Third Downs: They Are Here! They Are Here! They Are Here!

When Gwynne said the words, "We are trying to come down for a visit in April!" I wanted to scream as loud as I could...and I did!

Eric and Sara LOVE surprises! They love getting surprised with the smallest of present or place to go, equally as much, they love to surprise! These two were bouncing off the walls as we waited to surprise our Simmons Family at the airport!

And I must say, they are very good at what they do!

Behind the scenes...

SURPRISE!!!

We were so happy to yell surprise and see everyone when they got off the train! And we were pretty thankful they finally decided to get off! They were taking so long, we were beginning to worry if we somehow missed them. Nope! They just decided to ride the train back and forth not knowing when they were supposed to get off! Hahaha! Awwww, just another example of why we were so happy to see our Simmons Family! It already felt good to have them back!

FIRST STOP...RENTAL CAR!

Ben's entertainment while his Mommy and Daddy were getting their rental car! Hahaha!

TIME TO EAT!!!

Oh what an experience we had! From our incredibly awkward, yet awesome waiter, to Ben's facial expressions, it was simply the best time! As a matter of fact, some of my favorite moments with Ben were when we were eating! The boys facial expressions down right crack me up!!!

I like to call this one...Faces of Ben, CheeseCake Factory!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY BEN!!!

We were very sad to have not been able to celebrate Ben's 1st birthday with him, so we decided to throw him our own little birthday celebration! Happy Birthday Ben!!!...

...we hope every one of your little wishes come true!

MALL TIME!

The next day Daddy had to work, so we decided to enjoy a nice relaxing morning in, as a great thunderstorm took place outside! Once we got ready for the day, it was off to the mall!

Don't mind the cell phone photos, I just decided to drop my camera onto the beautifully shined tile floor of the mall! Camera survived, lens did not! Not to worry though, that didn't stop this crew from having fun!

Nothing like piling into a photo booth and realizing it's camera is broken as well! Cell phone camera to the rescue once again!!!

FUN FILLED DAY!

The next day we met Daddy at work for lunch! It was also great because Gwynne got to show Matt and Ben where she went to school!

And Ben got to hold, and eat, lots and lots of clover flowers Eric and Sara picked for him!

After lunch Daddy was done for the day, so it was off to the Aquarium!!! Some of us arrived in style!

I like to call this one...Faces Of Ben, Tommy Bahamas!

While Ben was busy reading the items off the menu to everyone...

Sara and Eric were busy coloring and writing their name!

There's no such thing as eating at Tommy's and not stopping for some ice cream and gummy bears afterward!

And there's certainly no such thing as stopping for ice cream and gummy bears, and not heading to the beach afterward!

Ben reminded us a lot of Eric when he first went to the beach and discovered sand...he pretty much froze in his tracks and didn't know what to think of it!

But after a little pep talk from Mommy and Daddy...

he was good to go!!!

SOCCER!!!

The next day was a big day for our little man! It was his very first day of soccer! This was the first time we ever signed him up for a sport, and his first time ever being on a team!

It was so great having everyone here for this. It's little things like this that make us miss everyone so much. Simple things like going to each others kids soccer games. So it was nice to have them there to say the least, and Eric did amazing! (I'll write more when I do a post on his soccer season!)

FUN IN THE SUN!

It was still a bit too cold to go for a swim, but then again, the cold never seems to stop these kids from doing anything! They all had fun splashing around and putting their feet in!

Afterward we headed to the park! The kids had so much fun swinging, chasing, rock climbing, sliding, and laughing! And the adults had so much fun doing those same exact things and acting like kids again themselves!

Sara apparently questioned the amount of sun block we applied earlier!

On our way out we saw this adorable family of ducks! It was so awesome watching the little ones. They went from swimming, to hoping on the lilly pads and walking across them, to swimming again! It was so cute that they weighed so little they could just walk across the lilly pads without disrupting them!

I like to call this one...Faces of Ben, Pinchers Crab Shack!

HOT MESS BEN!!!

Ben was such a trooper the entire trip! He partied like a rock star with the rest of us and was pushed past his naps quite often! On this particular day of swimming and parking it up, he was also pushed past his bed time! This is when we were introduced to....Hot Mess Ben!!!

His hair was out of control, as were his expressions! Hot Mess Ben was beyond hysterical!!!

As was, A Waiter Is Standing Over Me So I Must Stare At Her Every Move Ben!!!

YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE!!!

The next morning Sara and Ben were having a little heart to heart with one another. They were saying how sad they were that they were having to say goodbye, but how incredibly grateful they were to have seen each other again! Actually, they were discussing a shoe that Ben was playing with, but I like the heart to heart idea better!

It was no fun knowing everyone was going to have to head out after lunch, but we still had some good laughs over some pizza and smoothies despite the fact that we were all pretty bummed.