pink flip flops

And sometimes when you do feel like a bit of change Mummy's pink flip flops are just what the doctor ordered.

I did have fun with Unlce Travis and Daddy was awfully happy to have his help with the new dock.

Daddy took me out on Uncle Matt's boat this afternoon with Mike and Steph too while Mummy got the bathroom ready for Granny's critical eye. I got to jump into the river from the swim platform on the back of the boat (with my life jacket on of course!) and that was alot of fun, but I didnt really like the feel of the sand at the shallow bit - too slimey or something. We're going to Uncle Matt's house tomorrow to swim there, that will be fun.

Uncle Travis is here!

Uncle Travis arrived today and Ben is awfully excited.

Ben has grown quite attached to his "crocs" (the orange shoes), they are the first thing he looks for in the morning and I can't get them off for nap time! Luckily he takes them off for his bath & I can then sneak off and hide them so we don't have to fight for bedtime.

He's also enjoyed his little cooker toy thing - the last few times I've been cooking he goes off and just plays by himself with it. A bit worrying is that when I go to clean up I usually find the toy men inside the pots (... Grandpa is there some ancient-Kilsyth-cannibalism-gene thing that I need to be told about???).

More toot

Watch out granny this tale is a bit rude!!
Toot = pump (or fart for the non kerr family members in the rest of the civilised world).
So when Ben pumps and it makes a noise he is delighted with himself and cracks up laughing, I say "toot toot" then he'll say "toot, more toot, more toot" ... he stands there really concentrating his face trying to squeeze more air out of his bum... when he successful he jumps for joy saying "more toot, more toot" .... and tries over and over again. Its so cute.

Back from vacation

Hello yes we're back made it home safe and sound. Mum & Dad are totally knackered from the 12h drive done mostly at night both ways but I'm basically fine, just a bit stiff from sleeping so long in the car seat!

So the highlight of the holiday was swimming with the arm bands, I had to be forced to wear them and sometimes theyre fun but sometimes I still prefer just to be held by Mummy! Other things I liked were trekking in the AuSable Chasm, being carried by Daddy up Mount Jo (800ft with great views at the top), catching frogs with Siena and Nicholas in the pond, playing basketball and getting my own ice cream cone just about every night to eat ... heaven!

The picture above is Mummy & me on the summit of Whiteface, 5000ft but we drove up that one, Lake Placid in the background.

Ben seemed better again today. I spent the day packing so the poor little guy had to entertain himself most of the day. Matt came over for dinner and Ben wouldn't leave him alone! So we leave tomorrow, hopefully around 6pm (unless Claudine tells us to stay home because she doesnt want to risk a transatlantic flight with a pox-ridden Jonathon ... watch this space!)

We took these pics a few days ago. Tad let him try to hit a golf ball in the water off the tee, at first he loved it but then he got a bit strange, kept missing the ball like he was afraid to hit it or something. Oh well I'm sure Tiger's journey to greatness suffered a few bumps too.

More pop?

Pop = toast

Chicken pox?

Well they don't seem 100% convinced but the docs diagnosed him this morning.. he has about 10 large red spots on his arms & legs, and they think they see a couple more starting. They reckon the spots might be all out in 24h which would be the end of it and they say we should be fine to leave thurs night if thats the case. The good news is he slept from 8pm to 6am this morning on Benedryl and seemed much happier today, yesterday he was pretty crabby!

So here was me yesterday trying to distract him by playing with blocks until dinner was ready ..

And his attempt to walk on his hands (like daddy)

Windy day at the beach

Went to the beach (St Joe) today with Christine Trowbridge and her family. It was windy and a bit cool, but the kids loved the playground there ... I finally got Ben down quite a big slide just as we were leaving!! They did all put their feet in the water and played in the sand too. Christine's 2 were cute, they had big, long shovels and were pretending they were light sabres (star wars) so all over the playground they were carrying their shovels (until Christine confiscated them because they were being used to intimidate another little boy - so I'm told, I didnt actually witness for myself!!) Of course I left my camera in the car so you'll just have to imagine the scene (starting to be a bit of a recurring theme isnt it!!). The adults enjoyed watching the jet skiers and kite boarders playing in the massive waves.
I did take this video once we got home, Ben is enjoying playing with sunglasses more and more, at Laney's party yesterday he spent quite a while playing with the new glasses Kay had gotten Laney for her birthday.

Laney's birthday

We had Laney's birthday party today at their house, it was a bit chilly but we swam for a bit anyway, the pool was lovely and warm. I forgot my camera. Once we got out Ben loved an inflatable basketball hoop thing they had and after that he loved throwing the little "dive toys" into the water for Austin & Laney to dive down and get.

Uh oh

Well Grandpa Kerr has proved the old adage You Get What You Pay For to be true.

Ben's reaction: "Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, uh oh ...."

Last swimming lesson

So the learning to swim hasn't gone that well (I mean, he can't swim!), but our ability to get into the water has come on leaps and bounds ???

Blue lips

A good picture today would have been Ben's blue lips at his swimming lesson! The water was a bit chilly and there was a bit of a breeze, made it feel cool.
This morning we went to a 2nd birthday party for Lauren, Ben absolutely loved this old rocking horse thing, instead of being on rockers it was on springs and was more of a jumping thing than a rocking thing. He did have some birthday cake and his face turned red (eggs I guess) so no more of that nonsense. He loved the Happy Birthday song and was asking for it all day after that.

Tuesday Aug 5th

We went to the Potawotomi Zoo in South Bend this morning with playgroup. It was fun. Ben was scared of some things - the tiger, the butterflies when they flew at him, the alligator when it moved but everything else (including the python eating a rabbit - someone else took him in for that!!) was fine. Afterward we played at the playground and he enjoyed that too, lots of chances for good jumping stuff.

After dinner he took his trike around the church and I got a couple of videos

Ben's first ice pole

Well I thought it would be fun for him, all day he was taking ice cubes from Tad and sucking them but of course I'm already regretting letting him have it, I mean basically sugar, e-numbers and a bit of water. What was I thinking!!??? Theyre going to get thrown out tomorrow and I do have a sort of excuse given that I think theyre actually older than Ben himself.

We went swimming this afternoon and Ben finally showed some serious interest in the kiddie slide, but I too scared to let him on it himself, it was covered in demonic 5 year old boys playing on it so we did a couple of shots with mummy then some distraction tatics to get him away!

Bedtime

Did alot of biking today, biked to Johns Bagels with Daddy and David from Scotland this morning (he seems to think David is Stuart ??) and then biked to the Hospital with me this afternoon. On his trike back at home he was attempting to push the pedals (well the one pedal and the little stub where the other one is missing) ... thats what it looked like anyway.
Goodness me - my hair is awful isnt it!!!

Bike Helmet

This morning he was riding his trike inside and he kind of fell of or something.. anyway he started asking for his bike helmet and I went and got it and put it on him and he as quite happy to pedal around in it. Nice to see that my son is going to be so safety conscious. With that attitude he will be guaranteed a long and prosperous career following in his grandpa and Uncle Stuart's footsteps in the oil industry in the oil capital of Europe. No stop cards for him.

This afternoon we had another swimming lesson. In the middle pool (about 3' deep) they have to reach down to the bottom and pick up a toy ring or other stuff, trying to get them to put their face a little in the water. He was so funny - once he put his head totally under and I had to grab him... he didnt do that again, just said "mama mama" i.e. mama get the ring.

After that we went to a little outdoor music thing at Goshen, not quite Lollapalooza in Grant Park, but hey you do what you can.