Fall 2013: Part 2

More Fall Fun!

We took a trip to the Knoxville Zoo on warm Sunday in October.  It was Anna's first trip ever!  And, Ben hadn't been since he was 2, so it was really fun to see how excited they were.  The highlight was getting to feed a giraffe! 

 

 

Anna didn't know what to think about the elephants....they're pretty big!

Ben was all about the petting zoo, but Daddy had to give Anna a little extra support to pet the goats :)

Yee ha!

We also had our annual family reunion "Sumner/Caldwell".  Ben had a BALL playing with cousins Hank and Tyler.

 

Halloween was super fun this year....Ben had the coolest astronaut costume, and Anna was a precious little lady bug.

Trick or Treating in Lake Ridge neighborhood with all our little friends...

 

 

Fall 2013: Part 1

Noteworthy happenings this fall....

Ben played his first team sport!  Number 11 on the soccer field:

Fun times watching Chandler's football games...

 

 

Of course, Fall wouldn't be complete without a trip to Fender's Farm!

 

 

 

Mimi came to visit ~ always a fun time :)

And Anna took a pony ride at a fun birthday party!

 

Hilton Head 2013

This summer, we went to Hilton Head again on vacation.  It was a really fun trip....Grandmama and Grandaddy went with us; both Mason and Chandler happened to have friends down there at the same time to hang out with; and we had bikes this time ~ fun, fun trip!

This trip was extra special because Ben's birthday happened to fall during that week.  Beachy birthday celebrations were had!

 

Ben is 4!

 Daddy taught Ben how to ride the waves ~ first time ever!

 

Fishing with Bobo...

Mommy and Anna

Ben and Anna's favorite thing to do was play in the waves.  Here they are, having a big time!!

 

Ben and Mason

Ben and Chandler

 

This beach trip was extra fun with Grandmama and Grandaddy there!

 

Our little bumblebee :)

The big excitement one day was a real sailboat ride for Mark and Chandler.  They took it out all by themselves with another dad and son, and actually had a Man Overboard situation!  It was all in fun, though, and everyone made it back safe...whew!

 

Cutie pies!

I adore this picture!!

And we wrapped up a fun week with a family bike ride to the General Store for ice cream! 

 

Summer So Far ~ 2013

I really can't believe it, but school's starting back soon!!  Our summer has flown by...thank goodness it's not over yet ;)

Ben and Anna (and Mommy!) have really loved how the weather has been so pleasant.  I don't think there has been one day that I thought, "Ugh, it's too hot to go out and play."  So we have been outside a LOT.  Up until we went to the beach, their new (homemade out of a Rubbermaid bin) sand table was their favorite thing to play with.  After the beach, sand = old news.  Ha, ha!

Cousin Hank, along with Aunt Anne and cousin Max, came to visit and we had a ball!  Matching outfits were found for the boys and that seemed to multiply the fun by 100! 

Hank and Ben

Chandler was in lots of baseball tournaments this summer.  Here they are cheering him on. (Well, actually constantly climbing bleachers and raiding the cooler for ice to play with, but that's ok!)

 

Although it hasn't been to hot to play outside most days, it has rained a lot this summer.  So, we've found some fun indoor things to do.  Ben thought this "no mess" finger painting was cool...two paint colors, baby oil and waterbeads all sealed up in a bag taped to the table.  He squished it around for almost an hour!  Anna wasn't as impressed, so he squished hers around, too. 

 This might be my absolute favorite picture of Ben and Anna together of all time....Happy 4th of July!!

April and May Catch-Up

One of these days, I will catch up and “stay up” to being current on this blog.  Lately, though, it seems like I’m always posting old news.  I just hate to let anything special get left out, because I know one day, this blog will be the only pictures we look back at…why?  Because currently there are 11,589 pictures of the kids on my computer.  Most likely, we won’t be leisurely browsing back through those, ha ha!!

So with that, here are some good times from this spring.

Feeding the Geese in the Holston River

 

Anna ate more bread than she threw in!

 Ben's favorite ~ pancake breakfast!

Walks with Elmo (fashionably wearing Anna’s pink PJ’s) before it got so hot …Anna held Elmo’s hand for half the walk, so cute!

 

Celebrating Daddy's birthday with a yummy fruit pizza!

 

As school wrapped up, we had Muffins with Mom and Donuts with Dad. Also, since Ben has a summer birthday, we celebrated a liitle early with ice cream cone cupcakes and animal masks.

Ben's the lion in the middle!

 

 

Here's Ben with his teacher, Mrs. Linda.  She was such a fun teacher, and really loved Ben :)

My little buddy is growing up fast!