Visit From Grandpa and Grandma Drake!

Ben recently got to spend an entire week with his grandpa and grandma all to himself! No one can make Ben laugh like his grandma. Rita sat in the back with Ben during car rides and the 2 of them just sat back there and giggled! He also had fun spending lots of quality outdoor time with Grandpa. They played a decent amount of football and by the end of the week, Ben was able to say his own version of hut, hut, HIKE!

We met Matt and Nico's family in Orlando for the weekend. We spent Saturday at the Magic Kingdom and Sunday at Sea World. Since Allen and Rita were there, the adults even got to ride the roller coasters! Disney World is a completely different experience when reinforcements are available!


For those of you who know Connor, it will come as no surprise that a good part of the day was spent at the carousal! It was worth the trip to Disney just to see Connor's reaction to Disney and Sea World. He was having so much fun that he closed down the parks each night!

Could Lukie be any cuter?
Connor plays the part of big brother/cousin perfectly. Whenever he had a snack, he made sure to offer Ben a snack as well! He also made sure to caution Ben of certain "hazards" at Sea World. He was very protective of Ben as he was walking over the glass bottom aquarium!
Lucas slept through the dolphin show, but Connor and Ben were amazed by the dolphin tricks. The bird tricks - not so much . . . . . . The picture above is either capturing Connor's amazement or horror. I have to admit, Connor, I'm totally with you when it comes to being creeped out by birds!

Waiting to see Shamu!!

Ben's favorite part of Sea World was the spray station. At the end of the day, Ben and Lucas played in the water until they were completely soaked. It was in the 90's and humid all weekend, so I'm sure getting wet felt pretty good! On Monday, we met Carl at Lake Alice for lunch. We were hoping to show Allen and Rita an alligator while there, so it was pretty cool when we ended up finding a nest full of baby gators!

On Tuesday we checked out the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

This is a picture of Ben playing at his favorite fountain. His chubby feet kept busting the velcro on his shoes open!

Ben rarely goes into our guest room, but after Grandpa and Grandma left he started spending a lot of time in there. I think he is still looking for them! He misses them already and can't wait to see them again in December!

Must Love Dogs

SWM enjoys the outdoors, mac n' cheese, Sandra Boynton books, great music, and short walks on the beach.

Weekend

Here are some final pictures from Aunt Kimmie's trip to Gainesville. Ben and Kim spent a lot of time reading books and cuddling. We also make a trip to the Santa Fe College Zoo. It is a teaching zoo and is even smaller than Miller Park, but Ben still had fun looking at the monkeys and other larger animals.
Auntie Marcia and Auntie Myrna stayed with Ben Saturday night so Kim and I could go out and have a nice dinner together. They brought Ben a cupcake and Auntie Marcia even gave him a baby massage while he was up on the changing table. I'm pretty sure he didn't miss us at all!
Before Aunt Kimmie left, we had a little ice cream picnic in the sun room (it was WAY to hot to eat ice cream outside!). We got a few different flavors from D'Lites to try. Ben's favorite was definitely the snickers!
I had to post this picture of Kim's rental. It is the most ridiculous car we have even seen! The bright red color only attracts attention to it's awkwardness!

We were both sad to see Aunt Kimmie drive away on Sunday, but at least she already has her tickets booked for Thanksgiving! Ben is now resting up for his next visitors - Grandpa and Grandma Drake! They will be arriving Th and then we are meeting Matt and Nico's family this weekend for some Magic Kingdom and Sea World fun! Ben can't wait!!

Aunt Kimmie Is Here!!

My sister came down to keep us company while Carl is attending a conference in Monterey, CA. I wasn't the biggest fan of my husband and sister flying on Sept 11th, but thankfully they both made it without complications!

We made a trip to the Mall at Millenia after picking Kimberly up from the airport. It was a hardship, but Ben really needed a little break from the driving! While there, he had his first taste of lettuce wraps at PF Changs. He was loving them - until he nearly aspirated on a piece of tofu! After that, he had to munch on Teddy Grahams until our lunches arrived!

He definitely remembered his Aunt Kimmie and the 2 have been inseparable since her arrival!

Cupcakes!!!

I had a special treat waiting for Ben when he woke up from his nap this afternoon - strawberry cupcakes!! I made them for our MOPS meeting tomorrow, but I couldn't resist saving one back. I've made this Paula Deen recipe several times because they are sinfully delicious!! Really, does it get any better than washing down strawberry cream cheese frosting with a sippy cup full of whole milk?

Labor Day Weekend

We spent our long weekend at St Simons Island with the Gamblin family. We had a great time catching up and it was fun to reunite Ben and Ridge once again!

This is a picture of Ben clapping for Ridge as he took his very first steps. After watching Ben walk around for awhile, Ridge felt pretty confident that he could do it, too. We were all amazed when Ridge just took off walking, 10-12 steps! I think he was walking towards my camera, so I actually got some pictures of his big milestone! Not many people can say that their first steps were taken on a beach!



While there, we visited Christ Church. There was a really cool, old cemetery connected to the church that we walked around, which Carl said reminded him of some of his old family vacations!

This is a picture of the Gamblins next to an outdoor concert near St Simons Island Lighthouse. Ben and Ridge clapped along with the music. Later that night, we introduced Jeff and Mary Shelton to Settlers. Thankfully, good wine and delicious chocolate cake made Carl a little more tolerable. He won (of course), and I was all set to win the next hand (of course!) but I'm happy to report that we were all still friends in the morning! For all of you Drakes (and Gausmanns!) out there, I came across this website just now while trying to find a link to the game. They have an online version, so now Carl can torment (he would rather me put dominate!) people from around the world!!!! Secretly, I will probably spend hours on this website trying to gain stategies so I can actually win this stupid game!

We rented bikes on Sunday morning and explored the island. At home, Ben rides in a baby seat behind Carl, so we thought it would be fun to rent a trailer to give him a new perspective. Armed with a package of Teddy Grahams, a drink, and a couple of books and toys, he was good to go! Our favorite part of the ride was definitely riding on the beach. The sand was packed down pretty hard, so we could actually ride right next to the water. Ben enjoyed people and dog watching from his nice little trailer!

Ben was glad to get some back-packing time in with his dad during this trip!

We are counting down the days until Aunt Kimmie comes down for a visit - only 9 more to go!!