Trip photos, part 2

Ben helped Mom go through her stash of scrapbook paper odds & ends by punching & gluing them for a collage. He would've played with those punches for a couple of hours every day and probably started trying to punch shapes out of everything in the house if we hadn't put them away after a few days.

Grandma refereeing as Dad & Ben race cars down the hallway:

Ben LOVED trying out Dad's golf clubs. Note that Dad is wisely standing far out of club range from the very enthusiastic toddler golfer. Please note that the slightly Unabomber look was entirely selected by the two-year-old despite not actually needing his hood up or sunglasses on.

Hanging out with my grandma:

On Sunday we went over to Tony & Jen's house to see their newly remodeled kitchen and play pinball & drums downstairs. Ben really did quite a good job exploring Uncle Tony's drum set and stretched on his tiptoes to hit every possible cymbal. It took him a little while to figure out the foot pedal for the bass drum.

Baby bump picture of me & Jen. She & Tony are expecting baby Gwen 3 1/2 weeks before our baby girl is due. Possibly some of the belly was because we'd just eaten lots of salad and pizza at Buddy's!

Mom had a small surprise gift for Ben every morning. He liked the big box and packing paper that his Magna Doodle came in almost as much as the actual gift. 

On our last full day in Michigan, we took Ben to Yates Cider Mill, one of our favorite places to visit in the fall. Their cider & donuts were a great treat! The cider mill was the first thing that Ben told his teachers about when he returned to daycare.

Two ducks were splashing around in the river. Ben had a great time watching them and quacking. 

He wasn't quite sure about the goats at first but insisted on seeing all of them and yelling "HI, GOATS!" and "BYE, GOATS! BYE, BABY GOAT!" before we left. 

He also helped Mom get her exercise by instructing her on running down the trail above the river. He kept repeating, "When I say 'ready, set, go,' that means you run." They'd then run about 8 feet before he'd stop and tell her the same thing again.