Under the Big Top

At the end of March, we took the kids for their first circus experience... a traveling circus called Carson & Barnes Circus. Since it was right here in Allen, we decided to go to the 1:30 show after lunch.

Here Ben is walking to "the Midway" with Lila and Wyatt. The Midway consisted of a pony ride, a train ride and an inflatable slide. We didn't know what to expect so we got there early.

 

We let Lila do the pony ride. Wyatt said "no thanks."

However, they were both willing to ride the train. It went in a very small loop.

I don't know why Wyatt decided to ride by himself in the middle car.

By the second go round, he wasn't so sure about riding the train!

But of course, Lila enjoyed it and Wyatt made it through without crying. By then the circus had opened its doors, so we made our way into the tent.

Since we were early, we were able to get good seats in the front row. 

We also got to walk around in the ring (this was a one-ring, not a three-ring, circus).

A pic of Lila and Mommy

While we were waiting for the show to begin, we bought some cotton candy (I don't have any pics because I didn't want to get my camera sticky.) Lila had been asking to try cotton candy whenever she saw it. The verdict? She was not a fan. Wyatt was even less so. We could barely convince him to try it! Neither Ben or I are fans of the sweet stuff either, so I'm glad we won't be buying any more of that in the future! Finally, the show was ready to start! The ringmaster came out and the music started.

I looked over to see Lila's reaction and this is what I found.

Of course, who could blame her when these guys are the first thing out? They looked a bit creepy to me too.

She did look up for the elephants. That little guy riding the elephant was Alex, the main clown who did several little funny routines throughout the show.

There were several performers, including a high wire act.

Apparently it was a little scary to watch them! (If something is scary, she covers her ears.)

There was also a brother and sister who rode unicycles.

But the biggest hit of the circus? POPCORN. It was yummy stuff.

We bought two boxes of it, it was so good.

Here Wyatt is yelling "you want some popcorn, elephant?" during the intermission.

Here's a pic of what everyone else was doing during intermission: waiting in lines to ride the elephant, get your face painted or buy peanuts.

Here's what my kids were doing: climbing up and down the bleachers and eating popcorn.

The face painting was $5. The popcorn was $3. We definitely got our money's worth out of that popcorn!

Another fun act to watch.

Lila finally let Wyatt hold the popcorn box.

Because it was empty.

Lions and tigers and bears elephants, oh my!

Yep, the elephants made a few appearances as they were the only animals in this circus.

Piper started the circus asleep, woke up for the middle, and slept through the end.

I thought it was a pretty decent show and just right for our little kiddos. It probably could have been a little shorter for Wyatt, but he hung in there. As we came out of the tent, Lila exclaimed, "I thought it was night time!" So I guess she had a good time if she forgot it was the afternoon!

Spring Break Visit

Back in March, Ben's brother Brian brought his church youth down to Dallas for a missions trip over Spring Break. They stayed at a church in the area and did various missions/outreach projects. During that time, Brian's wife and kids as well as Ben's parents came and stayed with us for a few days' visit.

It was our first time to meet Nicole since she had been born last year. So glad to have a new niece/cousin! 

She was a big hit :)

They boys got to take a bath together.

The girls got to take a bath together.

 

We watched videos.

We played outside.

We had fun swinging.

Rachel took a turn too.

Random pic where I stuck my arm out to take a picture with Lila.

One evening Brian brought his youth kids over for dinner. We had about 30 high school kids, some inside and some outside. At one point as I was eating, I realized Wyatt was missing and said, "where's Wyatt?" I found him sitting on the back porch amongst several teenage girls (who he didn't know). He had wandered outside and climbed right up between them, happy as you please!

All the partying wore Piper out.

We used the top bunk for the first time during this visit.

All the kids thought it was fun to be up there!

Right before they left to go home, we tried to take a group shot of all the kiddos.

L-R: David (2 1/2), Nicole (7 mos), Rachel (almost 5), Lila (4 1/2), Piper (3 mos), Wyatt (2 1/2)

Who Do I Look Like?

Well, once again I'm pretty far behind in my blog posts. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can catch up. (I've been busy working on some projects that have consumed my free time.) My mother and grandmother came for a visit this past weekend. I asked my Mom to bring some pictures of me when I was little so I could do some comparison shots of our three kiddos. So, you tell me... who do they look more like, me or Ben?

Piper, 4 months

Wyatt, 2 1/2 years

Lila, 4 1/2 years

Rodeo Day

Back in March, Lila's preschool had a Rodeo Day. We were invited to join in the fun.

First all the cowboys and cowgirls came riding in on their ponies.

Here's our cowgirl and her creation.

Next came a little square dancing with Caleb. (Most of the dancing was done side by side, individually, but there were a few do-si-do's).

Then came a fun relay where the kids had to put on western garb and race back and forth.

Only the boys really "raced" but it was still fun.

After they had their turn, then they sat down to watch.

Wyatt was watching too.

Next up: picture time! (Well, it is if there is a lull and your mom has her camera).

Time to choke hug your brother!

Another picture with a horse. This one was Lila's idea.

Now we were going to do some fun Rodeo activities. Her class broke up into groups of 4 (only Lila's group just had 3) and we rotated through the various stations. Our first activity was shooting. I think someone needs to help Lila with her form.

Nicholas had it down though!

(They had a thing that worked kind of like laser tag I think, and when you shot at the bottle it would push a lever underneath the bottle which would make the bottle go flying. It was cute. All plastic of course.)

Next station: three-legged race.

Since our group only had three, Mrs. Hedges wanted to know if Wyatt wanted to race with Nicholas. His reply: "no thanks." Turns out Nicholas didn't want to race either, so it was a short activity. We killed time by wearing Lila's hat.

Next station: lasso? 

I'm not sure what to call this, but the picture says it all. They sat on a saddle and tried to get the hula hoop around the steer's horns.

Cowgirl Lila

The kids were invited to wear any western clothing they had, so here Lila is wearing her boots and a red handkerchief. And, I also braided her hair! But that's about as Western as we had :)

What was Piper doing all this time?

Sleeping.

Next up: Pony ride!

They just rode around a short loop in the parking lot.

Wyatt got to ride too since there was an empty spot. I just put him up there and didn't really give him a chance to say no. I don't know how sure he was about the whole thing, but he didn't cry.

Last stop: Craft

They got to decorate a picture frame that was later sent home with a picture of Lila from Rodeo Day in it.

Wyatt didn't get a frame, but he had fun decorating a paper.

Mrs. Hedges was there to keep things moving along because it was time to eat now!

Here's the class with their "BBQ" lunch: hotdogs!

My little cowpoke got to have some grub too.

It was a fun day. So far our preschool experience has been wonderful. I'm hoping next year's Kindergarten (new school) will be just as enjoyable.