happy birthday gavin!

benjamin and i went to gavin's 4th birthday party today! the bigger kids dug for dino bones in the sandbox, "fed the dinosaur" (bean bag toss into a dino's mouth), and we all had lunch. benjamin enjoyed picking the grass and playing with rocks! it doesn't take much...
gavin is the little guy in the red shorts. benjamin is trying to leave the photo. :)

our nc-iverssary

on august 14, 2000, tim and i arrived in durham to start a new adventure! it was only 2 months and four days after we got married, and about three months after we graduated from occidental. these seven years have been full of all sorts of adventures, from weddings to concerts, movies, trips to DC, charleston, the outer banks, charlotte, virginia, and new york. our son was born here. we have met some of our dearest friends here. we have been so blessed during these seven years! i'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds - i'm sure it will be amazing. :)

from amanda & john's wedding, july 2002

ducks!

chasing the ducks at duke gardens:
and a family photo:

park/museum/old salem

grandma and grandpa lucas are back! on sunday 08.12 we went to the park:
then today we went to the richard petty museum. benjamin sat in a bumper car:

after that we went to old salem where benjamin slept in his stroller while we walked around, ate goodies from the bakery, and enjoyed the nice weather (not too hot!).
a photo without benjamin...
benjamin woke up and ran around the town square, picking up leaves and grass and chatting:

some new things

benjamin seems to be learning so much these days! i took these photos this morning and had to share:

this is the sign for "daddy" - benjamin learned that one a few days ago. i'm still working on "mommy"...

stacking blocks, his new favorite thing:
see that molar back there?! he has three of them, and the fourth is partially coming through. another one of his bottom teeth looks poised to break through any day now as well!

happy birthday seth!

seth's first birthday party was this afternoon. benjamin was definitely in the party spirit!

fun!

my friend chrissy got married to a wonderful guy yesterday. their wedding was lovely! (there are more photos on my blog here.
then my friend sarah came to town from wisconsin with her little boy william! the boys chased each other around, picked up leaves, and we got to visit.