Play time with Ben

When David and I picked up Ben from school on Friday, Ben exclaimed how hungry he was. I remember being a kid and always being starving when Mom picked us up from school. Our snacks would be Taco Bell soft tacos, a Dairy Queen blizzard, or a McDonald's apple pie. For this little guy though, since it was almost 5pm, we decided to go ahead and have dinner at the Buckhead Pizza across the street before heading to see Tangled at a nearby movie theater. We even had a little popcorn during the movie. What the hey, its Friday! When we got to the apartment in Atlanta, Ben had fun running and jumping on the bed over and over and over. Then, with bath time complete, he put himself to bed and fell asleep immediately.
On Saturday, we hit Fernbank bright and early. This was a nice thing to do indoors since the weather was still a bit yucky. Lunch at the Varsity was great, and then we headed to the Zoo. We took our time and looked at every single animal on exhibit, every reptile, rode the carousel, climbed the rock wall, and played on the playground. By mid-afternoon, the little guy was tuckered out! As the Zoo was beginning to close, we headed to Pet Smart to take up a little more time. Ben played with the kitties there and picked out a new toy for Sandy. A trip to Kroger hooked us up with a fresh box of Fruit Roll-Ups. Score! No sooner had Ben finished his roll-up, that the eyelids started to droop. We were in panic mode! It was only 5:30 - he couldn't take a nap or he'd be up all night! We were trying to keep him awake while we found a place for dinner. Some crayons and paper at Twist occupied the little guy for a bit longer. Amy and Chris randomly joined us, and we had a nice time catching up with them. When the tired 5 year old crept along the edge of a total melt-down, we headed back to Gainesville to put him to bed. He didn't fight us one bit, and slept until almost 9 on Sunday. We had breakfast, hung out in our pj's, and worked on his Valentine's day box. After lunch and a little movie time, Amanda came to pick him up and they were heading to Chucky Cheese. David and I were tired ourselves, but we had the best time playing with Ben, wrestling with Ben, and getting to spend some quality time with our favorite nephew. Sorry for all of the pictures, but he's so cute, I had to share them all!

I asked Ben to write his name, and he says "You want me to write it perfectly?" I said "Of course." His penmanship is awesome!

When we got to the apartment, it was immediately time for jumping on the bed. He barely stays still!

Saturday morning breakfast - fuel for the day ahead!

Waiting for Fernbank to open....

We took pictures in every face cut-out available! His face is just so cute in those round cut-outs!

In the Sensing Nature exhibit we played with bubbles, lightning...

...the color prism wall...

....that Ben said was his favorite part of the museum.

In front of the two huge dinosaur skeletons in the atrium at Fernbank.

Getting ready to watch our IMAX movie...Animalopolis.

My favorite 5 year old!

Ben and his Day-da at the fountain outside.

It turned into such a beautiful afternoon, so after lunch at the Varsity, we hit Zoo Atlanta. The pink flamingos welcomed us inside!

The elephant was out and about...

.....the parakeets chirping...

...and the lions were roaring!

Ben loves the Kimodo dragons. Maggie, however, is terrified! Fortunately, I knew this bronze statue wouldn't come crawlin' after me!

We got to see the baby pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang. They were adorable!

This little guy kept saying "According to the map, we should go left here to get to the crocodiles." He's a better map ready than me!

We got to see the hogs and goats at the petting zoo!

And the cute sheep too!



Ben is so great around other kids, and quickly made friends with the other children on the playground. He was stoked to ride the see-saw.



And I was tickled to join him on the carousel. I {think} I rode a seal and Ben, a cheetah.

Mr. Fearless was brave enough to try climbing the rock wall for the first time!

He did great! And rang that bell proudly once he reached the top!

Ben got a new stuffed animal at the gift shop...a cute little white furry think he named Ty Ty.

We were goofy in the photo booth too.

Reward of the day: a giant fruit roll-up!

On Sunday morning, Ben and Aunt Maggie worked on his Valentine box to take to school. Ben had fun coloring on it - drawing hearts, writing his name, and drawing "maps". I am pretty sure that Aunt Maggie was super stoked about craft time though. I love any excuse to get out my rendering markers from college, some ribbon and craft paper. I even added beads to the box with my trusty hot glue gun...woopsie! Maggie, take note: The box is for Ben. The box is for Ben. The box is for Ben.

This look is the "I want to negotiate something" look. Here, we worked out a deal to take a bath, get squeaky clean, get dressed and then we'd eat lunch and watch Transformers.