zoo!

mom and dad took me to the zoo on saturday and it was great! not only did i get to see lots of animals, i got to see max and aj as well.

i think the most exciting thing was when a baby orangutan drop down out of his tree and waved "hi" to me. i was also very excited by the sand sharks and all of the cool looking fish in the aquariums.



another awesome moment was this:



the crazy elephant kept trying to snuggle up to my dad!

mom and i climbed up this rope wall. it was pretty tough. i was proud of us for making it to the top. that's me in the sweet red shorts.



i've been drawing a lot lately and building houses and things out of cardboard. it's been so rainy, i've had to get creative!

where have they been keeping me?

outside! seems like i've been outside almost every day now. the weather is nice so i've been spending time playing in my sandbox at gram's and working in my garden at home. i love it!



last weekend mom, gram, jake and i went on a trip to a little house in the country. i got to play in the shenandoah river. i found lots of great shells and rocks. i explored the cabin and our yard. my favorite part was visiting this cave. i kept telling the guy how cool and awesome everything was. i LOVED it and can't wait to go back.



we built a campfire and roasted marshmallows one night. i did a really good job!



we also hiked on the appalachian trail. i especially liked crossing the potomac on a big railroad bridge. i kept crouching down to look at the river through the cracks. mom was going nuts!





i can't wait to go on another adventure.

brothers! and other stuff!

my brothers and grandma ruth were here for a while. awesome! we played and ate and went to museums and played some more. one day we even got to go to uncle galen's to have lunch. i loved having them all here.





jonah and sam also tried really hard to help me learn how to throw and catch a football. they said it was a challenge.



the day after my brothers left i had maverick's birthday party at chick fil a. lots of fun and all my friends were there. after that mommy and i went shopping, then came home and watched mountaineer basketball. so exciting! i shouted and cheered the whole time.

on sunday i got to do something really great. after church mommy and daddy took me to see the dragon movie. i was really well-behaved and loved watching the dragons fly and eat fish.

now i'm just getting ready for the easter bunny. i have a feeling he's going to bring me toys and candy!

also, look at this picture of me and ro!

they came back!

mom and dad finally came back from their trip with the polar bears. i'm so happy to see them and so glad to be home.

staying at gram's was great, though, and uncle jeff took me out a bunch and even took me for ice cream!

getting ready for grandma ruth and my brothers to come next week. can't wait.

had fun playing dress up tonight and scary mommy. cool, huh?

slackers

my slacker parents have been keeping me captive. no internet access for me, oh no. and all because i took one measly ballpoint to mom's laptop. sheesh.

in case you were worried, i have NOT been captured by robots.

not too much new around here. i've been playing in the snow as much as i can but i'm ready for spring. i want to take a blanket outside and have a picnic. i want to put up my tent and play with my toys under the sun. i want to ride my bike!

i have become a very efficient sled rider, though!

messages from ben

you may notice that i've not been around. i've taken it upon myself to communicate with you. with my dad's help, of course. please follow these links for important video messages.

http://www.etradebabymail.com/?mId=34141967.3

http://www.etradebabymail.com/?mId=34142305.3

http://www.etradebabymail.com/?mId=34143930.3

thank you for your time and consideration.

bbb

happy birthday to me!!!

i'm three! i'm big! how cool!

i had a great birthday weekend. on sunday, my actual birthday, mom and dad really spoiled me. i got uncle donald's for breakfast and then i opened my presents from mom and dad. they got me lots of stuff but i liked my fireman sam fire truck and my playdoh the best. so much fun! then they let me pick where to go for lunch. i picked damon's. i love that place. we watched the vikings and the cowboys and mommy and i rooted for the vikings.



after that we went shopping then back home to play with my toys.



on monday we had my pirate party. it was great! i dressed up and played with my cousins. i got lots more nice gifts. i especially liked the "don't break the ice" game aunt jan and uncle chuck got me.



by the time the part was over i was totally beat. i told mommy pirate time was over.

now life is kind of back to normal. our wood is in and we're back at home. i like it that way. and i love being a big boy now!

home!

we're finally home! i had a great time at gram's while the guys were putting the wood in our house, but man am i glad to get home!

i was so excited tonight to see all my stuff. and i was also very excited to see the new floors.

tomorrow mom and i have plans to check out the winter farmers market and run around a bit. that should be fun!

also coming up this weekend? my birthday! three years old! how 'bout that!

happy new year!!!!

what a week we've had.

while we were still in colorado i got to do some really great sled riding. at first i was a little nervous but then i just realized how much fun it was.







the flight back to wv was good and i was a pretty good boy. when we got home i was very excited to see that santa had come!!! he got me this awesome motorcycle and a perfect pink hippo.





a few days later gram, uncle bob, aunt shannon, jack, izzy, uncle galen, aunt jan and uncle chuck came over. we opened presents and ate and laughed. it was a lot of fun. we gave uncle chuck a present that he really loved. i think aunt jan loved it too!



after that it was new year's eve! i got to count down til midnite and drink some sparkling juice. sam made me a crown which i loved.



new year's day we had a bunch of people over, including bill, max and aj. what fun! we played for hours.

since then we've just been relaxing at home. it was a great holiday!

Christmas happened!

It finally came! We've had so much excitement these past few days I don't even remember last week!

thursday morning we got up and headed to the airport. FINALLY. i was so excited. i was a very good boy going through security and heading to the gate. we ate some lunch at the airport and i actually got to see santa claus. he gave me some candy. i hung out at the kidport before the flight.



when we got on the plane and in the air (take off was my favorite part!) mommy let me see her ipod. she put all kinds of shows on it which was great. she also let me play some ipod games.

we brought lots of snacks from home- cashews, dried cherries, cheese, chex mix, gum drops.... i ate the whole way to colorado!

grandma ruth and uncle aaron met us at the airport in denver.



the next morning was christmas morning and santa came! i got a new train set piece and a cool hat. and a hippo! grandma got me lots of stuffed animals. we went to church and i was actually a pretty good boy- for me.



in the evening jonah, sam, louise and uncle christian came. i was so excited i could hardly stand it.



yesterday and today i got to walk and play in the snow. this afternoon, sam, louise and i built a snow fort and made almost 50 snow balls! awesome!





it is so much fun here- i love it. and i love christmas!

more christmas fun

we've been doing a lot of christmasy stuff around here lately. i've finally stopped asking if "today" is christmas. i've given up. they always say "no, not yet."

anyway, this weekend we went to a street festival that uncle bob and aunt shannon have. there was lots of food and music and a lady painted my face. i asked for a heart. it had sparkles on it. santa was also there! he gave me a popcorn ball. i really liked talking to him. aunt jan and uncle chuck were there too, so that was nice.







we also went to prickett's fort and i LOVED it. these people get to pretty much live outside, play with animals, play with FIRE and build stuff. how cool is that? i could have stayed there forever. i asked if we could live there but mom and dad said no.



mom and i have been doing lots of baking and decorating. i decorated sugar cookies tonight and mommy thinks they are beautiful. i just think they are tasty!





i have decided that i want a hippo for christmas. a pink hippo. i told mom and dad that and they said, "hey, there's a song about that." and there is! i guess lots of kids want hippos for christmas.

christmastime is here!

we had such a great weekend!

friday night we went to the christmas parade downtown. before the parade we met scott and the webers at black bear for supper. there were so many kids there- it was awesome! max and keith left early because max was actually IN the parade!

i walked up to high street with aj and we sat on the curb waiting for the parade to start. it was very very cold, but once they started throwing candy we were totally into it. i was also very excited to see fireman sam. he was way better than santa claus. my phrase of the night? "throw more candy here!"

saturday we woke up and guess what? it snowed! a lot! mommy and i played outside and made a snow man. we also made gingerbread cookies and worked on our gingerbread houses.

on sunday i had a party to go to at a place called blaney house. it was a great party. they gave each kid there a penguin puppet. i named mine "pank". he's great and i love making him talk. i got to do a project at the party and they also had a puppet show with another penguin and a star and a talking tree.

sunday evening we finished our gingerbread houses. mine looks great!

brothers!

we went to columbus on wednesday to get my brothers.

on the way there we stopped at this place with all kinds of dead animals. it was pretty cool.



i got to swim in the hotel at columbus which was a lot of fun.

on thanksgiving day mommy and i made cool pilgrim hats which i wore at dinner.



yesterday they took me to a movie. i had a great time but everyone kept telling me to "shhh" and a couple times daddy tried to shut my mouth with his hand. whatever. i think it's important to give my opinion and ask appropriate questions during a film. i still don't understand why that guy was afraid of all the ghosts.

tonight max and aj came over. we played trains and cootie and wore silly hats. it was the best!

sick!

i have been a bit sick lately. i have an annoying cough and my voice sounds like a frog.

i had a bad fever on sunday and my mom and dad were really worried about me. we spent most of the day on the couch watching shows. i did still get to take ro-ro out for a walk. he loved it!

tomorrow we go to pick up my brothers. i can't wait!

huh?

today i told my dad that from now on i'd call him "pickle." why? not gonna say. gotta keep 'em guessing.

been watching the movie ice age a lot lately. it cracks me up!

not too much else happening. mommy repainted my kitchen and got me some new stuff so i can play zefronk. we love zefronk!

last week we went to pittsburgh to visit the museum.




we also went to this great fountain! i danced and laughed and just generally loved it. life is good!

halloween

halloween was great!



even before i had my dash costume on people were knocking on our door asking for candy. i was so excited!



daddy stayed behind to pass out candy while mommy and i walked all the way to the top of the neighborhood and back. i filled my plastic pumpkin with all kinds of goodies. i loved seeing all the kids dressed up and i loved talking to all the people passing out candy. i said "trick or treat" and "thank you" just like i was supposed to. i also told lots of people how great and scary their costumes were.

after an hour i was tired and cold so i sat outside with dad under a blanket and passed out candy.

after trick or treat was over we went inside. i was beat and had no trouble going to bed.

the next day was just as fun. first, we went to the tugboat depot to play and ride my bike.



in the afternoon we had dominic's birthday party. i got to play with lots of kids and had a great time running around with AJ. what a good time!



i was wipe out after such an exciting weekend.