Big Butler Fair

Today we headed to the Big Butler Fair. We watched a bird show by "That guy with the birds" and Kelly even was called on as a volunteer to help with a demonstration. They dressed her up as a bird. Tracey (Ben's Stepmom) was helping out the bird guy and after the show we got to see the birds up close and personal. It was a lot of fun and the boys loved it. Notice the picture of Lukas with all the birds on him...LOL. After the bird show, we headed to watch the truck pull. We went to root on the Moser Race Team. They did great too. We had a fun, full day of great food, shows, rides and games.

S'mores & Fireflies

Friday night we built a fire and made S'mores. The boys rode their bikes up and down our sidewalk all evening. They were actually playing very well together. Landon would even get off the sidewalk to let Lukas by. Yes, we mean Landon. He's definitely the one with the STUBBORN personality. When it started to get dark, they started running around the yard catching lightning bugs. Landon has finally learned not to squish them! He was doing great and we think he caught more than Lukas. He would get so excited when he'd catch one and would yell really loud. Then after he looked at it for a bit, he'd shake his hand and say "bye, bye". It was so fun to watch them. We had a great family evening. We don't get many of these now that Ben is back to work and working 6 days a week. What a fantastic way to start our 4th of July weekend!  

Son Rock Kids Camp

Lukas went to vacation bible school all last week and they had a closing program Friday evening. The theme this year was Son Rock Kids Camp. Lukas loves VBS and really loved the theme this year...camping! Every year he has so much fun. He made many great crafts and learned lots of new songs. He was so excited because his friend, David, from his kindergarten class was there. David had moved from Vandergrift to Leechburg in the beginning of the school year. It was nice that they still remembered each other. It was a wonderful program and all the kids did extremely well. Our church always does a wonderful job with all their events. I took mostly videos at the program and upload one of them. We can't wait for VBS next year...Landon will be old enough to go...YAY!   

Backyard fun

These pics are from last weekend. It was really hot last Saturday so we put air in the boys pool and spent the entire afternoon in the backyard. It was one of those days that we just wanted to relax and soak up the sun. They had so much fun!

World's greatest DAD!

This year, all Ben wanted for Father's Day was a second sleep mate. He was very excited when it came in the mail on Thursday. Now, he doesn't have to share with the boys. Today the boys gave him his "music" card which was so cute and played the song "watching you" by Rodney Atkins. That song always reminds me of Ben and the boys when it's played on the radio. The lyrics fit my boys perfectly... 

"He said, "I’ve been watching you, dad ain’t that cool?

I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you.
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are.
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah, we’re just alike, hey, ain’t we dad?
I want to do everything you do.
So I’ve been watching you."

For Mother's Day, Lukas' teacher gave his class a "Mother Test" and I just loved it. So, I made one for Ben and had Lukas take the "Father Test". It really made Ben's day. Lukas also made him a picture with his hand prints and wrote "Happy Father's Day" on it. I did attempt to get Landon to do this project, but it didn't work out so well. It was a big mess...may be next year! 

Then, the boys and took him to an early dinner at Rick's Sports Bar & Grill. I think he really enjoyed his day even though he had to go to bed at 5:30 to get some Zzz's before work. 

BEN, you are the WORLD'S GREATEST DAD! You sacrifice so much for me and the boys. You work your butt off every night and come home and stay awake all day and watch the boys until I get home from work. I honestly don't know how you do it. You're absolutely AMAZING! I am so grateful that you do this for our boys. I don't say it enough...Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU...I LOVE AND APPRECIATE YOU SO MUCH...

...HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

XoXo~Kelly Jo

IDLEWILD PARK

This morning we got up and went to Idlewild. Lukas wasn't feeling 100%, but insisted on going. He had a slight cough and we don't know where it came from. On top of that, the weather wasn't great and we weren't sure if were going to go. When we got there, we were glad that we did. The park wasn't that full and we didn't have to wait in the lines very long. Which is a plus with small children. 

We did Story Book Forest first. This was the first year that Landon had done it. He wasn't very sure of it at first. He was a little cranky and didn't like all the people. After we walked through a couple stories, he was really into it. He had a blast. It was also a couple years since Lukas last did this and he really recognized the stories and would read them. We love this part of the park. Right after Story Book Forest, we went to Jumpin' Jungle. This is part to the park with the ropes you can climb, big slide, ball pit, and more. They could spend all day in this section. Once we had enough of that, we took the boys to Raccoon Lagoon to ride. We were excited to see what Landon would do since he didn't like riding last year. The first ride they were in line for was the bus. He walked right in and sat right beside Lukas. It was so cute. His riding fear is over.........YAY! They only rides he didn't really care for were the turtle and the merry-go-round. I think he doesn't really care for the circular motion. Lukas on the other hand loves ALL the rides:-) 

Around 1:00, Landon said he was "hungy", so we headed back to the truck for our picnic lunch. We made turkey sandwiches and had sliced apples, chips/pretzels, and fruit snacks. Both boys ate really well and had full bellies to start riding again. Sure enough around 3:00 it rained, but didn't last long. We just waited under cover until it stopped. They said they only close the park if they get the lightning signal. We ended up leaving the park around 4:00 because Ben had to go home to get some sleep for work tonight. Lukas was so upset and didn't want to leave. We said that next year we will stay longer since Landon will be older. We all had a fabulous day! 

Relay for Life – Apollo

Tonight the boys and I went to the Relay for Life at the Apollo High School. We went around 7:00 to help my mom and her team clean up after the surviver dinner. The boys were a great help too. They had fun riding on the cart taking loads to the car. Great Nanny was giving them "train rides". After we finished cleaning up, we headed down to the track to see the luminaries and walk a few laps. The boys just love to run around that track. Landon did so well staying in his lane this year. Lukas always finds Derek's signs and bags and lets us know where they are. We had to leave at 10:00 so that I could wake Ben up for work. Both boys were exhausted and went to sleep right away.