When Daddy's away....the kids still play!

 Ben has been out in Wyoming this week shooting at prairie dogs.  Yes, prairie dogs.  I was going to post a picture here of a prairie dog, but they were just too cute.  Ben likes to say they are rodents and carry diseases and destroy ranches...so I'll skip the picture and think of them as giant rats.
Anyway, while Ben has been using rodents for target practice we have been enjoying a bit of summer.  This is a long time for Ben to be away so we escaped to the south...Massachusetts that is.  
It was a great week with my parents and made Ben being gone a little less lonely.

Monday we went to the beach...and it was a perfect beach day.

My dad took this picture of Tobi...and this is just how I feel about the beach!

Tuesday we went to Parlee farms to pick strawberries...but by the time we got there they had closed the fields for the day.  So instead we visited the animals, got some ice cream and bought some already picked strawberries.  (Truth be told that was probably better than chasing a tired toddler through the fields anyway.)

Thursday we made a trip to the state forest behind my parents home and discovered this great splash park.

Gardening, taking walks, coloring, reading books, playing Polly Pockets, eating outside, painting, doing puzzles...these are just a few of the things we've been doing over the past few days.

Tobi fell asleep in her car seat less than 2 minutes after we left...and we all may sleep well into next week!  We missed Ben so much...so glad he is coming home a day early (RIP little prairie dogs).  Thanks so much to Grandma & Grandpa for helping the week go by so quickly!