Photo #210 Room Complete!!!

Jackson's big boy room is finally complete.  His bed has been flipped and I finished the curtains for his clubhouse today.  I'm looking forward to many fun times for him and Molly in their fun fortress.

Photo #209 So, We Meet Again!!!

This past weekend, we were thrilled to discover a dog park in town.  You would think Jackson and Molly would be able to tire Benny out, but he never really gets the chance to just run and run and run.  I'm so happy to finally have a place to take him to and just turn him loose.  The kids think it's fantastic cause they get to see more dogs.

Well, we took Benny to the park this morning and, not long after we got there, another couple came with two Australian Shepherds.  One of them was also a puppy.  It didn't take long for us to discover that Benny and Eve (the other puppy) were family!  The family, where we got Benny from, had another litter of Aussies 7 days earlier.  Eve was part of that litter!  To top it all off, their 2 year old Aussie's name was Benny, too!!!  Oh, what fun we all had!  I didn't get any photos of big Benny because every time I knelt down to take a photo, he would sit down RIGHT in front of me.  He was such a sweetheart!  I hope our Benny turns out to be just like him! :)

Anyway, here are some photos of Benny and his cousin, Eve!  (also a photo of the amazing view we have at the park!)

Photo #208 Bedtime Stories

Since we flipped Jackson's bed, we have had so much fun in his room.  We have a star and a moon light mounted under his bed so we like to read by moonlight.  :)  Jackson has already asked if Molly can sleep in his room.  We are thinking of letting him have a slumber party for his birthday.  Of course, that slumber party will consist of him and his sister.  :)  They aren't on the exact same sleep schedule so, having them share a room would cause Molly to get less sleep and therefore drive Mommy crazy.  I am currently working on making curtains for under his bed so he can easily make it into a fort!

Photo #207 Someone is Growing Up!

Well, we were going to wait until his birthday, but all of us were a little too excited to wait.  We flipped Jackson's bed.  He officially has an "up bed," as Jackson likes to call it.  Over Labor day weekend, Jackson had the chance to sleep in the top bunk of a set of bunk beds.  He did so well that it assured us that he was big enough for his bed to be flipped over and made into a loft bed.  I love it because it adds more play space in his room, but it does make me a little sad.  He's getting to be so big.

So, here is he new room!

Today, we also went to Oktober fest on the base.  It is put on by the German military so I was really excited to try a bratwurst and see how it compared to Johnsonville.  It was really yummy!  They also had a kids area where Jackson and Molly were able to get balloon hats!  Molly absolutely refused to let me take a photo of her with her hat, so you'll have to settle for Jackson wearing it.  :)  I think you can figure out which one is Molly's and which is Jackson's.

Jackson's has Winnie the Pooh (aka "a bear").

Photo #206 Molly Monkey

For about the past month, I have been taking Molly to a Mommy-and-Me gymnastics class.  It took her a few days to really warm up to it, but now she loves it!  We have so much fun and I'm even able to get a workout with her!

She isn't too fond of the balance beam, but she could hang from the rings and the bar all day long!  She also loves to run the vault track and jump on the tumbling tramp.  Over all, we have a fantastic time!  We are only going once a week, for now.  We'll see if that ever changes.

Photo #205 Beautiful Sky!!!

This weekend was the annual balloon  festival here in Alamogordo!  Initially, I thought the hot air balloons were only on Saturday.  Boy, was I wrong!  We saw a few on Friday.  Saturday was suppose to be the big day.  It was okay.  But Sunday!!!  Now that was exciting!!!  While sitting at the kitchen table, I looked up to see the following outside our back window!  The kids and I ran outside to see a fantastic sight!  Jackson and Molly squealed and cheered.  We even got one of the riders to wave and shout 'hello!' to us!  What a great start to a day filled with snotty noses and sneezing.

All of these photos were taken right from our backyard!
(The balloon rider on the right was waving to us!)

Photo #204 Sight Seeing

To get a little change of scenery and temperature, we like to take trips up to Ruidoso.  It's about an hour north of us.  I get a chance to go to Starbuck's.  Benny gets to visit a cute pet boutique.  And the kids get ice cream!  We love going up there and there is a BEAUTIFUL drive to get there.  Here are photos of a couple of the sights along the way.

This morning, we were also surprised to get an early preview of this weekends Balloon Festival!  This is what we got to see right from our backyard!