School Spirit

Homecoming week in Buffalo was just last week... this was "Decade Day", and courtesy of his dad's famous hippy wig, glasses, and beads, here is Mitchell, setting the standard for COOL at the Buffalo Community Middle School :)

Whatever Works

Joel's bedtime routine after mom and dad tuck him snuggly in his nice new bed, with nice new mattress... get out of bed, make sure all lights are turned on, move everything to the floor, and go to sleep. I have no idea... but if I know Joel, he does this simply because, he can.

This is how we find him when we go in to check on him before going to bed. Whatever works Joel. But yes, of course, we move him back to his nice cozy bed :)

BCMS

Buffalo Community Middle School welcomes Mitchell Benson...

Per Mitchell:
Best part about middle school = "Prime Time", which is 15 minutes of free time to roam the halls and talk to your friends (from what I understand).

Worst part about middle school = being unable to open your locker in the morning (darn combination locks take some getting used to)

All in all, it sounds like things went well today for Mitchell. He said it was "wierd", and I asked if it was "good wierd" or "bad wierd". He said "a little of each". I'm sure it was completely different than the last 6 years in elementary school, and it's strange, but it seems like he's grown-up a little just today!


In case you've forgotten what Mitch looked like in prior first day of school pics, click here for a recap of grades K-5!

Orchards and Peppermint

We spent a beautiful morning on Sunday at an Apple Orchard/Farm in Delano. The little boys had SO much fun. It was a great farm with LOTS of animals. I think we'll definitely visit again sometime. We ended the outing with lunch at the crazy Peppermint Twist drive-in in Delano. They have a GREAT completely fenced in area ("fenced in" is the key), with picnic tables and all sorts of random toys outside for LITTLE kids to play on. I can honestly say that I didn't have to get up off my chair the whole time.
(Click on pictures to see them bigger)...



Just arriving, walking up the road to the farm.


Baby goats

Turkeys, chicken, cows

Feeding the goats

Tractor ride

Climbing on tires

Chickens, chickens and more chickens...

Piles and piles of corn!

Joel and his new friend at the Peppermint Twist. Seriously, it was a little scary how BIG he was smiling the entire time they were dancing... :) And yes, that is a concrete slab, painted with polka dots, an old pink building with a jute box tucked in it, complete with some sort of dancing bear on the side. Stuff like this is everywhere at this crazy drive-in.

2009 Baseball Season Wrapped-Up

Well, baseball season has obviously come to a close (since football started last week). Mitchell enjoyed the season with many great teamates and a good coach. The team came out okay, with some wins and some losses (please don't ask me their exact record, as I was mostly tending to the unruly fans while watching the games (see below)). Mitchell did well with pitching (which he enjoys), and showed that he can keep his head in the game when he needs to :)

The Unruly Fans
Do NOT let this picture fool you. They sat in their chairs for about 2 minutes of each entire game. Grant spend the remainder of the time ON A MISSION to break into the dug-out, and Joel spent his time just being Joel, running full speed in one direction or another.

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Pants... Plenty of Service

In other words, a day at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I stole some pictures off my mom's camera this weekend, and it's always fun to see what that kiddos are up to when mom and dad are away. They never seem to have much in the way of clothes on, but it seems that they have lots of fun! Oh, the things that Nanas and Papas let them get away with.

Ice Cream sandwiches in the living room? (half-clothed, of course)... why not!... Grandma just cleans the carpet afterwards.

Birthday cupcakes for other little ones in the neighborhood, sure... why not! - that's what Grandmas do, right! (can't see Joel's lower half here, but I would bet he doesn't have pants on)

Throwing balls around the house ... sure, why not! (with no clothes, of course)

Grant cleaning the bathroom floor??... well, at least she teaches them to clean-up after themselves. (without pants, of course)

Eating healthy food, of course.

Playing with bubbles in the driveway (without pants, once again)

Whoa!, what is this! The have pants on, what's the occasion!

Thowing toilet paper in the living room, why not!... (and why would you need pants for that!)

I like to give my mom a hard time about the clothes, but I really just think it's funny. Heck, it seems that everything is more fun without pants!

It's HOT out there!

I'm not sure how it happened, but August 12th and today was the first time we had the pool out this year. (well, actually it was our neighbors pool we borrowed since theirs was all ready to go and ours still in the box!). Between vacations, a cool summer, and the fact the the boys nap the whole afternoon, somehow today, was indeed, their first time in the pool this summer. It was about time!

They loved it (for about 30 minutes... not bad I guess)

Peek!

Friday Night Out (with Joel and Grant)

While Jeff and Mitchell caught a movie (GI Joe), in Atwater with Uncle Jon and Lincoln, and Grandpa K. not coming to Buffalo until tomorrow, my mom and I decided to take the boys out for a swim at the Monticello Community Center. I've been TALKING about taking them there forever, so I'm glad we finally did it! They have a great zero depth entry pool and a nice-sized area for very young kids. Perfect for Joel and Grant. Joel LOVED it right away, but Grant took quite awhile to warm up to the water. He is much more daring and crazy on land than he is in the water, I've noticed. As you can see in the pics, they both enjoyed themselves plenty.

Bed Racing!

Joel, all ready for bed, in his NEW race car bed! (I bought it on Craig's List and just picked it up in Blaine today). Isn't it cool! I never would have guessed I could be so excited about a big, blue, plastic bed :) Joel seemed to really like it, and yes... it was HIS idea to put his head at this end of the bed, although, I have a feeling, if I would suggested this side, THEN he probably would probably have his head at the RIGHT end of the bed, but whatever...

New bed, getting a car wash in the front yard

Joel got pretty serious about this task. He cleaned it without a break for about 10 minutes :)

Boys, boys, boys

If one thing is for sure, the boys in this house are happiest, when running, jumping, and tackling, and preferably all of this with a ball in hand. I have a feeling football will be a favorite in our house for years to come :)

Should we get him?...

Yep!

Mitchell never gets a break from the big brother role

All my boys... aren't they cute :)