Boys' and Girls' Weekend

Our church had a father-sons camp out last weekend and so Kelly took Benjamin.  He's been taking Benjamin to this annual event since Benjamin was 1 year old and they've always loved it.  Benjamin counted down the days for weeks prior and told every one he knew that he was going.  They had a great time cooking over the campfire, shooting off bottle rockets, and fishing in the river.  Too bad it poured rain the next morning or they would have stayed longer.  I can't wait until next year when Christian can go too.  He was quite sad to see Daddy go without him.  "Mit!" he kept screaming.  ("with" in German)  I pointed out to Kelly that Christian is the same age that Benjamin was when he started going, but it's harder when you've got a 5 year old and a 1 year old because you're having to do everything for the 1 year old and the 5 year old gets  neglected a bit. Kelly really wanted this to be special for Benjamin.  So, sorry Christian, you'll get your chance next year when you're more self-sufficient (and hopefully potty trained)!

Kelly had the camera, so I didn't get any pictures of Bella and my (and Christian's) girly weekend.  I got out pen and paper and had Bella make a list of all the things she wanted to do while the boys were away.  Eat marshmallows topped the list and was by far her favorite part of the weekend.  She just couldn't handle the idea that Benjamin would get s'mores and she wouldn't.  Marshmallows were followed by painting nails, shopping for jewelry, and going swimming.  So that's what we did.  She ended up buying a Hello Kitty bowl and water bottle rather than the necklace she'd planned on buying, but she was still thrilled.

Cute story to go with that: I'd gotten Bella a necklace for her birthday and Christian liked it so much that he was always playing with it against her will.  Last week he pulled on it too hard and snapped the chain.  She wanted a new one, but we're trying to teach our kids to take better care of their things because they're constantly treating their things poorly and when they get broken or lost simply saying, "Oh well.  Buy me another one!"  So I refused to buy her another one and said she should have put it away and then Christian couldn't have broken it.  Benjamin, however, felt sorry for her, asked how much a new necklace would cost, counted that much out of his piggy bank, and gave it to her so she could buy herself a new one while he was camping.  So generous! When he came home from camping, he immediately wanted to see which necklace she'd chosen and was so happy for her that she bought something she liked with his money.  What a sweet kid!

Bella and I had a great time together.  I especially love that Bella likes board games like I do. Benjamin calls them "bored" games and will only play them as part of a deal to then get to play something else.  But Bella will routinely suggest we play one and I love it.  I could play board games all day long.  So happy to have someone to play with.

Another instance of not taking care of things.  Memorial day was HOT and so after our church picnic, we came home and got out the slip-and-slide for its inaugural use.  The thing hadn't been out 5 minutes and Benjamin jumped with all his might on the part where the water runs through the tube.  We'd told him not to jump there because it will pop, but he did it anyway and before he'd even been able to slide down it, the thing was busted.

This is Benjamin fuming and Christian equally displeased.  Of course, there was no "I'm sorry."  Just a "Okay, buy me a new one."  No way.  Kelly pulled the hose out of the slide's tube, attached a sprinkler, and told him to make due with his slip and slide that was now no better than a simple long sheet of plastic.  I'll know what to buy next time.

Luckily his bad mood didn't last too long and he still had a fun time sliding.

Here Benjamin and Bella sit in what used to be a cute little pool at the end of the slide before it split open and drained out.  They're pretending it's still there.  That worked for longer than I would have thought it would.

Finally, here's my adorable little Christian.  He's grown more and more fond of books.  Each of our kids has developed a love of books and I'm so happy about it.  I love walking in on one of them and finding them sitting quietly by the bookshelf reading by themselves or side by side with a sibling.  So cute!  This was my favorite sight this week, though.  I'd read this book to Christian three or four times in a row and then I finally insisted we stop and get him ready for bed but he didn't want to give it up.  He took it with him and read it the entire time I changed his diaper and then I had to read it twice more before he'd agree to sleep.  So funny how, even bare bottomed, he intently stared at the pictures.  The love of reading in the bathroom starts early with men, I guess. :)