Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads that I know!  Happy first Father's Day to Pat!  Ben loves all that you do for him.  Happy Father's Day to Omi and Grampa!  Thank you for being such great grandfathers to Ben!

Pat, Ben, and Omi on Father's Day

Like father, like son.

Hanging out with Grampa in Arkansas

Sharing a laugh at the office. 

-Kim

Arkansas Vacation: The Rest

The biggest activity on our vacation was just hanging out spending time together.  The kids enjoyed playing together.  We were able to go out a few times and have some good food.  A lot of good food actually.  Ben got to enjoy most of it too.  Part of BLW means that we feed him what the group is eating as much as possible.  I usually brought along a few vegetables and some fruit to be sure he had a couple of healthy options.  But for protein he just got some of what Pat and I ate.  He got his first restaurant meal just for him on this trip too!  At Catfish Hole, kids under 4 get a free meal, so we got one for Ben.  It was just a piece of chicken and some fries.  We didn't let him eat fries on this trip.  You can get those anywhere and they are not healthy.  We did let him try a piece of fried okra.  He seemed to really enjoy it, but he only got one little piece.  That is something we don't have around where we live, so I don't mind him trying a regional treat.

Fortunately the whole family is working on being healthy, so Ben wasn't just fed junk food the whole trip.  For most of it he kept to his regular diet.  He did get to enjoy some brisket at the barbecue place we went, and that was a hit.

One night we got an after hours tour of Lindsay's workplace.  She had to pick up some papers, so we all came with and she showed us around.  She works for Life Styles.  They work with individuals with developmental disabilities, and Lindsay is awesome at her job!  It was fun to see all the classrooms and activity centers in her office building.

We had so much fun visiting Arkansas.  It was great to see the family and watch the kids interact.  Charlotte, Joe, and Ella were wonderful with Ben.  They shared all their toys and seemed to really enjoy being with him.  LadyBird was fabulous too.  She is so good with kids!  Ben managed to grab each of her cheeks in his hands at one point, and she didn't seem to mind at all!  (We did not let him grab her, it was an accident.)  She was also very helpful in cleaning Ben's oatmeal off of him one morning.  She is a sweet, sweet dog and we loved seeing her.  We enjoyed spending time with the adults too!  It was great to see Lindsay, Chris, Gramma, and Grampa.  Overall, we think it was a successful vacation.  Now we get to start planning our next trip out there!

Here are some final pictures from the vacation.

Gramma and Charlotte!

Out to eat

Need a picture with Mommy too.

The guys!

The ladies!

At least Ben was happy about the picture.

Grampa and his grandsons

Enjoying an ice cream treat

We love ice cream!

Ben and his favorite Aunt Lindsay

Vacation style- check!

Joe!

Charlotte and Ella modeling

I tried to get a picture of these three...

Ben can't wait to go back!

-Kim

Thankful Thursday: Summer Festivals

This Thursday marks the start of summer festival season for Team Cartwright!!  It is Prairiefest weekend!  Pat and I love going to all the small town events that we can.  We go to the county fairs.  We go to ribfests and music nights on the river.  We love to have a reason to get out, eat some yummy (but very unhealthy) fair food, and have a ton of fun.

Prairiefest is one of our favorites.  It has a ton of vendors to look at, our favorite jerky vendor, a petting zoo, good food, and good music.  In past years we have seen Gin Blossoms, Eddie Money, and Sister Hazel.  This year we will be seeing Rusted Root.  And it is free!  This year we will also be a part of a new activity, Diaper Derby!  It's a crawling race for babies under 18 months old.  Now, Ben is great at scooting around on his belly.  He can shift and wiggle and eventually get places.  However, I wouldn't say he is technically crawling yet.  So I don't think his chances of winning are very high.  We are hoping it will show him how fun it is just to compete.  :)  And who knows, maybe he is just waiting for his big moment to debut his crawl.  (I don't think that is the case though.)  I am very excited for this chance to be with my family and have a ton of fun.  Omi and Associates is even shutting down the office a little early to be there to support one of their own in the race.  Meo and Omi are going to watch Ben so Pat and I can check out Rusted Root.  It doesn't start until 9, and that is way too late for Ben!

I am happy that this means the start of our fun times at summer fests.  We always have a ton of fun, and I am so excited to share it with Ben this year.  I am thankful for summer festivals and the opportunity to attend and have fun at them.
-Kim

Arkansas Vacation: Splash Pad

One reason I was super pumped to go to Arkansas was to give Ben the chance to play in a kiddie pool or something similar before he takes swimming lessons later this summer.  We've had warm weather here, but not consistently warm enough to inspire Pat or I to go ahead and get out his kiddie pool.  As northerners though, we just assume it is always warm enough to swim in Arkansas.  (Yes, even when I hear about ice storms there.  I default to the south being warm.)  Well Aunt Lindsay had an even better idea for us- Splash Pad!!

It worked out really well.  After Ben's morning nap we quick fed the kids lunch and headed over.  Oh my, it was so much fun!!  I know not everyone knows what a splash pad is.  Basically it's a flat fountain kids can play in.  It is a big area with water jets that shoot out a different times.  Kids love it.  Heck, I loved it! We were able to run around and get all wet.  Gramma was with us and held down home base.  It was great to have someone the kids could run to and grab a drink of water, or just take a minute to breath.  The pad had several outer fountains that didn't splash very high, perfect for Ben!  I almost think I had more fun watching him delight in the water than he did playing in it.  He loves playing in the bathtub, so this was great to him.  He doesn't even mind getting water on his face!  The older three charged through the water like they meant business.  After playing with Ben for awhile, I let Aunt Lindsay enjoy some baby time and I went around after the big three.  I had so much fun splashing around with them!!

We didn't stay at the splash pad for too long.  Ben did have to get his afternoon nap.  I was a little concerned, as he was going for his nap later than normal.  But he was just fine.  In fact he fell asleep almost as soon as he was in the car!  That isn't something he does on a regular basis.  Then when we got home he slept for another two hours.  The older three kids napped as well.  Score for tiring them out so well!

We have a splash pad here in town and we will be going there this summer for sure.  You can see a video of Ben having fun here.

Checking things out with Gramma

Ben and Mommy!

Playing with Aunt Lindsay

Ella being a bunny

Charlotte and Joe in action!

Touching the water!

Ella helped.

More Ella!

My favorite of Joe

Charlotte on the move!

So much fun!

The kids were so busy playing it was hard to get pictures of them!  After a few shots I had to put the camera down to get in on the fun.  Looking back at these pictures makes me miss Charlotte, Joe, and Ella so much!  I love that Ben has such great cousins.
-Kim

Happy Birthday, Pat!

Happy Birthday to Pat!!  We love you and hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Birthday Boy!

-Kim

Arkansas Vacation: Bowling and Park Play

We had a ton of fun in Arkansas.  With four kids ages 5 and under, we had to plan our fun around nap and meal times.  No one has fun when a baby or preschooler is hungry or tired.  We were still able to fit in some fun activities with the kids though!

One of our days there we took the kids bowling!  It was Ben's first trip to a bowling alley.  To be honest we weren't sure how it would go.  We went in the middle of the day, and school was still in session while we were there.  I was pretty sure it wouldn't be too crowded.  The bowling alley we go to there has a huge video game section, plus some go karts and other activities.  Bowling, video games, and a baby?  Yeah, we didn't know how that would go.  But the other kids love bowling, as does Pat's family in general.  We decided to try it out, keeping in mind  we might have to leave quickly if Ben was overwhelmed by it all.  Well we worried over nothing.  He loved it!  Granted he didn't actually bowl, but Ben loved watching his cousins bowl and seeing the action all around the place.  He also loved taking a personal tour of the place with Grampa while Pat and I played some games with the other kids.

Charlotte, Joe, Ella, Pat, and Aunt Lindsay all bowled.  Gramma, Grampa, and I handled entertaining the kids while they weren't bowling and lunch.  We had to avoid nap times so we did go during lunch.  Ben was probably so open to bowling because to him it was just eating. ;)  Joe really surprised me with his bowling skills!  He even beat Pat! All the kids did really well.  True they got to use bumpers and a ramp thingy to help them out.  Still, Pat was outbowled by a 3 year old.  Hehe.

Ben and Charlotte at bowling

The scores: Charlotte, Joe, Ella, Lindsay, Pat. :)

Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Chris have a great park in their neighborhood.  So one day we took the kids there to run around a bit.  Pat and I had a blast playing with Ben, and playing with his cousins.  It's so fun to just let loose and run around!  We played tag, climbed on the jungle gyms, went down the slides, and played on the swings.  It was a hot day, so we took a couple of breaks in the gazebo to play tea party and re-hydrate.  

Ben had so much fun!

The girls with Grampa

Ben loves the swings

Joe and Charlotte climbing 

Ella going for a ride

Daddy helping Ben play

Mommy's turn to help! 

Playing with Charlotte

Teaching Ben to climb

Joe!

Water break in the gazebo

After playing in the hot sun, we headed home to cool off and relax.  That night Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Chris both had to work.  This turned out to be lucky for me because we got to watch Frozen!  Yes, I understand that I am an adult, but I was so excited to finally see it!  I did enjoy the movie, and I think it was even better because I got to share it with my wonderful nieces and nephew.  

We had so much fun.  You can see more pictures of the cousins together here.  Next up is splash pad fun!

-Kim

Arkansas Vacation: Cousin Pictures

Team Cartwright has just returned home from our wonderful vacation in Arkansas!  Pat, Ben, and I loaded up the car and drove down to visit with Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Chris, Gramma, Grampa, and Ben's cousins.  It was a long drive, but it was so worth it to get to see them all.  Gramma and Grampa recently moved down that way, which is great because we get to see everyone in a single trip!  Uncle Chris and Aunt Lindsay hadn't yet gotten a chance to meet Ben in person, and Gramma and Grampa hadn't seen him in person since Thanksgiving.  So this was a much needed vacation.  Family is super important to us, so I am so thankful we had the chance to visit with them.

Another exciting part of this trip was Ben getting to meet his cousins for the first time!  I grew up extremely close to my cousins.  We all lived in the same town, with two of my cousins living two houses away from us for awhile.  Pat also grew up very close with his cousins.  Cousins are our first friends, so we are going to do our best to let Ben and his cousins get to know each other as well as possible.

Everyone had so much fun!!  With four little kids, one being a baby, we had to stick to a bit of a schedule.  Ben still takes morning and afternoon naps, plus he goes to bed early.  I am pretty hardcore about keeping his schedule.  I understand that life happens and adjustments need to be made.  But Ben does so well having his nap and meal times consistent.  He is such a happy baby, and I do believe part of that is due to this consistency.  Fortunately the family was able to adjust and we were able to pretty much keep to Ben's routine.  Yes, things did vary a bunch.  But he still got his naps and meals around the normal times.  As a result, we didn't really get out and do that much in terms of activities.  We did get to spend a ton of time hanging out, playing with the kids, and just enjoying each other's company.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to watch the cousins play together.  Charlotte, Joe, and Ella were so great with Ben!!  They had no problem sharing their toys or playing gently with Ben.  They had so much fun watching him explore.  Ben had an absolute blast watching the three of them run around too.  I tried to get as many pictures of them together as I could.  Sadly I am not a great photographer.  However in my defense it is kind of hard to get a 9 month old, two 3.5 year olds, and 5.5 year old to all smile, hold still, and look at the camera at the same time.  Heck just getting them to hold still can be a challenge.  These are some energetic kids!  I did get a few good ones to remember this precious time when they are all little.

First cousins picture!!

It's tough to get them all looking the same way.

Yeah, they all got bored with it quickly. 

Charlotte had Ben cracking up!

Charlotte built the towers, Ben knocked them down.

Joe caught me taking a picture.

The kids loved playing together.

I love these kids!!

We had a lot of fun in Arkansas.  Too much fun for one blog entry.  More to come soon!
-Kim