We spent the evening at a little lodge in San Simeon. The boys enjoyed hopping from our room to Papa and KK’s. They really enjoyed watching the Olympics cuddled up with Mom and Dad. Before they went to bed.

Next morning we walked down to the pebble beach to relax, explore, and watch the waves. We had a great time, the trip was exactly what all our little souls needed. I wonder where the next adventure will take us.

Pictures after the break:

Now off to edit the video from the trip…

The past few weeks Shelly has been trying to make sure the boys get some good pool time. A result of that has been William beginning to actually swim on his own. I left work a little early on Friday so that I could get in on a little of this swim time with the boys. We had such a good time that we have spent a couple of hours each day this weekend in the pool. The result of which was the end of the “arm-floaties”, by the end of the weekend all the Bennions were swimming, jumping, diving and in all otherways enjoying the pool without flotation devices.

In true “Bennionz” style we have video:

Watch Out 2016 Olympics we have our eyes on you!!!

Adeline Joy Bennion (“Addie”) was born.
3:35am
6 lbs 13 oz.

Addie is the daughter of Jess (Eric’s brother) and Michelle. We are so thrilled that she is here and even more thrilled that she managed to miss her Dad’s birthday (Jess’ birthday is the 7th and everyone was a little worried she’d show up then!).

Both Mom and daughter seem to be doing good – everyone is tired. They’ll go home on Friday (I think).

It was fun trying to explain to Will and Walker that the baby inside Michelle’s belly was now the baby inside the pictures we were sent. They still haven’t grasped the concept, as is evidenced by the fact that Will continues to tell me about the baby in HIS belly. This is their first cousin on either side of the family AND that gives Eric and I the coveted Aunt and Uncle status. I’m excited to share lots of love without all the responsibility. I’ll leave that to Jess and Michelle who I am sure will do well!

Congrats Jess and Michelle! Welcome to our world baby Addie! We love you already!

Walker informed me at a trip to the Arboretum that ‘Barry the bee is MEAN!’. Don’t let this little face fool you:

Walker said this all while looking like this:

Because of this:

We were rolling down a hill at the Arboretum and he unfortunately got in the way of a pollenating bee. It would seem as though the bee won (given Walker’s face and our immediate departure from the Arboretum) but then again, we know what happens to the bee!

And don’t worry. We stopped by the Arboretum gift shop and got a piece of candy, and that cheered Walker right on up!

One of the best parts was watching Walker ride the train. He is in a phase where trains are his sun, moon and stars. My Dad took some great shots of him on the train, as well as the parade, so I’ll have to post those when I can get a hold of them!!

Here are some of ours:

Walker’s not sure about the dancing dragons:

Will was most enthused by
the confetti and spent the majority of his time
watching it get thrown and then picking it off the ground
to throw it again:

One of the best parts of the parade, as is always the case, was the people watching. This cute man was standing near us with his wife. He was thrilled to greet anyone and everyone on the floats as they came by…but it was a special delight when any of the Chinese New Year royalty came by on their floats. You’ll have to turn your head sideways to watch it, but this is what he’d do:

The parade website said that the parade would go from 2:00pm – 5:oopm. I thought there was no way it would go that long, or that they were marking time from the start at one place and the finish…boy was I wrong! At about 4:00pm we decided to walk around Chinatown. It was fun to see ALL of the people out for a good time.

We decided to forgo trying to get Chinese food IN Chinatown given the crowds. In the end we trekked back to the train station and rode back towards G-town.

In what seemed to be a strange move we decided to celebrate the Chinese New Year at a Mexican restaurant! (Chinese food is hard to find gluten-free!)

The boys were famished and exhausted….a great day was had by all! I’m still hoping that next year we can celebrate the real deal

So the other night I broke out our possibility box and decided we could do Bob Ross painting. Unfortunately I failed to take pictures of their artwork before putting them in an envelope to send to Pop (Eric’s grandpa) who also is a Bob Ross fan. However, once Walker lost interest in painting (about five minutes into it) Will and I turned to each other as canvasses.

(he told me I had to hold still and not smile)

We did try to paint Walker’s face – but he wasn’t as fond of it. I got 1/2 way through a balloon and he was out of his chair. He came back for a minute and I was able to get a red ‘T’ (for trouble) in Scarlet Letter form. That was about it for him though!

Check us out!

And thanks to Liz and Melony at Kill.The.Gluten for letting us submit a recipe. I get so many ideas from their site – it helps make my GF life somewhat sane.

For those of you gluten-eaters – try this recipe only instead of making rolls buy Pillsbury Crescent rolls and put a little bit of the chicken mixture inside of it. Then bake according to the crescent roll directions – put a little dab of warm cream of chicken soup on top and presto!

However – tonight is one of those kick-back nights where I find myself trying to find something to do. Oh sure I’m doing the laundry, just cleaned out the fridge, and got the boys to bed…but still, I’m a tad bored. Maybe it’s because Eric is working late and we usually do crosswords, watch a movie, or yap our ears off.

So here we go – now you all get treated to this magical video! Both Will and Walker are at phases in their life where their imaginations are wild with activity and their learning ability is ripe. I LOVE it. This is the best time to be a parent – and an observer.

In August Eric and I put the boys down for a nap – and decided to do our favorite activity…OH GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE GUTTER! We played Trivial Pursuit. It is by far one of my favorite games…even though Eric kicks the patootie out of me every time.

During the game Will woke up from his nap – came out and joined us. Within a few minutes of watching he was ready to take over. And here is what happened (watch round 2 if you are short on time):

Round 1: Warming Up

Round 2: The Challenge Begins

I am SO glad that Eric finally lost!

Tomorrow is Will’s endoscopy. Hard to believe that it has taken so long and also that it is finally here.

I’m not sure what to hope for. As his Mom I’d much rather him not have Celiac Disease. However, after doing all the research I feel comfy with him having Celiac Disease. It’s manageable, it’s doable, it’s livable.

If it’s not Celiac, or even if it is but the test still doesn’t show it, then I’m not sure what that means. And I’m not one that settles easy with the ‘unknown’.

More to come…

tomorrow…

Will started preschool. He has been excited for preschool all summer as we’ve been working on potty training so that he could go. Last week we had the meet & greet and he was thrilled to meet the other kids and play with the toys. Today he was more apprehensive about going, which had more to do with having to leave his toys behind.

Today was a short day so that the kids could get used to their teachers and the room. Some kids needed to get used to now having mom and dad around, but for Will that wasn’t an issue. He was more than happy to kiss me goodbye and walk in.

This moment is special for me not just because of the experience that Will is about to embark on, but also for the time that Walker and I will now get to have. Being second child isn’t any easy role. Since I am the oldest (as is Eric) we of course think that first children get the raw deal…but the reality is that each kid is subjected to the good and bad of parenting.

Having Will at preschool twice at week for a couple of hours will give Walker and I time we haven’t ever had before. He thrives when he gets to play on his own or when just he and I read stories. I cannot wait to experience this first with him – and see what other first emerge from it. I’ll keep you all updated as I can.

For now, here are some pictures from Will’s first day: