Bagheera

Jelly has become lovingly known as #heimerkitten, and he would like to introduce a new member of our family, Bagheera!!

Our goal is for Ben to attend preschool ALL DAY long this year and that will include a rest time.  Because I would never send Jelly into the germ-infested petri-dish we call "school," Bagheera will accompany Ben at nap time and will live at school with his blanket or whatever else we're allowed to send.  I'm trying to do everything possible to set us up for success in terms of extending Ben's school day, and I hope Bagheera will be just the buddy to help him through rest time.  It's pretty crazy to feel Bagheera and think of how soft Jelly once was and to wonder why with the many Jellycat toys in his life, Ben dubbed Jelly, the one. :)
Ben spent a couple days choosing Bagheera's name and I suggested Peanut Butter, Hobbes and Dos.  Bagheera really stuck, even though, "I know Bagheera (from Jungle Book) is not the tiger but he's the good guy.  The tiger, what's his name?" "Sher khan." "yeah, mama, he's not the good guy."

Welcome to the Heimer Haus, Bagheera. :)

let's pretend

Today while we hung out in the hammock, Ben said,

"Mommy, let's pretend I went to the grocery store and you and daddy stay home."
"OK buddy. What will you buy?"

His list (in this order) was:
-tomatoes
-pizza
-ice cream
-mac and cheese
-NO lettuce
-Lemonade and milk

"and I will go all by myself!"

"how will you get there?"
"I will walk. I can't drive, Mom."

modeling gigs

At a recent Skip session, Cathy asked if Ben could once again grace the pages of her website.  His two-year-old mug has long graced it's pages from his speech therapy days, and the farm owner took these pics for Cathy's updated site.  I haven't seen the site yet, but she kindly shared these pics.

We have noticed great strides in Ben's sentence length and attention-span in the many months he's been working with Cathy and Skip.  He averages 2-3 visits per month and we are hopeful it can continue.

running for Mayor

We were SO thankful we decided to get home from Montana Saturday evening so we had Sunday to re-group before the new week.  We didn't have much for breakfast so headed for the S. Pearl Street farmer's market.  We came upon some people with a "bee-safe yard" sign-up whose kiddos were helping them get their petition signed, and Ben quickly got to work greeting e.v.e.r.y. s.i.n.g.l.e. person we encountered.  The bee safe lady quipped, "so he's running for Mayor, huh?" as Ben introduced himself to the rest of her family.  Of course we love his out-going nature but people are frequently and surprising off-put by it.  I appreciated her comment and her smiling over him and it reminded me about all the ways he might put his happy, friendly nature to use in his life.  Please don't blame me if I quietly pray it's not put to use for politics.

 He was not convinced that the breakfast tacos were as good as the 

sold-out breakfast burritos he was expecting. ;(

 

Erik & Kari

Most of our reasoning for heading to Montana when we did was to attend Erik and Kari's wedding reception.  They had been married in McCall, Idaho on New Year's eve and did a local, Summer reception for a wider audience.  Erik and I are almost the same age and grew up attending "Boys are Back in Town Pig Roasts" together as well as some racing weekends at our house in Denver.  They re-used decor from the wedding and the afternoon was fun and the locally-catered BBQ from Charlie B's was incredible.  It still blows my mind that Erik, his brother Shawn and I all have families and kids.  It seems like just yesterday that we were the kids running around that same property and thinking the adults had no idea where we were. ;)

 

the favors

 

the BBQ truck was an engineering marvel

Kari made all the decor herself, including carving and burning the wood....

she also made these bouquets

 

Erik's parents, Carl and Julie were actually married the same Summer as Ryan and I after 22 years together, but Ryan couldn't attend their wedding.  It was really fun to get to introduce him to so many lifelong family friends. 

I'm not sure how we missed getting pics of Ben with the MANY kids running around.  (This generation is certainly procreating at a faster rate than the last.)  He jumped on the trampoline for FIVE AND A HALF HOURS!! with a short break for dinner.  He didn't even collapse at bedtime as we expected.  We were so thankful for this fun afternoon with friends new and old and I hope we find reasons to see each other again sooner than later or our own kid's weddings. ;)

big sky

Ben, Ryan, MeeMee and I just returned from 10 glorious days in Big Sky country.  We left late Thursday evening and made it to Buffalo past all of our bed times.  We made it to Missoula late the next afternoon.  MeeMee dropped us at Papa Ken's before she headed out to hang and camp at Uncle Carl's.  We joined her the next day to celebrate Erik and Kari's winter-time nuptials (see next post.)

first MT mountain pic

valuable lessons learned on the road

  

On Sunday we settled in for a few days of fun with Papa Ken, Boomer and new-pup-addition, Beckett.

discovered more than one of these grapefruit radlers on this trip-so delish!

we day-tripped to Seeley Lake with Papa Ken and the pups

Ben and I had a Minions movie and Hoagieville date while Ryan and Papa Ken golfed.

We hauled along Ben's big boy bike and it got lots of use.

 

We attempted some fly-fishing on the Clark Fork one day and re-confirmed that fishing with Ben in tow is years away.

new-pup Beckett

On Wednesday morning we bid adieu to the dog house and headed east toward MeeMee's property.  I finally convinced my fellow travelers to stop at the Patagonia outlet and Ryan hit the jackpot while MeeMee and I didn't find too much in our sizes.  In the end, the hour and a half out of our way didn't seem to bother anyone too much.:)

We made a last stop for groceries and headed off the grid to East Rosebud Creek.  It was a joy to show it to Ryan for the first time and see the awe on his face that surely graced mine last year.  We spent 3 nights this year and got in a great hike, a little fishing, some serious Skip-Bo playing and MeeMee and Ryan built a successful inaugural fire pit.  Ben is definitley in his element while camping and I think we all enjoyed the un-plugged time. 

Not a bad place for your morning joe. 

 

Every time we pass this barn, I daydream about taking family Christmas card pics there.

this little trooper hiked over 4 miles this day

playing in East Rosebud lake

a lot of fresh air and a finger pinch could only be fixed with 

a good cry and a long nap in mom's lap

heaven

Ryan and Ben made a "bike track," in the grass with the car and Ben got to ride in the front seat with NO seatbelt!!

 

We took the scenic route home through northern Wyoming and it was gorgeous!  It made for a long day of travel and Ben's morning wish of a cheeseburger, chocolate chip cookie and pizza all in the same day actually came true when we ordered pizza as we neared MeeMee's house.  The trip was delightful and perfectly long and short all at once.  I know Ben will have fond memories of these trips and I will continue to do all I can to encourage his love of all things outdoors.