Benetti/Kreuser Family in New Jersey!

*** Disclaimer:  If any of you have already read Jodi & Aaron's blog, then many of these photos will be duplicates.  Jodi was a much better picture-taker during this trip than I was and many of these photos came from her camera.

The Kreusers and Kristen arrived in the early evening on Saturday, July 10th. The kids hit it off right away.  It was as if no time had passed since they'd last seen each other.

Aren't these two cute?

Sunday morning came and it was time for church.

We played at the park.

Watched Andy play softball.

Splashed in the pool.

Went hiking.

Ate ice cream (Ava's treat!)

Saw a movie in the theater (Charlotte's Web)

Jumped in the Jumpy House

Spent a day at the shore (Long Beach Island)

This was Curtis's first time in the ocean.

They rode ("Fly" - according to Graydon) bikes

Colored a lot!

Painted a little

The rest of the family (minus Jeff, Steph, Sydney, & Rose) arrived on Friday morning.

We celebrated Curtis's birthday

Spent the day in Philadelphia

Spent another day at the shore (Seaside Heights)

Here are some randoms from the trip:

"Parting is such sweet sorrow"  ~ William Shakespeare

Such true words.

The Kreusers and Kristen left in the wee hours of Sunday morning.  Everyone else left on Monday.  I LOVE family time and was sad to see it come to an end.  I MISS YOU ALL!!!

Until Christmas. . .

Festivities for the Fourth!

The fun began at the shore on Sunday.  Bella was in her element.

She didn't want to ever leave the beach.

Graydon does not appear to be the water child that Bella is. He never even got close to the water. But he did enjoy the sand: running in it, throwing it, and watching it slip through his fingers. Fascinating.

Curtis sat content in his stroller. I don't know what we'll do when he starts running around too!

Bella was upset to leave the beach until we mentioned the boardwalk and how it was just like the carnival we went to last month.

She literally had the time of her life on this roller coaster. She laughed and screamed in delight. It was really a joy just seeing her have so much fun.

We went out with some friends, so Bella had a ride buddy the whole time.

We found some rides for Graydon and even Curtis to go on too.

I got to be Graydon's ride buddy.

By the end of the day, everyone was pretty beat. This is Graydon about five minutes into our drive home.

The next morning (July 4th!), we attended our local 4th of July parade.

I realized on this day that I really enjoy parades. They are such a positive reason to gather a large group of people and a great way to show support for all of the local organizations.

I loved it! And I'm pretty sure the kids did too (well I know they at least enjoyed all the candy that was thrown at them!).

Except for this guy. No candy for him just yet. He didn't seem to mind though.

After the parade, we hit up an ice cream parlour.

And by that point, both boys were about to lose it. Home for naps!

Later in the evening, we had our little backyard picnic. I decorated a few bags at the last minute (got the idea from Tipjunkie.com). The contents are Pirates Booty, potato chips, and goldfish. Would you believe that the greasiest bag in the end contained the goldfish! Seriously. How could they beat potato chips?!

And dessert. I loved these!

I intended to get some photos from our picnic, but the bugs were driving me crazy. We didn't end up lasting too long out there. Oh well. Next year we'll be more prepared with citronella candles or something.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend!

Curtis is ONE!

We had a nice little family celebration for him last week.

I've been really drawn to this color scheme lately. Maybe because it just feels so summer-y.

The house just looks happy.

Our plans for a picnic at the park were derailed by a little bit of rain; so we relocated to Friendly's.

Curtis is becoming a squirmy worm in the restaurants. Can't seem to sit still! But he was the birthday boy so we cut him some slack.

Naps took up the majority of the afternoon and before long it was dinnertime. We made individual pizzas. Bella had the great idea of letting Curtis sample from each of us to see which he liked best.

He seemed most pleased with Graydon's plain cheese pizza.

The rain gave way to a beautiful day, so we took our party outside.

Our precious one-year-old!

It got pretty hot.  I was a sweaty mess by this point.  I desaturated the color in this one so that you  can't tell.  :)

The kids rode bikes around for a little while and Curtis took his usual seat in the wagon.

After I snapped those photos, I put away my camera and scooped up my little boy. As I held him in my arms, we swayed together for a minute or two in the church parking lot. He laid his head on my shoulder and I told him how much I loved him and how much joy it is to be his mom. It was a sweet moment from his first birthday that I will always treasure.

All of that bike-riding and frisbee throwing worked up some appetites. We were ready for cake!

Or should I say, cupcakes and cake pops.

I've seen these cute little cake pops around and I wanted to try making them. But since I've never done it before, I made a few cupcakes just in case it didn't turn out. But they did! I will be making them again.

A cupcake for the birthday boy.

The 'Happy Birthday' song was torturous for him. With that cupcake in front of him, he just wanted to dive in and not listen to a silly song.

And dive in, he did. Here's a little bit of his progression.

I feel like the pictures never really do justice to how much mess there really was.

But he LOVED it!

And we love him.