On the Way.

I came across a new site this morning and thought it was too cool not to share, especially with summertime road trips right around the corner.

Onthewayapp.com allows you to enter your starting point and your destination, and the site provides you with all kinds of points of interest along the way. It includes historical markers, restaurants, book stores, stadiums, etc. It even includes Starbucks, which I have to agree is most definitely a point of interest.



How cool is that? Now that we have a squirmy toddler who demands frequent pit stops, this site will really come in handy.

Did anyone else already know about this, or am I just late to the party?

Happy Saturday!

Lawn Guy.

Ben just loves to watch Tim mow the lawn. He is fascinated with the loud whir of the mower and all the flying grass.

Tim is gracious enough to allow Ben to help. Our mower isn't self-propelled, so it's not exactly easy to push and steer while holding a twenty-pound toddler, but Tim is a beast. And a softy. Ben always gets to help with a couple of rows, and then cries when his turn is over and Tim gets to finish.

The Huntleys got Ben a bubble-mower for his birthday, and as soon as he's a little more stable in the grass we'll pull that thing out and really wow him with it.

Let's hope Ben's love for the lawnmower carries into his teenage years.

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To.

I decided quite a while ago that I wasn't going to plan a birthday party for Ben. When I look back at pictures from Tim's first birthday and my first birthday, it was just us, our parents (Tim had older siblings) and a cake. That seems reasonable to me.

Isn't it nuts how much Ben looks like Tim in this picture?

While I wanted the occasion to be celebratory, I didn't want anything even remotely stressful or fussy. Ben will never remember whether or not I spent seven hours making the custom water-bottle sleeves I saw on pinterest, so I'm just not gonna, thankyouverymuch. There are plenty of years ahead for big parties, so this year I decided to invite my parents and Tim's parents over for cake, and leave it at that.

As plans evolved, we realized that all of Tim's siblings would be in town the day of Ben's "non-party," to run the Warrior Dash together. Of course, since they would already be here, we turned the "non-party" into a "family-only, sorta-party." When our home was struck by the plague the week of Ben's birthday, I was especially thankful I hadn't planned a big blow-out. It really took the pressure off of us.

So, the morning of the "family-only, kinda-party-but-really-just-a-bbq-with-cake-and-presents" everyone drove up to watch our warriors dash.

After the race, the family headed back to our house for the "non-party."

Although the doctor had virtually promised that Ben would be better by "non/kinda-party" day, that doctor is a liar. Ben was still miserable. He was either sleeping or crying through the entire "non-party." As I look back through pictures, I realize I didn't even get shots of Ben with his grandparents that day. Sad, but the whole day was kind of a blur.

Wait for it...

Even the frosting couldn't perk him up. This poor kid just wanted to be in bed.

Despite the fact that Ben wasn't feeling well, the rest of the day really was sweet. How nice to have all of our family around us to celebrate the blessing of a whole year with our little guy. And, I'm looking on the bright side: next year's party just has to be better!