Summer (and some Fall) of Fun Recap: Part 2

Living Planet Aquarium
Due to Logan's accident from camping we ended up staying home over the 24th of July (we were going to go camping again with Ben's parents but decided that wouldn't be very smart with a boy with new stitches). So instead we decided to do some partying here.
On Saturday, we took Logan to the Living Planet Aquarium down in Sandy. Although the aquarium isn't huge (what to you expect in Utah), Logan had lots of fun. His favorite fish was the 'nemo' fish of course. He also enjoyed watching the big shark swim around. He also wanted to get in and swim with the sting rays. I seriously think he would have dived in if I would have let him. It was fun to watch how excited he was about the fish!
Cherry Hill
Logan and I also ventured to Cherry Hill since I had never been. I think his favorite thing was the Lazy River and unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of him in there. Nevertheless, he loved floating in the tube around and around.

He loved played with his cousin Abby at Pirates Cove. It took him a while to warm up to all the water but eventually started to like it. After we had played for quite some time he enjoyed eating his favorite snack, Craisens, on his towel. I had so much fun just enjoying a fun day with him and wish we would have done this sooner in the summer. I can't wait to have more of these in the future.
New Job
Ben recently found a job with Overstock.com as a Web Designer. He is loving it so far and so I am. I am now working just three days a week which makes my balance of family and work seem a little more even. We are very grateful he was able to find a job in this stuff economy!

Discovering Popsicles
Football

One evening we were hanging out at Grandma Greats and all of the boys were playing football. Logan wanted to be a part of it and lined up with them and would run back and forth. All of his cousins are so cute to play with him.

When he got bored with playing football he wanted to climb a tree because he had seen his cousin David do so. Ben helped him get up there and he was quite proud of himself. Sheep Dog Trials

Over Labor day weekend we headed up to the Soldier Hollow sheep dog trials for the third year in a row. Unfortunately, Ben wasn't feeling very well this day so Logan and I ventured up to the event by ourselves and met up with my family. Every year we get there earlier and still don't feel like we have enough time. We went on the finals day of the trial and the course seemed a lot more challenging than in the past. Several dogs just disappeared up the hill and their owners had to go get them.
Logan loved to watch the dogs run up the hill, but when they got too far away he lost interest. He mostly enjoyed just walking around the venue. We tried to get him to take a nap a few times during the day but it never worked. He would sit in his chair like this.......but never give in. Finally at like 4 in the afternoon after watching some of the Splash Dogs he crashed on his Uncle Jeff. We then just layed him down on a blanket while we watched some more herding. I love going to this event and it made me want to go do some agility with cayman. I hope that we can keep going to this event every year!

He did it!

It is official, Ben is now a graduate! He graduated on Friday, May 8th with a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design.

Ben and his family.

Ben with my family.

We couldn't be more proud of this guy. He has worked so hard the last four years. He truly gave his all and we are so proud of him. I don't think I could even tell you how many hours he spent on all of his projects. All I can say is it paid off. I think Ben is glad to be done and now we are off on a much needed family vacation to celebrate!

Back to School

Ben and Logan went back to school yesterday!

Ben started his last year of graphic design school at the U. I think he is very excited to be done soon.

Logan started Kindercare. We didn't have much luck with our blog ad as far as finding a sitter so we decided we needed to make another plan (but that you all who kept your ears open for us!) We really liked the idea of having someone come to our house, but after researching it many of them want $10 or more an hour and let's face it, Ben and I can't really afford that right now. So we decided to go and check out a daycare I had heard people talk about called Kindercare. We went to an open house night and checked out the facility. Ben and I were both quite impressed. Each child has their own bed and dresser set. They have tons of toys that Logan just went nuts over. His favorite was a mirror with a bar in front of it. He could stand up like a big boy in front of the mirror and he thought he was so cool. They also let all of the kids be on their own schedule. They have you fill out a form each morning telling them what you would like them to do today--i.e. work on tummy time or taking a sippy in our case. So after thinking about it for awhile we decided to sign Logan up. Part of us was excited to have Logan interact with other kids. The other part was nervous that he wasn't going to get the same attention he does at home with a one on one sitter. In his infant class there are 8 kids under the age of 1 and there are 2 teachers. We didn't have to commit to any certain length of time so we decided to give it a try. At least this was a sure thing. They will be reliable and always there unlike nannies who often have schedule changes you have to work around. We figured if we don't like it we can then start to look for a nanny by advertising in the U paper or something.

So Logan's first day was on Monday and they said he did really well. I was most worried about him going down for naps because they have to sleep in the same room that all the kids are playing in so I was worried there would be too much going on for him to calm down. However, they said he did great. He didn't fuss going down and took 2 one hour naps. He usually takes a little bit longer naps but I was glad they were able to get him down without a fight. They said he was very cuddly which they loved. They also said he loved playing with the other kids but didn't like it when they got too close to him. I thought that was funny. I guess he needs his personal space. He definitely enjoyed all the new toys and ate ALL the food I took him which was like 12-14 ounces. The teachers were impressed. He still wouldn't take a sippy with formula in it for them but I guess we will keep working on that.

I will admit I was nervous all day about him and how he was doing. However, when I picked him up I could tell he was just fine. He just crashed on the way home as you can see. He hadn't taken a nap in like 4 hours so I knew he was pretty tired. He woke up after a good power nap and was just a happy lark at home so he couldn't have gotten too traumatized.

I think this picture sums it all up.......

Music Time

Almost every day Ben takes Logan into our front room and plays his guitar for him. He calls it music time. Logan loves to just sit and listen to Ben. His favorite song is a "Nothing Else Matters" by Metalica. He also enjoys "Danny Boy" the Eric Clapton version and "Hey there Delilah" by Plain White Tees.

He loves it when Ben picks the strings. Logan has even reached out to strum it himself. I love watching Ben play his guitar. I loved it when he would play his guitar to me when we were dating. Since we have gotten married, he hasn't played as much. I love that he is playing more and sharing it with Logan. He really is so good and I think music is a great thing for kids.

Here are some pictures of Ben playing to him. I think Logan's face in the second picture shows you how much he enjoys music time. He looks so content!

Ben's New Discovery

This weekend Ben discovered our toaster oven. We have had this toaster oven since we got married and have not ever really used it. I am not sure what inspired Ben to get it out but he decided to try to make some things with it. He first started by making a Turkey Melt. The first sandwiches started consisting of the usual turkey, cheese, mayo, etc. However, the creative side of Ben then kicked in and he started to add spices to the sandwiches. Then he decided to break away from sandwiches and to make tacos in the toaster oven. Needless to say we had a fun weekend experimenting and enjoying our toaster oven. I have to admit it makes a nice hot sandwich that tastes a lot like those at Quizno's. It was fun to watch Ben get so excited over his artistic creations. This is another confirmation to me that Ben's artistic mind is always in force!

The Office

For Christmas, Ben received Season Two of the Office. He has been big on this series from the start. I have to admit that I didn't get as involved in it. I had seen an occasional episode but hadn't followed the season. Over Christmas break and on my maternity leave I have successfully watched all of Season Two. I have to confess that now I am hooked under one condition: I watch the episode with Ben. Half of the experience or humor of the Office to me is watching Ben's reactions. He exhibits big crackles of laughter at the pranks Jim plays on Dwight and is almost brought to tears at times. I think he secretly wishes he worked at Dunder Mifflin at times instead of his technician job. For those of you who know Ben's air vent story at his current work don't you think that would have made a good episode of the Office. For now we will just wait for the writers strike to be over and the new episodes to come and bring more laughter to our home!!

Hark! Yon House!

Ben has always been a big decorator of houses for the holidays. He use to hang up Christmas lights for a business and his parent's house could be seen the instant you turned the corner because of all the lights. We have never put up lights at our first house, but this year over his Thanksgiving Break, Ben spent the weekend decorating our home. Here is a picture of what it looks like at night. I think it turned out very classy. In case you can't tell, we have two clear lights and then one red light on the house. Then we have some lighted garland with red bows hanging from our porch and two big red bows on our front porch columns. There are also four small lighted pine trees lining the path up to our door. Best of all, all of these lights are on timers to automatically come on when it gets dark! This ensures that we always have our lights on to show our cheer during the holidays! So I guess we are a little early with our lights and might be causing a few premature "Hark! Yon House!" comments.