Sunday Surprise

We woke up to snow covered streets on Sunday morning. Ugh. Snow, now? It has been so nice not to worry about snowpants and boots and just put on spring coats. But, back to Wisconsin weather reality check.

From a child's point of view, the boys couldn't wait to get home from church and get out to play in the fresh snow.

My mighty strong shoveler's took care of the driveway.

Tyler and Jacob were very proud of their block fort.

They were also very proud of this snow fort wall thing, with the ambush factor.

Wonderful Weather Weekend

We had such wonderful weather this weekend that I wanted to revisit it today. We currently have whipping winds, cold chills, and relentless rain so let's look back to the shining sun and dry land we had this weekend.

Superstar Haley loves being outside and enjoys driving around town on her brother's bulldozer.

Kids of all ages love bubbles, including mine. Jacob is using bubbles that were found in our recent basement clean-out, they are from our wedding reception. I like to save things :)

We had visits from all kinds of family on Saturday, including Grandma Gail, Grandpa Andy, and cousin Izzy. Izzy is full of smiles and coo's now that she is approaching the 6 months old mark. She watches everything and is always exhausted when she leaves our crazy house.

On Sunday afternoon, we took a stroll down to the park for the first time this year. We can't wait to visit it all summer long.

If only I were alittle taller.

Haley really enjoyed the park, especially the slide..."go weeee!"

Haley made big strides going down the slide all by herself. (Notice the hovering mother.)

Tyler and Jacob like the swings and are starting to learn how to "pump" their legs to swing all by themselves.

It was a great weekend to relax and be outside. I am crossing my fingers in hopes that the rest of the week will look better than today!

Saturday Morning Madness

On Saturday mornings Brian and I make a feast of a breakfast that begins with making Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes and ends with triple berry muffins. Our breakfast tradition also includes eating all things bad for your heart and waist line like bacon and cinnamon rolls. Topped off by flavored coffee for the chefs.

Now that she is older Haley loves helping stir the pancakes.

Daddy and his little girl are gettin' the fixin's ready. Brian is such a great example of a patient and gentle dad.

The boys thought that breakfast was taking too long to make so they set up a fort in the hallway.

Next, the costumes came out. Red Power Ranger and Zorro defending their fort from the intruder, a purple people eater.

Ta da!!!!

Haley has been asserting her independence lately as she has learned that she can undress herself. Zipper pajamas never stay on in the morning and pants never stay on in the afternoon.

A tu-tu and a diaper are a perfect wardrobe choose to complete our laid back Saturday morning.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day from our green team to yours.
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Wishing for Spring

This week has been crazy busy so I am posting pictures from last week when all was calm and warmer.

The boys are so excited when they get even 1 minute to ride their bikes. They have big plans for this summer which involves lots and lots of bike ride trips to the park.

For the first beautiful day in March we marched right off to the zoo to visit some of our favorite animals. Jacob's absolute favorite animal in the whole zoo is the tiger or as Jacob likes to call him "Tigerific." We make a visit to see "Tigerific" everytime we are at the zoo. Jacob loves it when the tiger comes to sit by the glass.

Haley was not too sure about the train ride around the zoo but still managed to crack a few smiles here and there.

Look very closely and you will see Tyler's absolute favorite animal in the whole zoo. Can you name it? It is the Bongo! Tyler just loves his stripes and antlers. A visit to see the bongo is mandatory for every visit to the zoo!

Tyler was so very excited for his first ride of the season on the train. It amazes me that the train ride never gets boring, to them it is like riding it for the first time...everytime.

Haley was busy learning new words like "peacock" and "monkey" and also making new friends. She was not the least bit scared of the peacocks, she even tried to give them hugs.

We adopted two tigers from the zoo. They fit perfectly at our house.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Incredible Adventures of Buckaroo Benes and the Amazing Sports Show

(Posted by Brian)

Today we all (Daddy, Mommy, Jacob, Tyler and Haley) set out in the family cruiser for a fun filled day at the Milwaukee Sports Show. (The Milwaukee Sports Show has become known as the place where it is OK for our children to pretty much break any and all common sense rules.)
Remember the old choose your own adventure books of the late great 80's? Well, that is going to be the theme of today's post.

Our first adventure consisted of two six year olds and two sets of bow and arrows. What do you think happened next? A) If you think everything turned out fine and no arrows were sprayed across the exhibition center into the kayak demonstration, scroll down. B) If you think an arrow did shoot across the complex landing in the stands of the kayak demonstration please send money for our newly acquired legal fees.



Whew...no legal fees this weekend.

So what are two 6 year olds to do after getting the adrenaline pumping by pretending to be Robin Hood? Why, move on over to the CO2 fueled paint ball shooting gallery and load up a gun full of 40 paint balls and make mommy grimace with fear. (I LOVE the Sports Show!!!)
So what should the Benes clan do next? A) If you think they should apologize to the owner of the white miniature poodle that now resembles a Twister game board and run for the nearest exit, please send over a reference letter that we can forward to PETA. B) If you think the boys were quite the marksmen and nailed the targets more times than not, continue to enjoy the adventure and scroll down.


Good, we avoided the whole PETA thing!

OK, so let's take a break from shooting projectiles for a few minutes and see what else we can do to give mommy her first gray hair. (Can you find the brownie pt in that sentence?)
Sweet! A 4 story rockwall! Let's attack! So both boys strapped in and took off for the ceiling. What a blast, their faces said it all when they got to the top! But what do you think happened next? A) If you think one of the boys turned the rock climbing safety rope into his own personal bungee cord, please pray for us and for any future Holidays or Birthdays please only buy safety equipment. B) If you think the boys acted liked they had been climbing rock walls their whole lives continue to scroll down.




Wow what a day! And we didn't even post the pictures of them shooting pellet guns at targets.

Well, what a better way than to choose how the late afternoon went. A) If you think we came home and all took naps, please close your eyes and imagine me scoffing at you. B) If you think we survived the Sports Show just fine, but ended up having to take one of the projectile shooting, 4 story climbing 6 year olds into the Emergency Room and that is why daddy is posting to the blog today, continue to scroll down.

Yep, you chose the right ending. Erin ended up taking Jacob into the Emergency Room this afternoon. Jacob has been battling a bad cough for quite some time and went on some strong meds last Thursday. He was still having coughing fits and after talking to the on-call doctors we decided to take him in to see what it could be. Hopefully we will know soon enough. I have a lonely brother who says the Wii is no fun without Jacob and a little sister who keeps going to the garage door to see if they are home yet.

A 3-Ring Big Top Kind of Day

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages...welcome to the CIRCUS!

On Saturday we visited the circus for the first time and had some serious fun. Except Haley, the clowns were enough to give her nightmares until she is in her teens. Notice her death grip on daddy's coat, Sparkles the clown and her were not going to be friends.

Tyler and Jacob are now aspiring tiger tamers.

We had wonderful seats with enough room for Haley to walk up and down our aisle and the boys were excited to watch some of the animals go in and out of the hall passage on Tyler's side.

The boys loved showing Haley all the animals and teaching her what a horse says. It was a precious sight to see them all walking hand in hand.

One of the highlights were the dancing elephants. We oohed and awed with every move they made.

The tight rope walkers were right in front of us as they completed a 7 person pyramid.

The show was quite long but the boys loved every minute of it. Of course the highlight was the human cannonball. If you have never seen a man fly out of a cannonball (over 150 ft.) and land in a net, I suggest you do!