Spring Break

I'm trying to get caught up on things that have been going on.  I love looking back through this to see what we did at different times throughout the year.  And I'm going to be disappointed to see big gaps in the blog.  I'm really trying to be better, but haven't been all that successful. 

For Jim's spring break we made our way up to NY!  And were able to meet Avalon!  The timing all worked out pretty much perfectly.  Since she was breach, they scheduled for a C-section on Friday the 18th, and we were planning to head up on Monday!  That gave them their time in the hospital, and we got to meet Avalon when they were home!  And got to spend the week with her! 

Pretty much my whole goal of that week was to spend as much time with her as possible - and my parents were great that week, watching the boys. 

Allison came down on Saturday (she couldn't leave Friday after work because she wanted to meet Avalon before she drove down!)  And spent Saturday & Sunday with Chris.  And then Monday morning we got up bright and early and drove to Buffalo - driving straight to Ashley's!

Both boys held her for a couple of minutes, I was very surprised that Ben wanted to!  But they both did great!

Jim and Ben got to spend a lot of time with Grandma & Papa, and we were all very thankful for that!  They took them to Paula's donuts, to the park, and to Chuck E Cheese one day!  I think everyone had a lot of fun together!  Can't forget how awesome Aunt Ali was, staying at home at times to entertain the boys and then coming to Ashley's later on.  It really was an awesome week, and it made me realize how thankful and how awesome our family is!

 

The boys got to spend time with Blake & Brody too! As they came up to Buffalo during that week.  We had a little Easter Egg hunt at Ashley's, which they all seemed to have fun with!

 A picture of the happy grandparents with all their grandkids!

 Trying to get all 5 kids to smile and look at the same time is a challenge!

Mark drove up on Wednesday night, and came to Buffalo on Thursday spending the day with us.  Then he took the boys up to Castile on Friday to build the retaining wall.  I made my way up to Castile Saturday afternoon, and it was back to VA on Sunday! 

Ben's 4th Birthday

We had a lot of fun celebrating 4 and Ben!!!!  His actual birthday was on a Thursday.  I felt a little weird not having Jim with us during the day to celebrate, but we still had a great time.  We did start the morning off with his #4 pancake, and singing happy birthday to him!  And then I let him pick what he wanted to do for his special day - and he picked the trampoline park, Flight!  For the first 15 minutes, we practically had the place to ourselves, I think there was 1 other family there!  But we had lots of fun running around & jumping.  After flight we went to Wegmans to pick up his birthday cupcakes, and I told him he could pick whatever he wanted for lunch - his pick was cereal!  So I let him pick out his own box, and he went with cinnamon toast crunch. We had a lot of fun celebrating 4 together! 

I let him skip his nap for his birthday, we went and got Jim, played outside for a bit and then when Mark got home we made our way inside for dinner (his pick was macaroni & cheese, hot dogs, and cupcakes!), presents, cupcakes, and trying out his new Monster Jam wii game!  All in all it was a great day!

Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Ali flew in Thursday evening, and the boys were very excited to great them Friday morning!  We had a fun day, walking Jim to school, running on the track, baking Ben's monster truck birthday cake, and just playing together! 

Friday night we did drinks with the neighbors.  Uncle Chris came up too to celebrate!  Ended up doing drinks in the backyard around the campfire!  I think a fun night was had by all!  We did sing to him and enjoyed cake together!  Love how excited he was about his monster truck cake! 

Saturday morning we took Papa to the donut store!  (We all went, but it's their special treat to do with Joe Bag of donuts!)  We went to Sugar Shack and then made our way into Old Town.  Just walking around for a bit. 

I think it's safe to say that Ben had a great birthday weekend and lots of fun celebrating FOUR with family & friends! 

Ben's 20 Questions at age FOUR

1.  What is your favorite color?  Blue
2.  What is your favorite toy?  My new flatbed race car truck
3.  What is your favorite fruit?  Pineapple
4.  What is your favorite thing to watch on TV?  Mighty Machines and Lighting McQueen and Lego City
5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?   Peanut Butter & Jelly
6.  What is your favorite outfit?  My Paw Patrol Shirts
7.  What is your favorite game?  The Paw Patrol Game
8.  What is your favorite snack?  Fruit snacks
9.  What is your favorite animal?  Catty
10. What is your favorite song?  The one we did last night, they said frog  (not really sure what one he's referring to!)
11. What is your favorite book?  2 Old Fashion Cars ones and the snow plows
12. Who is your best friend?  Oisin
13. What is your favorite cereal?  Marshmallows
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Run Around
15. What is your favorite drink?  Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas?
17. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Marshmallows
18. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Catty
19. What do you want to eat for dinner on your birthday? Macaroni & Cheese, hotdog and cupcake
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A flat bed truck driver