Happy Veterans Day

Kari came home with a card from school to give to her daddy.  She hasn't finished coloring it, but I was too impatient to wait to take my picture.

 I super love the inside.  I don't know if I have said that is the way I feel (because it kinda is) or if it is her own inferences... 

 But I thought it was cute and thoughtful.

So Happy Veteran's Day to all you veterans out there!  And many thanks for all you have ever done to allow me to do what I do!

Playing Outside

Its that time of the year again!  That time where we can finally hit rocks with sticks!

No!  That's not what I meant.  That time of the year we can wear ourselves out on our bikes!

When it is finally cool enough to play outside.  (or march as the case may be.  LOVE.  This.  Picture.)

Something about taking pictures of my children's backs....  I dunno.  I do love the lighting and the coloring and the crispness of the pictures my new camera affords.  Have I mentioned I really like it? :)

Kaitlyn decided to gather things to make a soup...

Oh man!  Check out that lip!

Good thing Kaitlyn was there to help her feel better :)

Chasing bubbles (even if you can't see them :)

Cute sweaty boy in a sweatshirt.  Maybe it wasn't that cold...

Hello Kelsey!

Kaitlyn wanted to work on her pogo skills.  

More bubbles!  Love this one too :)

Slow mo blow!

Scrunchy face!

Backwards Tricycle.

And a good time was had by all.  I love it when the fall finally hits us!

Boots

You may have noticed that Dylan loves his boots.  He wears them frequently, pretty much as often as I will allow.

What you may not know is that Kelsey loves shoes.  Any shoes.  Any body's.  It doesn't matter.

Check out those chubby legs with boots that go up to her thighs, but aren't really supposed to.

I think they go perfectly with the nightgown, don't you?

Yes Kelsey.  You are even cuter with the boots on.

If that is even possible.

The Battle

The morning after the circus, a great battle ensued.  En guarde!

They ganged up on him!

But through fierce determination...

... and maybe a little skill, he was able to beat them back!

So they turned on each other instead.

It is pretty safe to say that she loves her daddy.

Peek a Boo!

Hi YA!

Perfect timing with the camera!

My little hippy dress up queen.

My not so little tomboy adventurer.

By the way, I think it is pretty safe to say that he adores her too.

And through it all, Mollie, who was tucked snug in her make shift bed, just slept.

Some people are just so hard to get involved!

The Circus: The Treats

Because it was part of the circus ambiance, and because we really wanted to treat the kids and have a good time, we got each of them a glowing thingy.

Cheap entertainment for days.

At least until the batteries died :)

Right Kelsey?

I kept trying to get the ambiance when they turned all the light off, what with all the light toys and all, and it didn't really work.  This is as close as I could come.  But I do still love how it turned out :)

During intermission, hubby surprised the kids again by coming back with some dippin dots icecream.

We shared a few flavors that quite yummy, even though they always manage to freeze my tongue.

A good time was had by all!

We even managed to get out on the second light!  It may have been as close to the perfect evening as possible!  

The circus: The Acts

We had the awesome opportunity to go to a circus recently.  The Shriners put on a circus, and sent free tickets home with the girls.  Since we love the Shriners, and try to support them in anyway possible, we bought tickets for the rest of the family and prepared for a fun time.  We grabbed Wendy's on the way over (they have the best fries, amiright?) and I gobbled mine in the car.  Seating was first come, first served, so Kelsey (and her smuggled chicken nuggets) and I went in to save seats, while hubby and the kids stayed out and ate a leisurely picnic dinner in the truck.

They opened the show with a local marching band, which, of course, is one of my favorite things.

This is our local shrine club, and current sponsoring club.

But he looks happier from the front.

While there weren't all the acts that a super duper 3 ring circus might have, they had plenty to keep us entertained, and the tickets were significantly cheaper too, so I won't complain!

The girls were impressed they "jungled" fire!

Kelsey really liked the "goggie" act.

While I know there are physics basics and stuff involved, I always enjoy this act.

The act with the horse/pony was hubby's favorite, of course.  The little pony kept running around in circles and wouldn't jump over the camel.  It was cute :)

Dylan really like the motorcycles.  This, by the way, was also the loudest act.

"The circus, the circus!  I love the circus!"  Brownie points if you can name that movie. :)