The Circus (+ More)

With Adam in the middle of finals and preparing for the intense DAT in June, the kids & I have been finding many different ways to have some fun together and pass the time. Here's a quick update on what we've been up to as of late:

My thoughtful cousin Maria alerted us that the Circus was coming to town -- and that it was calling out to the child within all of us =) So, I got to take Anabelle & Isabel and we had a grand ol' time. As you can see however, they were a little weary of the clowns, ha! Isabel's face is priceless!

Our circus friends ;-> (Lori, Isa, AB, Maria & Rachel)

We scoped out the elephants...

...who were much bigger than pint-sized Anabelle

And Maria shared her cotton candy with the girls, much to their delight (though they seem to be taking their treat quite seriously here)

Needless to say, they devoured it all in seconds flat... (granted, it is pretty much puffed dissolving sugar)

The girls refused to take their eyes off the show to pose for me, so this was the best I could get

Anabelle was diggin' her pony ride. Isabel opted out of it as we were watching and she looked up at me, crossed her arms, put her head down and quietly said, "But I don't wanna go on the pony ride." Well, that's a first! =)

This was the girls' favorite act - spurring instantaneous & exaggerated ballerina dancing from them both (see video below). I am thinking it had less to do with the talented women doing flips while basically hanging from glorified bed sheets and was more about the beautiful 'princess' music they were choreographed to

Tigers, spinning & doing the beauty queen wave of course

A blurry picture, but quite blog worthy. This lady not only did a handstand while balancing on one finger, but here she is balancing on her head, doing the splits, oh, and juggling upside-down. She may have even been spinning, I can't remember. Eh, I could probably do this if I tried ;)

I kinda regret seeing "Water for Elephants" a few weeks ago as it tainted my view of the circus a bit. My friend Rachel even noticed that they did in fact hold a bullhook along with the whip, though we never saw anyone use it. Probably only in real emergencies I'm guessing? They are rather large creatures, I think I'd carry a bullhook 'just in case' too!

A new personal favorite: The Human Cannonball! Would've had a pic of him 'mid-flight', but had to cover the girls' ears during the cannon's boom, too bad. Isabel had been excited about seeing this and I ended up having to use this closing act as a bribe for her when she looked at me shortly after intermission, the clowns were running around crazy, and in all seriousness said, "Aunt Katie, I wanna get out of this place." Ha! Me too babe, me too.

And now, just a few fun pics I had handy from the past few weeks. Still have to catch up on a few posts (ie, Easter, a visit from Lincoln & James, etc.) so stay tuned!

I love how these 2 are starting to really interact and play together. I still have to be Oliver's bodyguard every now and again, but for the most part, it's smiles & laughter all around.

Lolli brought Anabelle a pinwheel so she & Oli could watch it while they eat their meals by the window. AB couldn't possibly love it more. We spent a whole afternoon looking at it from inside, then she'd go and let herself out the door, walk down the stairs, and check on it outside. I just opened the window and monitored her from inside and I have to say it was a little weird to be at the stage where your child can go outside w/o you (kinda)

Visiting Daddy & our fav park by the airport

Checking out the landing planes ~ what an awesome park feature

Oliver didn't quite catch on to when, where and why he should look up

Our Happy & Handsome Oliver Lawrence

Again, videos from the blackberry (the other vid cam broke, boo!), so excuse the poor quality, but hopefully you can catch a glimpse of how inspired the girls were by this circus act

I took the kids to a weekend fair and I couldn't resist catching this moment. AB sat here, with her big flower balloon & pink tutu, for a good 30 mins just waving to the passing trains.

It's May and Anabelle's having a hard time giving up that Christmas spirit. Adam & I like to believe it's because she truly is a Christmas baby through and through (having been born Dec.23rd and coming home on Christmas Day after all.) She loves this song, and though she omits a few refrains and words, her big finish really makes up for it I think =) Keep in mind, this was taken on my phone, and we were at the doctor's waiting with Oliver for his 9 month checkup. I'm sure she entertained the other waiting patients... and probably the office staff... and the people in the waiting room... and the people in the office building next door...

And, grand finale, Oliver is crawling! As you can see, he's happy with himself about it. He has been mobile for awhile, but now at 9 months he officially puts one hand & knee in front of the other for his preferred mode of travel. While I was grateful for the 'delayed' mobility (compared to his sis), it is nice that he's out of that frustrating stage where he sees something, wants something, yet cannot get directly do it. However, Anabelle is less than thrilled about his new ability... she's learning her things aren't safe on the floor any more, and I'll often hear her desperate plea and cries of frustration, "Oliver, MOVE BACK PLEASE!!"