John Hancock-

Yesterday Ben asked me to write his name on a piece of paper. He saw the letters I wrote and quickly said "I can do that!" So, here it is... he was very particular about the "E" and made sure the horizontal lines touched the vertical just so. He was pretty proud of himself and so are we!

And Chicago...

So, we switched gears from, calm, peaceful Wisconsin to bustling Chicago. We had a great visit with our friends Shana and Max. They took us to the BEST restaurant in Chicago... I'm still dreaming about the amazing food. AND we met up the next day for the Shedd. It was so great to see them!

Our hotel was right by Wrigley Field, so we walked up to listen to the big concert (along with 500,000 other people, well, not really - but it was packed!)

My new boyfriend... sorry Joe - you're just not frumpy enough!

We quickly hit LegoLand and Ikea on the way out of town and had a great time. We were all pretty exhausted when it was time to go home. Ben literally screamed for the first hour of the drive home and then CRASHED. He slept the rest of the drive - this was the first time he fell asleep in the car and we were grateful! What a great road trip - I would definitely do it again!!

Wisconsin Vacation-

We had the best time with our Wisconsin friends during our summer vacation! What a blast... I don't even know where to begin! Well, first thing we would like to thank our hosts - Kristina, Darrell and Arlo :) They are super fabulous! What great friends... they let us stay in their beautiful home, shared their toys, cooked great meals for us and showed us the ropes of living Up North. I think Joe and I could get used to it - you betcha!


We got to visit Wilderness Walk - a very cool petting zoo, took a trip to Bayfield to see Lake Superior, rode the ferry to Madeline Island, and on our last (and only warm day) hung out at the beach. We were also lucky enough to see Kristina's parents at their amazing cabin - INCLUDING "Taco Night with Arlo and Ben." So much fun!!


Ben did great on the 13-hour road trip - even though he didn't sleep for one minute on the way there. We were able to divide the drive both going there (stayed in Madison - where Ben flashed everyone at our hotel) and on the way home (a visit to Chicago - more to come on that).


Thanks to our great friends - hopefully we're still in the running for a group vacation to the beach :) We've submitted our resume and references...

Museum of Transportation

Since our 4th of July weekend didn't go as planned... we decided to have some fun and go to the Train Museum. Ben LOVED it - he remembered going with daddy while I was at a conference in Columbia - so the boys showed me the ropes. I hadn't been since I was a little girl and I loved taking photos of the different trains. I hope to make a collage to hang in Ben's room since he's LOVING trains at the moment. Tim - the last photo is for your Monsanto archives...

Ben's first fireworks

The entire weekend didn't go as planned - it was rainy and overcast so we never made it to Innsbrook. However, it was dry long enough for us to watch the fireworks near our house. In years past Ben slept right through the noise... but this year we "talked them up" the week before and decided to give it a try. He didn't mind them, but didn't love them either. Let's just say the novelty wore off pretty quickly. He did LOVE the glow bracelets from Auntie - so we were glad for those. I know these photos are crazy, but thought I would post anyway!

It's been HOT - the 88 predicted for today sounds like an awesome reprieve - I can only imagine the weather in WI we'll have in a few weeks!!!! So, to beat the heat and get outside, we filled up the backyard pool and had some water fun.

Auntie bought Ben this pool when he was just a little guy - and I think it shrunk - or maybe Ben GREW. Next summer we'll get to pass it on to Miss Maggie, it will be just right for her! This year Ben loved the sprinkler (last year not at all) and he had a great time running from the sprinkler to the pool. So fun!!

Happy Father's Day!

Ben submitted this photo to the local newspaper for a Father's Day Tribute. Ben and Joe were in the paper with this message...

Daddy, you rock! Thanks for playing guitars, cars and trains with me. I love you - Happy Father's Day! Love, Ben

We love you!!