Lego Star Wars Wii

Ben and Dad have become obsessed with Lego Star Wars on the Wii.  Ben begs to play every day and it ends up happening about twice a week.  It is hysterical to watch them figure the levels out.  Half the time Ben ends up on pause while Brandon researches on the computer where to go next in the level.  They like to buy new characters with their winnings and go back through the levels to learn new tricks.  

This game has convinced Ben that everything Star Wars is cool.  He is dying to see the movies, but we still have some time before we are ready for that.  In the meantime, he now has Star Wars Lego sets, shirts, and other things to keep him entertained.  He even picked a bunch of Star Wars things for Dad for Father’s Day since that is their “thing” right now.  Pretty sweet!

Haircuts

Ben needed a haircut badly and decided to take matters into his own hands at school one day.  He confessed to Grandpa David, but hadn’t told Mom yet.  Mom knew and decided to see how things played out.  Ben took a shower and Mom started an innocent conversation….

Mom – Ben, what is going on with your hair?

Ben – What do you mean?  (worried face)

Mom – It looks like some is missing.  Are you okay?

Ben – (wheels turning) Well, Grandpa cut it.  

Mom – Why would he do that?  

Ben – It was sticking up in the back and he didn’t like it.

Mom – Hmm.  Maybe I should call Grandpa and ask if he will finish the rest of your hair later this week.

Ben – (burying head in towel and trying to hide) I did it, Mom!  It was me that cut it.  I didn’t want you to know!

Mom explained that she wasn’t mad, but that lying is not a good choice and neither is cutting your own hair.  We talked about how that is something you have to know how to do really well and that Ben can ask us for a haircut any time.  

The next day Dad shaved it down really short.  The place Ben cut it is still visible, but blends in much better.  It had been really shaggy and we had rescheduled a haircut for Saturday.  Guess we don’t need it now!

 Ben's shaggy hairdo

 

The nearly bald spot

 

Looks way worse than it was. . . Ben was excited about the haircut but very ticklish so Dad had to "pin" him

 

The final product - a happy boy and a summer buzz cut!

Summer Fun

We are enjoying more coupons this month and have started an additional list of summer fun.  We came up with a list of fun things we wanted to do this summer.  Not sure if we will make it through them all, but we’ll have fun trying!  

Ben’s date:  We compromised on our dates this month and added an extra family date to the pool.  We hadn't been yet this summer and both kids really wanted to go on their date so we all went at the same time.  We enjoyed watching Ben dive for torpedo toys and Elizabeth tried out her floaties while someone held her nearly the whole time.  :)

Ben’s family activity:  Ben is loving mini golf right now.  He wanted Elizabeth to go so we decided we would invite Grandpa David and Grandma Lyn as well and make it a belated Father’s Day celebration.  It was very hot and the kids were tired from staying up late, but we managed to have a good time and then headed to Chuy’s for some lunch and air conditioning.

E’s date:  Same as Ben's. . .

E’s family activity:  Elizabeth decided that going to the zoo would be okay for her choice.  We went early in June on a cool and beautiful Saturday morning.  We got there when the zoo opened and there was hardly anyone there.  It was great!  We saw all of the outside animals and got to spend some time in the bird/reptile building that we sometimes skip due to the crowds.  The kids really enjoyed that the animals were out and about since it wasn’t so hot.  We even got special lunch out on the way home.

Other summer fun from our list:  One of the first things we crossed off our list of summer fun was Tulsa Tough.  We met up with some friends and ate at the Blue Dome Diner first – yum!  Then we staked out a spot on the sidewalk and watched the races.  We got to see three races – the kids lasted till about 9!  Our friend Jeremy raced in the 8pm race and did great.  It is always more fun to cheer for someone you know.  This is our third or fourth year to watch the races and we look forward to it each time.

Some of our summer fun activities are smaller.  One of them was to look at the clouds and find shapes.  We got a great sunny day with big puffy white clouds that were perfect.  Ben found only Star Wars shapes and Elizabeth wasn’t as interested.  Sort of a bust, but maybe we’ll try again when attention spans are better.

We hit a summer movie at the theater and saw Madagascar 3.  We saw it in 3D which was really fun for most of us.  About half way through, E decided she was thirsty and couldn’t wear her glasses any more.  Not sure how that made sense, but she was happy without them.  

The kids joined the library program as part of our summer fun.  We are going for our “final” visit to collect all of our prizes this week!  They get medals, coupons and little stuffed animals.  Pretty great for just enjoying reading.  It has been really fun this summer as it is the first year Ben could read all of the books he has checked out himself.  We still read to him as well, but it is a joy to watch him plow through “Nate the Great”, “Berenstein Bears”, and other favorites.