Grandma and Grandpa's

This past weekend, I left the lake one evening for a quick trip to my parents.  It was my Dad's birthday, but we were also getting together with my aunt and uncle and their family to settle a few things with my grandparent's estate.  It was such a bittersweet time.  It was great to see my cousin and her family, but sad to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house without them there.  I don't think it will ever be the same going by their house, but it's good to know that it will stay in the family. 

I'm excited to see what the future holds for Grandma and Grandpa's, and I'm glad that I have a few pieces of their legacy in my house now...as I'm writing this, her ceramic Christmas tree is shining above my kitchen cabinets, her clothes pins are out on the line and Grandpa's winter hat is hanging in the closet...memories are such a precious gift that we can hold in our hearts forever.

Of course, when we're all together there is bound to be fun, laughter, and definitely sweet treats!!! 

Uncle Eric getting a hug from Benners

 Trey was so good to pull the kids around in the wagon...I'm not sure who had more fun!  He's quite an accomplished driver!

Trey is my cousin Whitney's son...she has a great blog that you can follow here.

 This is my favorite...yes, my son is in his diaper (his standard outfit of summer), yes, he is filthy with ice cream dripping down his face...but, he's standing in a favorite place of mine...Grandma and Grandpa's porch.  I think we've all spent many hours of our lives sitting on that porch railing!



Ben getting ready to kick the football.  I tried so hard to get a picture of the "kick", but my camara was not cooperating...poor Uncle Eric had to set up the kick about 15 times that day!

Keep reading, I did two posts in one day :)

Weekend at the Lake

We just returned from a relaxing mini-vacation at the lake.  Andy and I enjoy camping and the lake, so we snuck away for four days to relax, swim, ride bikes and just enjoy some down-time.  We were lucky enough to camp on the same weekend as our friends, so it was twice the fun. 

Heading out on the maiden voyage of our friends pontoon boat

 Heading in the for the day.

 Checking out the latest deals in the Trader...their wish lists are growing

 Yes, even tractors come to the lake :)

Getting ready to make some smores!

4th of July

After a super busy weekend (three birthday parties and a get together with some high school friends), we slowed down to enjoy a low-key 4th of July.  Personally, I kind of liked it :)  We spent the day doing some projects around the house, and then my sister and her family came over in the late afternoon to swim.  We headed up town in the evening to meet up with more family and friends to enjoy dinner in the park.  After dinner and some games, we headed out to the farm for our own personal seats for the firework show.  Andy had taken some time in the afternoon to mow down some of the grass and spray for mosquitos...it was a nice place to see the show without all of the crowds.  All in all, it was a great fourth!

 Ben and Blake having a good time on the tricycle!

How did you celebrate the fourth?

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays, and Reunions!

What a busy weekend!  We started off with a birthday get together with a great friend of ours.  We enjoyed getting to see friends that we hadn't seen in a while, a great dinner at Scotty's, and a "return to our college days" with an outing to the Piano Bar (seems like those days were a LONG time ago)!

The next day found us heading south for another birthday party, this time for a handsome 4 year old!  He's the son of Andy's friend from college.  It was great to finally meet Kassie and her family in person (instead of just seeing them on Christmas cards) :)  Ben had so much fun playing with all of the kids!  I'm pretty sure I know what a certain little guy is going to get for his 2nd birthday...he spent HOURS playing with the trains and the train table!  I definitely see one of those in our near future.

The cute party hats...of course, Ben wanted the monkey!

In the evening, we headed down to the lake for another birthday party (are you seeing a theme here?).  This one was for a lovely 7 year old (the daughter of a great family friend).  We grilled out, ate cake, went on a bike ride, and enjoyed some great company!  I'm just sorry I didn't think to get any pictures...it was such a nice time.

Sunday found us heading up north for a quick get together with some high school friends.  I hadn't seen a few of them for over two years, so when Greg set it up, we went!  It was not only a mini-reunion, but it was also a trip down memory lane.  We met at the Riverside Park so the kids could ride the carousel and the train.  I can remember many, many times riding that those at family reunions, always hoping I'd grab the brass ring on the carousel.  Ben seemed to be just as happy as I was when he (OK, maybe it was me) snagged the brass ring on our second ride!  So many great memories, and it was so fun to catch up with some great friends!

Follow the leader

New buddies!

New Baby Keaton!  Such a cutie pie!

Getting ready to catch the brass ring!

Little Helper

Andy and I are blessed to have many, many wonderful nieces and nephews!  We have one, in particular, that LOVES to help us out with mowing.  He loves anything that he can drive, and the mower is a perfect machine for him.  He was over the other day and I told him he could swim while I mowed the yard.  Well, he begged me to let him mow instead of swimming!!!  How could I deny that request???

Township Fair

Here are a few scenes from the Township Fair this past weekend.  For those of you not familiar, it is a chance for the 4-H'ers to have a practice run before the fair.  They can bring in their community building projects and their animals.  Everything is judged.  The kids have a great time seeing how their animals and projects are coming along, plus it's a great time to ask questions and get some advice before taking them to the fair. 

 The newest "4H'er" in the group!

Just hanging out!

Enjoying the day!

 The rewards from all that hard work!

 Great job Ellie!

 Looking over the pop situation...making sure there's enough to go around!

 "Ok, I posed for the picture...now, can we go swimming?!?!"

 Getting some advice from the judge.

 "If only my pig would stand still!"

 "I think I'll stick with the smaller animals, Mom!"

Two buddies enjoying the pig show...best seats in the house!

Good Buddies

Ben has a good buddy named Popsie.  Popsie is Ben's great grandpa (on Andy's side), and he is such a wonderful man.  Ben enjoys going to Popsie and Queenie's house for a couple of reasons:

1.  He knows EXACTLY where the tractors, trucks and blocks are,

2.  Grandma Queenie always has some sort of sweet treat to find and,

3.  Popsie and Queenie love, love, love on Ben the entire time he's there!

Here are some pictures from our most recent visit :)