Ben at 5 years, 3 months & 15 days

I've been meaning to write up a little piece on the boys since they turned 5, and I keep putting it off. With Ben sitting next to me this morning, I finally fired off some questions for him to answer about his favorite things right now. Here's what he had to say...

Favorite colors - green, blue, pink, red, and purple. (I think because he was coloring during this question, he just named a bunch of the colors he was using.)

Favorite foods - toast, yogurt, strawberries, strawberry smoothies, pancakes, mac & cheese, hot dogs, and ice cream. I swear this kid could live off of toast and yogurt if he had to. A common phrase I hear almost everyday from him is "Two toast with butter and the crust off." Whenever there's a sale on yogurt and I stock up and buy a dozen or so containers, he will easily go through a third of them in a day if I let him.

Favorite toys - Legos, Transformers, and Angry Birds. I wasn't too crazy about the boys getting into Legos at this age. The little pieces end up everywhere, hurt to step on, and after the initial object is built and comes apart is almost never rebuilt. I find that most of the time the boys only play with the little Lego men anyway. However, lately Ben has really been getting into building his own little space crafts and such for his men, and I'm impressed by what he comes up with.

Favorite places to go - Jump Around Utah a.k.a. the Banana Peel and the store. I think I covered the nicknaming of JAU before, but in case you missed it, Ben started calling it the Banana Peel and I couldn't get him to explain to me why he called it that. He finally told me that the enormous jumping pillow in the middle of the room was slippery like a banana peel.

As far as the store goes, this answer surprised me a little, but if I think about it from his angle I guess he likes going whenever we let him spend some time on the toy aisle looking at Legos. He has a particular Lego Chima set he's saving up for, and he likes to check it out whenever he can. He's very thorough and likes to turn the box around and look at the photos on each side.

Favorite people - Jonas, Joy, Grandma & Grandpa, and Zach. I'm sure this list isn't complete because Ben has a lot more favorites, and I maybe coaxed Zach's name out of him.

I often wonder what it must be like for my boys to always have the other around. I'm sure in a lot of ways it must be nice to always have someone to play with, but on the flip side it's frustrating for them whenever they need their own independent playtime and the other is in their business and driving them nutty. I know Ben and Zach love each other, but I don't often see them show their affection for each other. Whenever they do show love for each other, it's very sweet. My favorite is when one of them is asleep and the other will give him a kiss on the head or cheek.

Favorite game - Punch Robot, which is a game Ben plays on his LeapPad. There's a little robot that has to smash buildings to uncover numbers and solve math problems all while avoiding alien attacks.

Favorite movies - Rio, Curious George episodes, and Peter Pan. I love it when I'm in another room and I can hear Ben quoting lines from Rio or Peter Pan. He really gets into character!

Favorite animals - dinosaurs, ducks, and fish. Dinosaurs have interested Ben for a few years now, but ducks and fish are new additions. I have no idea where ducks came from (unless he just saw D's ducks on the shelf and said it), but fish I do know came from his buddy Jonas' house. They have a nice big fish tank, and Ben has been requesting one of his own now.

Ben is definitely skittish around animals that run, jump, and lick. Maybe that's why fish appeal to him. At a BBQ at Carrie's house a couple weeks back, Joy brought her new puppy, Ulli. Ulli got to chasing Ben in the yard, and Ben ran around in a wide circle screaming in panic. I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at his fear over a puppy half his size.

Favorite books - Curious George, Cat in the Hat, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Peter Pan, etc. There are so many great books and Ben pretty much likes them all, so it's hard to say what his all time favorites are, so I'm going off of what books are frequently in rotation right now. Whenever we read Cat in the Hat to the boys, Ben can nearly recite every page to us. Lately when I've asked the boys to clean their room, Ben will quote to me from the book, "...this mess is so big and so deep and so tall, we can not pick it up. There is no way at all!" As serious and as upset as he is when he says it, I can't help but laugh a little. I'll joke around with him and tell him to break out his thingamajigger, which just makes him more upset.

I love all the little quirks Ben has, and I need to remember more often to take the time to record the sweet and funny things he does at this age so that I won't forget...like the way he tells me that he loves me, which is very often right now. I know as he gets older, I won't hear that quite as much.

Some of the other things I want to remember...  Ben loves to dress up. He often wears a cape, mask, or hat and wields a foam sword. Often when he's in character, I'll hear (what I like to call) his Santa/crow laugh. It's like a ho, ho, ho laugh that has a cackle quality to it.

I don't know where it came from, but when I ask Ben to do something that he protests, he'll say to me, "But Mom, I'm not going to college!" It makes no sense to me and I have no idea where he picked it up, but it makes me laugh, especially the way he says it.

Ben is a sweet boy and loves to be helpful. When we're up at Grandma Ruth's cleaning, he likes to help me dust and wash the windows. When he doesn't mind cleaning his room, he gets right to work and has a great attitude about it.

Ben loves to show me what he's working on, whether he's building something out of Legos, coloring, building a puzzle, or practicing his letters. His face lights up at his accomplishments, even more so when he receives positive feedback.

I'm not a stay-at-home that revels in motherhood, but I do know how very fortunate I am to have this time with my boys while they're young. I love being around to see how their personalities have formed, to see how their interests change over time, and the excitement they have for nearly everything right now. Childhood is magic and I love watching the show.

I'm lucky to be your mom, and I love you forever Benny.

They love their daddy.

If you told Darius 7 years ago where he'd be right now, I'm certain he would have shook his head in total disbelief. I'm also certain that he wouldn't trade his current situation for anything in the world. Darius loves his boys so much, and there isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't tell them that a number of times.

We were fortunate to be able to spend Father's Day with Darius, but unfortunately it was because he was sick and called out for the first time since being with Delta...very unlike him. Regardless of feeling cruddy and laying up most of the day, he still had as good of a day as he could. The boys surprised him, truly surprised him, with cups they painted more than a week ago. I'm still amazed they kept their project a secret for that long. Ben gave Darius lots of cards he made, and they both wished him Happy Father's Day many times and repeatedly told him how much they loved him. They were very sweet all day. The final round of the U.S. Open was on and gave Darius a good distraction for most of the day, and we all enjoyed a nice dinner together.

Darius and I are far from being expert parents, but we're learning as we go, and as long as our boys keep telling us how much they love us we know we're doing something right. Being a parent is the most stressful yet equally rewarding job there is. I appreciate how hard Darius works and for the job he does when he's at work. It's because of him that I'm able to stay home with our boys, and that's a priceless gift and worth whatever we temporarily go without.

Thanks for being the great man and dad that you are, Darius. We all love and appreciate you!

Happy Campers

Yesterday afternoon when I opened the pantry door, I could still detect the aroma of campfire smoke on the leftover food we brought home from our overnight camping trip. I love it!

We had plans to camp out the week prior, but unfortunately most of us came down with a 24-hour bug the day we were planning on leaving. Lucky for us, Darius had a window in his work schedule and we were able to make up for it.

Tuesday we headed up to Pineview Reservoir, 10 miles east of Ogden, to the Anderson Cove Campground. Darius had been to the reservoir and campground a couple weeks prior with the boys and was looking forward to a return trip to try out the campground and of course do some fishing.

We were fortunate to get an awesome site with lots of shade, so despite the hot day, we were comfortable. Our site was right next to the reservoir, and we had a very short walk down to the water's edge. After setting up camp and relaxing for a bit, we headed down to the water. Darius got his poles in the water, and the boys promptly started their work at scaring the fish away by launching handfuls of rocks in the water. Typical boy behavior.

There were several nicer beach type areas around the reservoir, but we were content to have a spot to ourselves. The boys and I found some trash to pick up along the shore, hunted for cool rocks, and they sat in the water and dug in the sand.

We left Darius to fish a while longer and headed back up to our site to get dinner started. I got a nice fire going and definitely should have waited for it to burn down some before lowering the grate. The wind shifted on me, and now the eyelashes on my left eye are a little shorter than on my right! Lucky for me that was the worst of it.

The boys were excited to roast their hot dogs for all of the minute that they had the patience to hold their roasting sticks, and promptly declared that they wouldn't eat their dogs because they had brown on them. Hopefully they'll learn to appreciate the flavor a little bit of charring gives food when they get older. Good thing Darius knows his boys so well and had the presence of mind to pack stuff for sandwiches.

I wish I would have taken the time to research the area a little better before our trip and planned out an evening activity, but Darius was more than content to fish more, and the boys were happy watching a movie before bed, so I kicked up my feet next to the fire and enjoyed my beer and the peace and quiet.

So now that we had the opportunity to try out our gear and figure out what to bring/leave home the next time, we're excited to plan our next camping trip. Our plan will be to research camping spots within a 2-hr drive and hit as many as we can this summer. I'm going to start rating each area we visit. The things I'll take into consideration will include: value, amenities, campground/site conditions, surrounding area & available activities, noise, and location.

We'd rate the Anderson Cove Campground in the upper middle range. It was easy to get to, and we had two options to get there. We ended up coming home a different way than we came due to the closure of the Ogden Canyon. It took us less than an hour each way. The campground itself is right off of the highway, and the area is developed around the reservoir, so it loses some appeal as far as being less remote. We could definitely hear traffic noise, and I think there may have been a flight path overhead too, because I did hear quite a few airplanes.

The campground amenities were decent. There were vault toilets, toilet paper, and running water outside of them. There was a small general store at the entrance that Darius was impressed with. They offered bait (very important to D), ice, firewood, and groceries for prices that he said were very reasonable. Since the campground is right next to the reservoir, there were definitely a lot of water related amenities available such as boating, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, fishing, and swimming. If we had really sweet water toys...a boat, tubes, canoe :) we'd be coming back here more often.

The campground itself was very clean and well maintained. There was a noticeable presence of campground hosts that drove by regularly and checked with us upon our arrival to make sure our site was clean when we arrived. Our site was awesome and probably the best part of our experience. We stayed in site #78, and it offered lots of shade, plenty of level ground which is always good for tent sleeping, a paved pad equipped with a very large picnic table, a grill for charcoal, a deep fire pit with cooking grate, and plenty of parking. The site was a great size and it didn't feel like we were too close to campers in other sites near us. The value was very good considering what we paid for our stay, $14.

Since I didn't research before our trip, I can't comment on the surrounding area beyond the reservoir, but it was a beautiful area, and I'm sure there were more activities within a reasonable distance from our campground. In another year or so when Darius is able to get a boat, I'm sure this will be a spot we revisit often.

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity...”    ~ John Muir

Hello Summer.

Technically the calendar hasn't declared it to be Summer yet, but I think it's safe to greet it early. It's hot, school is out, road construction is in full swing, and BBQs are a plenty! This past week/weekend we did our part to welcome in Summer with a picnic in the park and back-to-back BBQs.

Late in the week the boys and I joined Carrie, Archer, and Joy for some top secret Dad's Day gift making which we followed up with a picnic lunch at Sugarhouse Park. Despite the hot temps, we found a nice shady spot under a tree and enjoyed some face time with each other.



Ben has been trying his had at picture taking lately. The only photos from our picnic were the ones he took.

I love Ben's shot of the coolest picnic blanket ever! I so need to make one of these.

The boys and I headed to the Bruhn backyard the following evening for some tasty kebobs and a fruit-tastic pitcher of Sangria. Yum! Joy came over with Courtney, Josh, and a recovering Ulli. It was just a super chill, relaxing evening with some of my favorite people.

There are not enough words to describe how stinkin' cut I think this boy is! Love him!

The following day Zach did some cute harassing and scored us an invite to Jonas' house for dinner. There are very few days when I don't hear frequent requests from Ben and Zach to visit Jonas. It doesn't even matter if we just visited him the day before. They'll ask, and ask, and ask when we're going back. I'm so glad that they have as good of a friend in Jonas as I do in his mom!  Brandi prepared us a delicious meal, which was followed up by a water balloon fight amongst the boys, and some pie later on. It was a treat that Darius was off from work that night and was able to join us.

I knew during the hour + time I spent filling water balloons that they would be gone in minutes...about 2-1/2. It was all worth it! Ben handed me balloons and kept telling me that he loved me as I filled them, and it was lots of fun to watch the boys launch them at each other.

We're very grateful and extremely happy to have family and friends with grills...especially when they're nice enough to have us over!

Thank you BBQ hosts, we love you!