A semi-unhealthy obession

Ben has an obsession not many people know about: he likes root beer, not like normal root beer, but fancy glass bottle root beer. It's not as into it as this guy, but let's just say that one Christmas at my parents' house in Washington my brother introduced Ben to a brand called Henry Weinhard's, made in Portland. Ben was hooked. 18 bottles of Henry Weinhard's finest accompanied us home that year. Ben was travelling by himself because I was staying longer and brought them all on as his carryon in a grocery bag (obviously before the liquid taboo). He had a layover in LA and the bag he was using fell apart and he had to carry them, hugging them to his chest, as he raced to his gate. Those 18 bottles of root beer, and cream soda, lasted all year. He horded them and brought them out on select occasions. The next year we were in Washington, we weren't allowed to bring liquids as carryons and I thought that would be the end of that. But no. Ben had planned all along to carefully wrap several bottles and stick them in the middle of our checked bags, with all our clothes (granted most of them were dirty) and our presents. I was not pleased.

But for all Ben's careful planning, eventually the supply of Henry's ran dry and Ben was left without his favorite cold drink. He tried others but they all fell short. My family came to visit at the beginning of August. There was much tasting of different root beers, much discussion of flavors and tastes. There was even a visit to Dr. Root Beer's Hall of Foam (a little overrated). No clear root beer "winner" emerged from all this, but a seed was planted. When they got home my sister sent around this guy's review of a ton of root beers. One in particular got high honors and is available at World Market, a store we actually knew.

I am happy to announce that Ben has found a successor to Henry Weinhard's. I give you "Bulldog." And it's even on sale this week! Go buy some if you have a World Market near you. If you don't like root beer yourself but have to go there to get more root beer for your husband, check out the nice selection of Haribo gummies for yourself. I recommend the "Twin Cherries." But don't tell your running coach about it. :)

Triumphant Ben

You look just like...

Ok, ever since I cut Elise's hair I can't get it out of my mind how much she looks like Suri Cruise now. I even spent a while the other night looking up pictures of her online (kind of sick right?) because I told Ben that and he was like, "who?" I'll let you guys be the judge. And no, I did not do it on purpose.

Here is Elise doing her best movie star impressions:

And now, the offspring of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise:

Am I above putting in a not-so-flattering picture of someone else's child to make mine look better? Probably not.

Elise gets a bob

I cut Elise's hair this morning. It's never been cut before and I've been thinking about doing it for a while because it's always all over her face and she always gets something sticky in it because she is a seriously messy eater. This morning I made waffles and the syrup in last night's freshly washed hair was the last straw. I sat her in front of the TV and told her I was going to cut her hair. She didn't say anything since she was already mesmerized by Elmo so I got right down to it. It was surprisingly easy. First of all, she doesn't have a ton of hair and then it's slightly curly so all unevenness is nicely hidden. A special thanks to Ben for providing the curly hair gene.

BEFORE

The bangs were the first thing I cut. Still watching Elmo.

The resulting carnage

Emd result!

I didn't tell Ben I was going to do it because he was in the middle of a fantasy football draft and I knew he wouldn't have heard me. I sent her in there after it was all done and told her to tell daddy to look at her new haircut. It took him a while to notice, he ignores everyone not just me during drafts, but he was definitely surprised. He says she looks like a different person and I've found myself staring at her all day still trying to adjust to it too. Now if only Chloe had enough hair to warrant a haircut...

Beach trip

My whole family came out to visit us last week, my mom and dad, my sister and her family, and my brother. We had lots of fun and it was nice to have everyone come to us instead of making the trek ourselves. We packed up and went to the beach for a few days because Durham, although nice, is not the most exciting vacation spot. The North Carolina coast is beautiful, though unfortunately we went in the middle of a heat wave and Ben and I both about died during one of our runs. Luckily we battled the heat with popsicles and ice cream, and a trip to Dr. Root Beer's Hall of Foam (not as exciting as it should have been). And of course going in the ocean.
Elise didn't love being at the beach as much as we thought she would. I think she was afraid of the waves. We had to leave early the first day because she flipped out once we got to the beach and kept saying, "I need to go home. I need to go home." But Chloe loved it and 1 out of 2 isn't bad these days.
Pics of course, mostly by Uncle Josh because he's the one with the fancy camera.