An Exciting Morning, Benjamin Style...

I LOVE hyping things that I know the kids will get really excited about. This morning was a perfect opportunity for that. When Benjamin woke up, I greeted him with a nice dramatic,"Guess...what! We have been invited... to Cassidy's house... to watch the workmen dig a huge hole in her backyard for her new pool!"(read with appropriate emphasis and pauses for heightened drama :-)

BIG smile..."TODAY?!?!?"

"Yep, right after breakfast!"

This confirmation sent Benjamin running to his room to pull out all of his "construction shirts," so he could lay them on the floor and contemplate which one would be right for this momentous occasion. He laid them all out in the hallway by the bathroom, so I could help him decide while doing my hair. He listed the various pros and cons for each shirt (a little tight, too baggy, more comfortable, the excavator is bigger than what the workers will probably be using, but this one may be too small...)

Once everyone was ready for the day, we ate a quick breakfast and were just cleaning up when Cassidy's dad called to tell us that the workers had started early! We went to the bathroom, brushed teeth, put on socks and shoes and got buckled into the van faster than ever before. (Ellie wasn't as excited about the digging, but she was thrilled to be going over to play with Cassidy for the first time ever.)

Ben was overcome with excitement before we even got out of the van. He caught a glimpse of a skid steer around the side of the house. And parked in front of us was a long, empty flatbed trailer with an extra bucket attachment, which was obviously meant for a rather large piece of machinery! We quickly went into the house and directly out to the back deck. And there, we came "face to face" with a HUGE excavator. Ben was in Heaven. There is simply no other way to put it. I could have seriously just reached out and touched that sucker, it was so close!

Cassidy's big brother, Harrison, just finished Kindergarten this year, and he and Ben seemed to enjoy each other's company. They both enjoyed narrating the entire scene and asking questions. Michael and I did the best we could to come up with logical answers. I'm sure the construction workers were probably snickering if they heard us... Likewise, they would also go through long periods of simply standing still and watching as if they were in a trance!

Harrison took Ben up to his room to share the bird's eye view with him, too.

The girls were less than impressed by the loud machines ripping up the yard, so they busied themselves playing My Little Ponies, Webkinz, and who knows what else! They really seemed to hit it off! Ellie was quite impressed by Cassidy's princess quilt and her "huh-mungus" stuffed tiger. Mr. Michael even set her up with her own pink cup full of juice, so she was lovin' life.

I had taken a bag of chocolate chip cookies over with us, and Harrison honed in on those pretty quickly. He asked his dad if he could have one. Michael said, "Yes," and then got distracted by something else. We found Harrison a while later, still sitting at the kitchen window with the bag of cookies now within arm's reach, having himself a private feast! :-)

'Love this picture of Harrison at the window. What little boy wouldn't die for all this action right outside his window?!? (I'm thinking your boys would have loved this too, Chris F...)

Thanks again, Phillips Family, for sharing your super cool back yard entertainment with us! It doesn't get much better than this on the Weaver Family "Excitement-o-meter!" Again, something that I can't say I ever envisioned in my life 10 years ago. ...driving to someone else's house to watch construction nor having a family excitement-o-meter... :-)

We're headed back tomorrow morning. As luck would have it, the digging got delayed by a HUGE rock. I wonder which shirt Ben will wear tomorrow...