone up and down this big slide 20 times.

 

After sliding for a while, our little eagle eye spotted some dogs walking by, so we chased them down we got to pet them for a while.  Their masters couldn't stand there all day and needed to keep walking, so we stared at them as they walked away and then spent five minutes waving good bye to them.  Too cute.

The next day Ben and I decided that we would try going out on the kayak together.  Jill was pretty much freaked out about it, but she felt a little better when I told her that most of the lake was no deeper than my knee.  So we gave it a try.  The toughest part was getting Ben in the life preserver.  He wasn't happy about that at all.

But once we were in the water, all he wanted to do was play in the water.

So we didn't stay out long in the kayak.  We headed back to the dock where we took off Ben's shoes and let him dangle his feet in the water and use some sticks to make splashes.

I think maybe we'll wait until next year to try kayaking again.  We'll stick to swimming and splashing in the pool for now.

What better way to end the day than to build a fire. 
Ben helped Daddy put the wood in the fireplace.

 And we all enjoyed watching the fire as we all drifted off to sleep I think before 9PM.  I can't remember... we were all exhausted!