"Give me back my money!"

Ben's new phrase is "Give me back my money!"  We have no idea where he picked it up, but  he thinks it's hilarious! He giggles like a nut when he says it.

Haircut

Ben's hair was looking a little shaggy, so we got it trimmed today. He threw a little tantrum when we first walked in, but with some encouragement and a lollipop, he sat nicely in the fire engine chair and watched a little "Finding Nemo." We also filled up our day with finger painting, Candyland, library books, outdoor play, a too-short nap, and a delicious dinner at our little neighborhood Mexican restaurant.

Before the haircut:

Reading family favorite "Mr. Bun" with Daddy

After:

Finger painting "just like Elli" (he loves a video of my goddaughter Elli finger painting Easter eggs!)

Ben's week

Last week Ben asked, "Bunny can play piano?" He climbed up and sat with the bunny that his great-grandma gave him for Easter and helped Bunny play the keys with his ears!

I was away at our hospice's bereavement camp this weekend, and while I was gone, Ben decided his tent was the best place ever. He camped out in it with a large selection of stuffed animals and books.

He has also been having a lot of fun with his Mr. Potato Head, especially the mustaches. Sometimes he has very specific rules for how you are & are not allowed to put the Mr. PH or other toys together, but it's usually hard to tell other than a general sense of "Mommy, you're doing it wrong." Decoding a 2-year-old's rules for play is very confusing!

Ranch Trip

We spent our annual weekend down at the Clark ranch in Texas. The drive to & from the ranch was not the most fun with a 2-year-old, but we had a wonderful time while we were there. Ben is head-over-heels in love with our friend's daughter Gracyn, who was so sweet with him!

The fabulous tree house:

Trying to figure out what the giant moving chair-thing was:

Ben didn't take a nap the whole weekend (and learned how to climb out of his Pack & Play!), so one of the afternoons he was protesting nap time, Dave let me take a nap and they took all the kids down to the closer lake. Ben thought throwing rocks into the water was so cool.

First fishing rod. We didn't put a hook but did put an artificial worm, which Ben kept wanting to pet. Kelly caught a giant fish and a couple of the kids caught & released smaller fish.

This is his "say cheese" face now:

Getting a little shade at "the ruins" while the others fished for a little longer:

Aidan let Ben wrestle with him,

made fish faces,

and played lightsabers. We asked Ben later if he had fun playing "Star Wars" with Aidan and he was totally confused. He did remember the word "lightsaber," though.

Chalk drawing on the patio. Ben wanted me to help him draw rainbows for each of the kids.

We saw a whole bunch of cows on our last night at the ranch. Ben, Bobby & Lindsay had the best time mooing excessively loudly out the windows of the truck. We also saw some turkeys, deer, and cranes but no pigs.