Kick off to summer!

On Saturday, I got to hang out with my grandpa! Both Grandma and Grandpa Benner came up on Saturday. We went and looked at some houses; we already had seen two of them, but Mommy and Daddy are really excited about the new one we looked at. They have some more talking to do, but it looks like we might have found a winner!

After we went to go see the houses, Mommy and Grandma went shopping down in Fort Wayne. Mommy got a lot of pretty clothes. She showed them to us when they got home... she even wore her new capris and polo yesterday! While Mommy and Grandma were shopping, Grandpa, Daddy, and I went to lunch and had... you guessed it... ICE CREAM! None of this SuperMan business... we're talking Triple Chocolate Overload! It was super tasty. Afterwards, I came home, took a nap, and got recharged for the rest of the day. I love taking naps... I mean, I don't, but I feel better after I get some shuteye! Daddy and Grandpa cleaned out the cars and even vaccumed. It's nice to have a clean car.

Grandma and Grandpa had a long drive home, so they left before dinner, but I had a lot of fun spending time with my Grandpa and Grandma. I hope that once we get a house, you can stay longer.After Grandma and Grandpa went home, we got all packed up for our big trip to Papaw and Nini's house.

Today was our "official kick of to summer" day! We definitely did things a little differently this year, but I think everyone enjoyed it a little more. Last night we went to Papaw and Nini's house and stayed the night. Mommy and Daddy camped out in the tent, while I slept in the house because my allergies are WAY too bad at the lake to sleep outside. This morning Nini made breakfast--It was delicious Nini, THANK YOU!-- and then the we all headed out to go fishing! Everyone caught at least one fish, too! Daddy caught the biggest one and Mommy caught the most pregnant one. I caught my first fish ever today!

Last week Mommy and Daddy bought me a "Cars" fishing pole. Today I got to put it to full use and it came in handy for catching my first fish ever! I caught a bluegill that was keeper size! Mommy hooked it, and I reeled it in and held it up for a picture. It sure was a beautiful fish, and I'm sure it will make some delicious dinner. Daddy cleaned all of the fish while I watched. What a messy job! But, somebody has to do it if we want to eat them for dinner :-)

Also while we were at the lake, we saw some snakes. TWO OF THEM! Last week Papaw saved the day by getting rid of one. This week we saw two. A baby and a big one. They are so yucky and they swim really fast in the water. As long as they stay away from me it will be okay!

Cora got to swim today too! She sure loves the water. She did better this week than last, and we are pretty confident that she will be a professional swimmer by the end of the summer. I watched her swim, and retrieve big sticks from the water when Daddy threw them out. She did such a good job and a few times, while Mommy was inside helping with lunch she could hear me say "Good Job, Cora". It was very fun watching her learn to swim.

After coming home from the lake we went to my favorite place in town. SCOOPS ICECREAM! Mommy and I shared a new icecream called "SuperMan" I chowed it down, but Mommy said not to get my heart set on it because she didn't care for it. They were out of her regular Orange Sherbert. I love Scoops Icecream!

Our family hopes that you all had a great and safe Memorial Day weekend. We hope you were able to kick off your summer the right way; with lake fun, fun in the sun, and lots of grilling. But, more importantly we hope you take the time to pray for the soliders who are fighting for our freedom to have fun in the sun, and freedom to cook out on our grills. We hope you remember those who have made and are making our "Summer Kick-off weekend" possible.

Daddy's fish was so big! It almost looks like I'm feeding it Cheerios, but really I'm just looking into his big mouth!

This is my big fish! My first fish ever was a keeper! Real Fisher Men wear Little Mermaid life jackets...And Mommy and Daddy forgot my little boy life jacket at home, but a Little Mermaid one is better than nothing. I'm not allowed on the boat without wearing a life jacket :-) Safety first!

Go Cubs Go!

The Cubs are playing the Cards tonight, but Ashland is in bed right now, so Tyler and I are cheering extra hard for them tonight. The picture is him in his new Soriano Jersey. He would wear it everyday if we would let him. His ears are doing pretty good. Right now we are fighting yucky allergies--we think. He is coughing and fighting a runny nose. Unfortunately, these allergies are more than his allergy meds can handle. We just have to keep fighting.

All is well in the Benner household. We are three days away from a three day weekend. Racheal is on first shift so life is extra good now. We get to eat dinner as a family, take family walks, and spend more time outside than when she worked second shift. We occasionally go and get ice cream and take fishing trips as a family too!



We spent last weekend at the lake. Ashland learned how to fish. His papaw taught him the basic technique of fishing and that's all he wants to do now. He loves it! He hasn't caught any fish yet, but we're going to give it another whirl this coming weekend. This weekend is the kick off for summer :-) We are going to have a mini cookout at the lake and do some fishing out on the boat!



While at the lake this weekend, our crazy silly black lab, Cora, decided it was time for her to learn to swim. As you can see in the picture, she isn't the best swimmer, but she did well enough to keep herself alive. She also made Ashland laugh histerically. At one time she jumped into the water and swam to the dock to hold herself up for a while because she was so tired. She is so silly. Because she was jumping in the water, our baby puppy thought she could jump in too. We made sure to keep a close eye on her and the closest she got to getting in was getting a drink of lake water. The dogs love going to Grandma and Grandpa's and getting to run in the yard. They run like maniacs and Ashland runs with them. It's is a very good time had by everyone :-)

Grandpa and Grandma Benner are coming to visit on Saturday. They are going to look at some houses with us and then the girls are having a shopping day while the boys are going to stay home and probably catch some rays and play outside. We're pretty excited to have them in town. We can't wait to get a house so we have some space for them to stay when they come to town.


Oh yeah, Ashland is now able to count to four, unassisted. It's pretty neat. Every day he gets better and better. And a funny story to leave you all with. I had a pork roast in the crock pot today. It had smelled up the house, and Ashland is not used to the house smelling like food. When Ashaland got home from daycare he said "Ew. Mommy, somebody pooped!" After he looked around for a few minutes trying to find the "dog poop" I told him that it was dinner that he was smelling and he said "No Mom...I no wanna eat dog poop for dinner!"

He's so funny sometimes.

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that Ashland got his tubes put in this morning and everything went very well. We had to be in Fort Wayne at 6:15 and we were home by 8:30 :-) For now we are off to bed. We will give you a full length update this weekend after visiting with Papa and Nini on Saturday--I LOVE going to the lake!

Grandma Benner--Thank you so much for coming today. I think you are just what the doctor ordered for recovery :-)

May 6th

Two updates in one week! We told you we'd let you know about getting tubes put in :-) Ashland is getting his tubes put in Wednesday of next week and an unknown time. We won't know until the 5th what time they're doing it. We are so thankful they are able to do it next week before Racheal goes on First shift. It helps in that she doesn't have to take time off. Yippee!

Anyway, next Wednesday say a prayer that there are no problems with the anesthesia and that our trip to Ft. Wayne is a safe one :-)

Lots of hugs from the Benners :-)