Joining the Circus (video)

The first night that Oma & Opa got here on July 1st we headed out for the night to the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I don't think ANY of us had been to such a big circus production before.


It was CRAZY! We got there a little early and got to go on the floor of the stadium to mingle with the cast. Peter was in awe! There was so many things to look at. We tried to take his picture but nearly every one he was craning his neck around the other way to see something else. Who could be bothered with posing for pictures!?!



The show itself was lots of fun. There were clowns, tigers, acrobats, contortionists, motorcycles, tightrope walkers, strong men, and more! Peter's favorite part though was the elephants. I had brought our little stuffed Dumbo from home and every time an elephant came out Peter held it up in the air and shook it frantically in a little cheer.


I was determined to not get any souvenirs, but of course that didn't happen. :) I saw some cute circus hats that came with the cotton candy so we waved down a vendor and bought one. Peter got his first taste of cotton candy. At first he wasn't sure what to think of it, he'd never had anything quite like it.


But he quickly fell in love and wanted to eat the whole bag!


We also grabbed some of the free literature at the souvenir stands and one pamphlet unfolded into a big poster of elephants. It's now taped up on Peter's closet door. Gotta love free stuff!


By the end of the show we were all a little exhausted! I swear, if you didn't have ADD going into the show you would by the end. We were constantly bombarded with music, lights, and spectacle. There was never time to take a breath. It kept Peter awake and engaged the whole time but I was overwhelmed by it all!


We had a great time though, definitely a fun experience. We'll have to go again next year!


The whole ride home I had the song "Join the Circus" in my head and it was stuck there for the next day or two. In honor of that I put together a video of some of the highlights of our night at the circus. ENJOY!!!

Peter's New Carseat

Peter got a new carseat! He was quickly growing out of his previous one and needed to graduate to a bigger booster seat.

We originally got a different one but after a week of using it it became clean that it didn't fit right and we couldn't adjust it anymore. We went back to Babies R Us and were able to exchange it for this Britax.

I love the Britax seat because it will keep him in a 5 point harness until he is 85 pounds! I joked with John that he would have been sitting in it when he was 16, he is such a skinny guy! In any case, this one should be the last car seat we buy. Well, until the new baby needs a booster seat anyway.


We installed the seat in my car along with the other one so he had a choice, but he seems to like the new one. It even has cup holders! Cool! Between two car seats in our little sedan there isn't much more room in the backseat. But everyone will now be riding safely. :)

Baking Cupcakes

For some reason tonight I decided that Peter deserved a special treat so after dinner we headed into the kitchen to make some chocolate cupcakes together.


Peter had fun playing in the flour and sugar. He just wanted to throw stuff around. ACK! Daddy taught him how to mix stuff together and stir real well. Then Mom and Peter filled up the cupcake tray...Peter eating some along the way.


Afterwards Peter got to lick the beater! I love that my allergic little boy can do this!


He made quite the mess getting batter everywhere, but we took him straight to the bath. The cupcakes baked while he was busy splashing and getting clean in a big bubble bath. By the time he got out they were cooling on the stove. Yummy dessert!

Lesson Learned

Never leave a two year old alone with a pen.

Big Boy Bed (video)

Video of Peter jumping off his brand new big boy bed!

Brand New Big Boy Bed

Our boy is going through another growth spurt! He is turning into such a big boy! Late yesterday afternoon we received a brand new big boy bed for his room!


Oma & Opa Ayres were visiting this past week and they went to the store with us and bought him a big twin "captain's bed". It has four drawers underneath so there is extra storage. Yahoo! Peter was excited when the delivery men started coming into the house with the pieces. We watched them put it together, which looked pretty easy.


Then mommy got out the new freshly washed Car sheets with Lightning McQueen on them. I also lucked out yesterday and found a Cars comforter on clearance at Target for $10. Score! Peter immediately got on the bed and started jumping.


Our dog Gizmo came to check it out too. He had to get a running start to jump so high, but he made it and seemed to give it his approval.


Our cat George came in to investigate all the excitement. I kept finding him curled up at the foot of the bed the entire rest of the day.


I think the bed meets with Peter's approval. He's excited to be "up high"! He needs to use a step stool to get up high, but Grandma & Grandpa Palmer bought him a great one from Ikea this past year that works wonderfully.


At some point I want to close up the crib and save it for the new baby coming. But I decided to leave the crib open for Peter to get into for the next few weeks so he can make a slow transition. Apparently though I might not need to do that! Last night Peter went to sleep in his big bed and slept straight though the entire night. This is huge because for a while now he's been coming into my bed about 2am. But not last night! He stayed in his big boy bed ALL NIGHT! He really is growing up!

BOOM!!!

We had a great 4th of July in Tucson. Peter got himself dressed in the morning and somehow grabbed his 4th of July shirt from the pile of clean laundry. What a genius kid! He was all set for the night!


We went to the house of one of John's friends, Pedro. They live right at the base of A mountain, where they set off the fireworks. We had front row seats in their front yard plus didn't have to fight the crowds. The dads manned the grill making burgers and hot dogs. Peter spent his time playing with Pedro's 3 kids. They chased each other around the yard, colored with chalk on the sidewalk, and set off sparklers and bottle rockets.


When the family started setting off their little fireworks Peter ran to daddy to hide from the loud noises.


"SCARY!!!"


It was a fun neighborhood. The neighbors stopped by to say Hi and an ice cream truck even came around while we were waiting for the fireworks. Our hosts bought a big box of popsicles and Peter got to have his first real popsicle. He thought it was "cold" and "yum-yum."


He took it outside to sit in a chair and finish his popsicle. He got about halfway through until he decided it would be more fun to try and draw with it in the dirt. Mommy had to take it away then and put it in the trash.


Fireworks were pretty cool. By the time they started Peter had calmed down and was now excited by fireworks. They would go off and he would yell "BOOM!" and every once in a while would let out a clap.


I tried taking pictures, but my camera wouldn't capture the fireworks correctly. I got some funky looking pictures of them though!


The fireworks didn't end until around 10pm, a good 2 hours past Peter's normal bedtime. He was exhausted, but happy and excited by his nighttime experience. We packed up pretty quickly and headed home to let everyone crash into bed.

Happy July 4th!

Just a quick note to wish you all a Happy Independence Day! Happy Birthday America!!! We are going to try to keep Peter up tonight to see his first fireworks!