We have had a busy summer, and I have been a bad blogger! I took tons of pictures, but I haven't edited even one and haven't posted many either. So, here's a big catch-up post all about our summer!
In June, we spent a week in Houston. While there, we got to spend some time with Nico's birthmom. Will had to work during the day, so the boys and I did most of the "touristy" stuff without him. He did get to join us on Sunday, so you'll see a few pics of him too.
 |
| Will and the boys at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston. |
 |
| Ben LOVED the giant ferris wheel. Will was not as thrilled :-) |
 |
| Nico was very excited! (Notice how Will is holding on?? lol) |
 |
| Ben and I touching the sting rays |
 |
| Not sure why there are white tigers at the Aquarium, but they were pretty cool. Ben was convinced he needed to "save" Daddy from this one! |
 |
| The boys at the Houston Children's Museum. It was a nice museum, but really was geared to kids older than mine. And the baby area that Nico would have loved was off limits to Ben because he was 38 months old and the cut off was 35. |
 |
| Ben at the Houston zoo. This tree was begging him to climb it, but the sign said no! |
 |
| These boys are like fish and thoroughly enjoyed the hotel swimming pool many times |
 |
| Ben jumping in! |
 |
| Mr. Chill "napping" in his float. He is a little water bug! |
 |
| Ben checking out a skunk pelt at the Museum of Natural Science |
 |
| Nico was very excited about touching the skunk, armadillo, and turtle. |
 |
| Ben took the butterfly identification card very seriously in the butterfly center. He was determined to find every single kind of butterfly. |
 |
| Nico was more impressed with the water than the butterflies :-) |
 |
| Ben the astronaut at Space Center Houston |
 |
| The boys in the shuttle mock-up. They LOVED this place. |
 |
| Nico at the end of a busy day at Space Center Houston. He was such a good sport about all of the museum stuff! |
 |
| Nico loved the sand, but was not so sure about the water at Galveston beach. |
 |
| Ben loved the sand and the water. He is a beach baby! |
 |
| Ben taking in his first Astros game. Will and I used to go all the time when we lived in Houston. It was nice to be "home" again. |
 |
| Nico was more interested in people watching than baseball watching! The man holding his is one of Will's co-workers. Nico really liked him. Of course Nico likes most people! |
Besides the fun in Houston, we had lots of fun at home too! Here are a few pics of some of our fun.
 |
| This is Ben's "battle scars" from a game of backyard catch with our neighbors. He was so busy watching the ball that he tripped and fell face first onto the fire pit grate. Thank goodness the grate was cool! |
 |
| Ben with his swim teacher. His teacher says Ben is a natural back stroker because he would much rather be on his back than on his belly. Crazy boy! |
 |
| Nico at swim lessons! |
 |
| Ben with a meerkat at the zoo. We went to the zoo lots of times this summer! |
 |
| Nico was worn out by our zoo trip too! He is sporting brother's sunglasses and was quite proud of that right up until the moment that he threw them in the duck pond! Oops! Ben was pretty upset but recovered quickly when Daddy suggested maybe one of the ducks or flamingos would wear them. |
 |
| Nico made a new friend at Build a Bear. He named it "me-me", which is also what he says when he wants me to pick him up! |
 |
| Ben made a smurf, which he named "Ben Smurf"! lol |
In July, the boys and I went to Chicago for the weekend with my mom and sister. We went to Navy Pier and took a sail out on Lake Michigan. We also ate at Bubba Gump's. While there, Ben scored a free pass for all of us to the Chicago Children's Museum. I am always amazed at the way people flock to my boys and how much "stuff" they have been given! So we spent a few hours at the Chicago Children's Museum. The boys loved it, but I was bad and didn't take any pictures. I also didn't get any pictures on the sailboat. Bad momma! On our way home from Chicago, we stopped at Fair Oaks Dairy Farm. I did get a bunch of pictures there. Ben LOVED this place and Nico thought it was fun too.
 |
| Ben on the human-powered "cow"rasel. That thing was heavy to push! |
 |
| Nico on the "cow"rasel with Grandma making sure he didn't jump off. |
 |
| This was Ben's favorite part-the "dairy-go-round" where the cows get milked. He was enthralled with watching this process. He also stumped the tour guide when he asked her WHY the cows make milk. She wasn't sure how to explain that to a 3 year old! |
Back home again in Indiana....we took a few trips to the Children's Museum here too. Most of these pics are from a play date with our friends. We can't get enough of the Indy Children's Museum. Seeing the ones in Houston and Chicago make us really appreciate how great ours here is!
 |
| Nico the paleontologist! |
 |
| Ben takes his dino digging very, very seriously |
 |
| Nico on the playground at one of at least 6 parks we have checked out this summer. |
 |
| Ben playing at Pioneer Park |
 |
| Back at the Indy zoo, Ben is waiting to feed the giraffes. |
 |
| We got to see the new baby elephant. She is so tiny compared to the other elephants! And boy is she a cutie! |
Of course summer would not be complete without a trip (or two) to the State Fair. The boys had so much fun on the first trip that we went back the next day!
 |
| Ben at the livestock nursery |
 |
| Checking out a cow in Pioneer Village |
 |
| Nico wanted to kiss every animal he saw-luckily this one was a statue! |
 |
| More love for the animals! |
 |
| My little farmers LOVED the Little Hands on the Farm |
 |
| Ben planting a seed in the Little Hands exhibit |
 |
| Nico couldn't pedal the tractor, but he suckered the worker into pushing him around anyway :-) |
 |
| Feeding the goats was a big hit-until one of them bit Nico's shirt when he ran out of food. Nico was NOT thrilled about that at all. He kept telling everyone we saw, "Goat bite" and holding out his shirt. Soooo funny! |
 |
| Petting these little cattle was a big hit too. |
 |
| Ben was obsessed with this water feature and wanted to know if he could climb into the center of it. Silly boy! |
We have had such a great summer. I really hate to see it end, but we're also looking forward to a fun-filled fall too!
