A Day at the Circus

We have been bogged down with bday events lately, but about a month ago we made a trip back to Williamsburg to go to an old fashion circus under the big tent.  We had such a great time with Nana & Papa that I didn't want to forget to blog about it despite the delay. 

Kate & Will had never seen a circus before so they were pretty excited to see the lions, horses, acrobats, clowns and jugglers.

Will was excited to eat the cotton candy and peanuts. 

During the intermission, Papa took Kate to ride a pony.  She loves animals.  Unfortunately, Brett's allergies stop us from ever getting a pet at home.  So we have to take adavantage of every opportunity we get to play with dogs & cats and ride on ponies.  I have to be honest,  I don't mind not having an animal in my house (kind of a clean freak!) and the kids will never lose their excitement for animals this way!

Being the only 2 grandchildren definitely has its perks!  Nana & Papa made sure Kate & Will got the full circus experience. Will picked out the light saber.

Kate chose the inflatable pony.

After the show, we headed back to Nana's where we found all kinds of costumes for the kids to play dress up with.  I've never seen a monkey with a light saber until now!

It was a beautiful night for the fire pit and s'mores.  Kate is getting pretty good at cooking her marshmallow just right to the perfect golden brown.

Will danced around all night with his sword!

He finally slowed down enough to take interest in the fire.  Brett pulled out a few of his boy scouts skills and attempted to show Will how to build a fire..... Which then led to consistently telling Will to stop trying to throw every stick in the yard on the fire.
 It was a great weekend back in our hometown.  Thanks again to Nana & Papa for a great time!

2012 Family Birthday Party for Kate & Will

Birthday season has arrived again!  One perk to having both of my children on Labor Day weekend is we get a day to get ready, a day to party, and a day to rest!  Thank goodness!   We decided to make our own banner for this year's event.  Given the national shortage of helium right now, big balloon bouquets were out of the question, so we pulled out our creativity instead.

It was a perfect summer day for the party.  We borrowed Grandma & Grandpa's gigantic waterslide for the kids.  Kate, Teagan and Tate were all over it.

They flew down the slide as fast as they possibly could.

An occasional break for soda & chex mix before dinner of course.  It was their birthday so I couldn't say no.

Will wasn't too into the waterslide.  His cousin Sienna came over for the party.  They were best friends for the entire day. I might even say that Will may have had a little crush going, not realizing they're related!   He has always been drawn to brunettes with brown eyes.  His first love was Mommy,  then Dora, and now Sienna.  

Lauren loved the water too! She giggled and giggled at the kids as they came crashing down the slide.

Eventually the kids took her for a ride.  I think she got a little water logged, but came up smiling every time.

Sienna even gave it a shot!

Will was beside himself staring at all those presents ALL DAY LONG!  He paced & paced, asking frequently when it was going to be time to open them. 

Kate has had her ears pierced for 1 yr now, so she can officially move past the stud earrings to the danglies!  She received a few pairs from Nana and oh was she excited.  I think she looks so grown up with them on.

Will asked for nothing but superhero toys.  Opa gave him this awesome batman suit.  Will was in HEAVEN!

For their birthday treats Will picked chocolate chip cookies and Kate picked Krispy Kreme donuts.  Neither of them like cake so we went with their favorite sweet instead.   The donuts were an absolute HIT!  I think they may become a regular appearance at the annual birthday bash!