Success!

 Ben is proud to announce he can now tie his shoes!  Woo hoo!  When we set the goal and engaged in some serious practice, he was successfully tying by the end of the afternoon.  Mind you, 

there were a few months of "kind of" trying here and there prior to this!  He thinks he is now officially ready for kindergarten.  He might be... But I'm not sure I am!

Lake of the Ozarks 2013

We recently spent a week at the Lake of the Ozarks with the whole Ausenhus family and we all had a great time!  Ben and Abby both swam a lot, although we are pretty sure Ben would have spent every waking moment in the pool if we would have let him.  They also both enjoyed going on the waverunner with Daddy, Papa, or Alex.  Ben and Abby went mini-golfing for the first time, had an adventure at a restaurant where there would later be a Nelly concert (so you can imagine the crowd we contended with - it was quite a people watching experience!), had a "kid's night out" that ended in a ferocious game of Spoons while Grandma and Papa watched the actual kids, and enjoyed the several days worth of fireworks over the lake.  The day after we came home, Ben got out his backpack and began packing up for his return to vacation with his stuffed dog Max.  Apparently he was not ready to come home!

 Abby was as interested in all the swim wear options as she was the water... at least to begin with.

 Abby loved her cousin Kiley!  These two cuties are ready for a dip in the pool!

 Ben enjoyed diving for rings or any other object thrown under the water.  We were all amazed at how his swimming skills progressed in just a week!

 Abby is on her first wave runner ride!  She loved it!

 I suppose that is one way to eat an ice cream cone... nose and all.  Hey - it wouldn't be vacation without a little messy ice cream eating!

It was down right HOT!  Good thing Abby had a cool treat!

In our house, it wouldn't really be vacation or any other fun event without a little sickness creeping in.  This time would not disappoint, as Ben started vacation with a cold and Abby ended vacation with a cold, which then turned into a sinus infection.  Unfortunately for Abby, this delayed the bladder surgery she was supposed to have on July 10.  On the upside, it bought us a few more weeks of "regular" summer.  However, the new surgery date is August 21 and I will already be back at work, so the convenience factor is gone.  This was definitely the right move to make though as she really was not feeling well by the time we got home... maybe it was just too much fun!  Vacation can be exhausting!