Weekend Recap: Animals & Auntie Anna's Birthday!

I think it goes without saying that long weekends are the best weekends, and this past weekend did not disappoint.  We kicked off our Saturday morning with a trip to the petting farm with some of our friends.  Although I am not what one might call an animal lover, I had an absolute blast, as did the boys--obviously!  I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking.  You could get up close and personal with a ton of animals.  You could even milk a cow!  (Only Andy did that.)  The first thing we did, and perhaps the highlight of the trip, was Ben's pony ride!  It was SO cute.  His horseback riding auntie was so proud!  I, on the other hand, was in shock that my baby is turning into such a big boy!  Babies do not ride horses!

As if Ben riding the horse wasn't too cute for words, the ridiculous levels of cuteness continued when he got off of the horse and found a Benji-sized pony.  And then he asked for one for his birthday.

"We're going to be friends forever."

Even I got into the animal fun.  I was just thankful that the goats weren't trying to sit on my lap and eat my clothes like they were doing to someone else in the group...  

While Andy was spending his free time looking for quarters so he could feed the animals, I was spending my free time making sure that everyone's hands were sanitized.   Yep, Benj, pointing to the animals is just as fun as feeding and petting them.

I am happy to say that the boys stayed on the outside of Patty the (700#!!) pig's pen.

More pointing. 

When Ben wasn't pointing and grunting at the animals, he was staring at them so intently.    "Guess what?  My mom likes to eat chicken."   (**I had to ask Andy for verification that the bird was indeed a chicken.**)

Ben and his bud decided they wanted to become one with the animals, and thus they ended up in the corn trough.  Look at them sharing so nicely!

And since working the farm is exhausting, the boys made sure to relax on a hay ride and in the hay barn.  Andy was so proud that Ben knew what to do with the straw to be more farmer-like.   (Hay/straw--what's the difference??  And why do they chew on that anyway??)

Ben literally fell asleep the instant we drove away--a sure sign of a great day!  We had to get home to see one of our favorite people---Maggie!  She came to help get things together for Ben's party.  We were up crafting and laughing past midnight (a rarity for me) and there's one project in particular that we are especially proud of.   I will have to post more about our slumber party later-- I don't want to ruin any of the birthday party detail surprises. ;) Sunday was a lazy day until we decided to introduce some more friends to our beloved beer garden.  They have 2 little girls who doted on Benji the entire time.  Even when it started to rain, they made sure he was ok--so sweet.

"I can't hold my bottle, I have to hold my stick with one hand and relax with the other hand."

Monday, labor day, was also Auntie Anna's birthday!  Auntie tried to let Benj practice for his upcoming celebration.  He did not seem overly interested, so hopefully that will change in the next 10 (ahh!!!!) days!

I apparently did not take too many pictures, but that is only because Benji and I were so busy playing football (in our matching vests.)

As with all weekends, I was sad to see this one go.  Back to reality, but it's a shortened week and we have plenty shenanigans in store for this coming weekend!  Thanks to my wonderful family and friends for another memorable weekend.