Camping

This past weekend, Ben and Jeff went camping in the back yard... Tent, sleeping bags, blow up mattress etc. I would have put money down that it would have only lasted until about 9:00pm, maybe 10:00pm but to my surprise, the boys camped all night long! Ben was so excited to camp with his Dad that he literally was jumping around the house all day Friday. The pic below is the boys mid-jump session saying at the top of their lungs, 'Camping Camping Camping...!!!' It was a pretty funny sight to see.

 

Just a cute pic of bottle time...

Tummy Time

It is time to start "Tummy Time" for Mr. Brody. This will help him strengthen his neck etc. Here is Brody's first attempt at Tummy Time; he wasn't too sure what we were doing with him but it did spark some curiousity in the little guy... he started moving around more, holding his neck up and trying to roll over. Take a good long look at these pics because Brody is actually awake... we don't have too many of these pictures and we need to take advantage of what we've got!

Gommie and Papa Playtime!

Jeff was out of town last week for work so Gommie and Papa came to help out quite a bit! Although Ben missed his Dad a ton, he had so much fun with Gommie and Papa over. Brody slept thru most of their visits but definitely enjoyed all the cuddling!

Mangia Mangia!

The past week or two has proved trying at dinner time attempting to get Ben to eat dinner. He isn't a picky eater at all, he actually will eat almost anything. But actually getting him to eat dinner has been our struggle. He will either not want any food or keep it in his cheek like a chipmunk. So... I had this self-proclaimed brilliant idea that if I get him involved with helping me make dinner, maybe he will be more interested in eating it. Well, it kinda worked. We got him to eat a bit but really not anything to write home about... Back to the drawing board, I guess...

But... here is our arrancini making session on Monday. Arrancini are italian rice/risotto balls with cheese or meat in the middle. Once cooked, the cheese is gooey and awesome. So... here is Ben just about to get messy, good thing he wore an apron...

Here is the end product before cooking. He had a great time getting messy and was actually pretty darn proud of what he made... if only I could get him to eat more...



Brotherly Bonding

Brody is 5 weeks this past Tuesday and up until now, Ben hasn't been all that interested in his little brother. Little by little, though, he is coming around and wanting to give Brody his passey or soothe him when he's crying... Sunday was a first for Ben... he actually wanted to feed Brody his bottle. And, to boot, he did a great job!

Sunday Brunch

We went out for brunch on Sunday to enjoy the sun, fill the bellies and get out of the house. Here Ben and Jeff show the camera how much fun they are having at brunch! You may be asking where is Brody and what is he up to... if you guessed sleeping, you are absolutely right!

Play Time with Maxine

We drove up to San Rafael (near Sonoma) this past Saturday to help Paul Bussi celebrate his 35th birthday. The boys went off to the Lagunitas brewery for a brewery tour so Nicole and I stayed back with the kids and had a really fun afternoon of catching up. Ben and Maxine were thrilled to be reconnected and were literally attached at the hip for 5+ hours. By the end of the afternoon, Maxine was saying... "Ben Ben, come let's play... Ben Ben, let's go cook in the kitchen... Ben Ben..." It was beyond cute.

Here Maxine and "Ben Ben" are having a picnic. Totally unprompted, they took her pretend kitchen supplies over to the entry area of the house and set up a picnic. Pretty much the cutest thing ever...

Maxine has a strider bike like Ben but she wasn't too keen on it because she wasn't too sure how to ride it. Until Ben taught her...



Some of the boys on the brewery tour were spending the night at the Bussi's so before we left for home, we helped set up the aero bed. Of course the kids think that is an open invitation for jump fest...



Saying goodbye is never fun. Here we told Ben and Maxine to give each other a hug goodbye. This is what they did rather than hug each other. Literally... both kids did this at the same time without seeing the other do it... a bit spooky and a lot cute...

Sleeping Like a Baby

So this is what the old saying means to 'Sleep like a baby...'

Must be nice...

Birthday Celebration!

While the Boulder Bolgers were here for a visit, we got to celebrate Shannon's birthday. We planned a really fun day in Carmel Valley with wine tasting, lunch in the sun at Baja Cantina then back to our house for dinner and cake.

Here is a cute pic of Shannon and Olivia at Georis winery. We chose Georis because they have an enclosed outdoor tasting area with bird aviaries and ponds so Ben and Olivia would be entertained while we were tasting...

But both Ben and Brody snooozed the entire hour we were at the winery... hence the big smile on Jeff's face! Wine tasting + sunny day in the Valley + napping tots = happy Dad!





If you are a 3 year old, what is the best part of any birthday celebration? It is the cake, of course! And the ice cream cake did not disappoint, that is for sure! It is a good thing we did cake a bit early so that the kids could run off the sugar energy before bed time...

Boulder Bolger Visit

The Boulder Bolgers visited us and met little Brody a week ago. We had so much fun and realized Colorado is just too far away. Here are a few pics of us and the Boulder Bolgers...

Ben and Olivia had waaaay too much fun together. They are only a few months different age-wise so they are in the same place developementally. They played basketball, jumped on the trampoline the ENTIRE weekend, ran in the sprinklers, watched movies... the list goes on and on...

Group pic of the Monterey, Boulder and So Cal Bolgers! 

Lunch with the Boulder Bolgers on their last day in Carmel... of course it was right around nap time so both Olivia and Ben were in rare form. 

"Fix It" Men

Both of our bathrooms were remodeled before Brody arrived and literally finished construction a day or two before Brody's arrival date. That means we haven't had time to decorate the bathrooms or install the little remaining tid bits like robe hooks etc etc. So, Ben and Jeff did the fix it men 'stuff' this past weekend to the bathroom and looked so darn cute I had to memorialize it!

Excavator Sunday Funday

On our walk this past Sunday morning, we came across a construction site and, much to Ben's amazement, a HUGE excavator! For a kid who loves all things construction, this was a huge deal. So of course, he got out, climbed up and had some fun!

And noticing a common theme... Brody slept thru the whole thing... :)



Pool Day

Summer on the Monterey Peninsula is finally here... in fact, it has been on the hot side. This past weekend, we got to the low 80's which for some of our viewers is winter-ish weather but for us, it is darn hot. So, now that we are back to functioning relatively normally, we thought this past Saturday was a great day to go to the pool!

Here the hot Bolger boys are getting ready to take a dip...

Daddy and Benny bonding time in the big boy pool...



Ben loved the kid pool, too, because he was able to splash and play without Mom or Dad since it was really shallow...



Cooling off after a day of swimming with a frosty beverage and some BBQ really capped off a great day!



And what, you may be asking, did our sweet little Brody do while his brother enjoyed pool day... ?!? Yep, you guessed it, he snoozed the entire time!

Stretching...

Grandpa Bolger recently had should surgery so while he was in town visiting, he had to do some stretches to keep his shoulder limber. Ben loved it and stretched along with him... until he got bored... then he just played with Grandpa's nose...

Ben is a Master Pizziolo!

While Grandma and Grandpa were in town, we went to a local pizzeria that lets kids make their own pizzas. Ben had a great time! They bring the pizza dough rolled out and ready to rock as well as the sauce, cheese and toppings. Once Ben put the pie together, the restaurant baked it and brought it out along with the adult's food and Ben got to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Pretty fun way to keep Ben occupied while we waited for the food!

Happy Ben

Wanted to share a cute pic of Ben having a ton of fun playing with Grandma and Buzz Lightyear!

Cookie Monster!

Ben has really been liking helping me cook the last few months so I've been trying as much as possible to involve him. The day before Grandma and Grandpa came, we make chocolate chip cookies. This probably wasn't the best idea cleanliness-wise as most of the flour and sugar ended up on the floor but Ben had a great time.

Here he is scooping the cookies onto the baking pan...

And just like his Daddy, he had the 'one cookie on the pan, one cookie in my mouth' methodology...





Full mouth and full belly of cookie dough = Happy Ben!



Growing Baby

Brody turned 3 weeks old a few days back and boy is he growing and looking so much like his brother at this age! Here are a few of our most recent pics of Brody and some of the funny faces he makes...

Airport Fun

Grandma and Grandpa Bolger came for a visit this past week to see Ben and meet Brody. On day 1, we decided to surprise Ben with a visit to the airport for lunch. Of course, he was in heaven! When at the airport, he not only watches all the planes land and take off but he also brings every toy plane he owns, places them on the ground and makes a model airport.