Ben's Walking Shoes

Yesterday, Ben got his first real pair of walking shoes. My Mom offered to pay for the first pair of shoes for both my nephew and Ben, so as soon as Ben started really walking, I took up her offer.

Ben, my Mom and I were at Fair Oaks Mall shopping around in the later part of the afternoon yesterday and decided to make a stop at Stride Rite. There were lots of shoes to choose from, but I had an idea of what I wanted to get Ben. I didn't want to deal with laces, something sturdy and that matched with most of his fall outfits. I settled on a brown shoe that looks so cute on him. The picture hardly does any justice as it just looks adorable on my little guy. Ben's foot measured out to be a whooping 5 1/2.

As soon as Ben got his little shoes on, he was off. Since we had to leave to go home for dinner, I allowed Ben to lead the way out of the mall (with some guidance)and just loved listening to him giggle the whole way out. He just loves his new found freedom and shoes!

Family Day

This past Saturday, I challenged my husband to plan a family day. Typically weekends are planned out by none other then yours truely. Therefore, I let him call the shots on our little family date.

After a mid morning/afternoon nap James took the family out to lunch at Jackson's in Reston Town Center. It was a fabulous lunch and my new favorite restaurant. Its expensive, but soooooooooo over the top yummy. Everything I have had there has been delicious. Ben actually ate a good lunch too. He hasn't been eating meals that great, so I welcome every bite I can get into him. It was his first time trying grouper and he loved it. He ate almost his entire kid plate!

Next James decided that we should head over to Reston Zoo. We last went to Reston Zoo for Ben's first birthday. Ben was in awe of the animals, but didn't walk yet and didn't have too much interaction with them. Since Ben has become more mobile and he just loves to feed his dogs snacks, James thought this would be a hit. Ben LOVED it! James purchased a bucket of feed for Ben and Ben (with the help of his parents) feed all the sheeps and goats in the feeding barn. Afterwards we headed to the wagon ride and made friends with a camel. The camels were very friendly, but I was certainly afraid that they would spit on us. At one point, James told me to turn around and the camels head was literally inside the wagon and we were two inches from each other nose to nose. I screamed! I was pretty embarassed about being so scared, but I wasn't expecting it and the other passengers in the car got a good laugh.

In all it was a GREAT family day. I will have to get James to plan more of these outings!

Ben couldn't stop staring at the monkeys






At the Feeding Barn

















The Wagon Ride






This was the camel that was two inches from my face


Okay this girl was crazy


My new FAVORITE Photo