Triple Post Day...The Circus

All in all, it was a good experience. It was the babies first time to go to the circus and really the first event where they had to sit for a long period of time and watch. At the end of the day, I'm glad we all went together as a family. It really touches my heart how excited Maddie gets when she witnesses a "first" for the babies. Intermission was a little tough as the babies got bored and then the last five minutes of the show Chloe completely lost it. Who would have thought it was going to be Chloe!? She was so excited throughout the show and LOVED the animals. Yes, it was the final act, audience was silent, the dare devil was going to perform a very dangerous stunt and my little sweet girl is wailing! Needless to say, we made a very quick exit.

It's kind of hard to juggle two babies, snacks, water, lemonade and cotton candy in the stands and take pictures. We only got a few!

Picture of us waiting for the show...

No one was afraid of the clowns!

I was worried, Maddie was afraid of clowns when she was younger.

Chloe about leaped out of my lap when she saw...

these!

Both loved the horses too!

This bored them...

Cooper took this hat on and off throughout the show.

He even threw it at the man in front of him and tried to put it on the man's wife's head!

Another first was trying fresh squeezed lemonade and both babies loved it. Well, all of us LOVED it! Also tried cotton candy and it was a no go.

I'd do it again!

Mama went to Vegas!

Make sure to check out the Children's Museum post below! It is a two post day...maybe three if I have enough energy to post after the Circus! We are heading to the Circus today and hoping the babies LOVE it!

Believe it or not, I had a 5 day conference in Vegas for my work. I was soooooo worried about leaving the babies and being able to have a good time while I was away. Well, you can't help but stay crazy busy there! We were at the conference from 8:30 to 4:30 everyday and had a packed evening of fun stuff every night. Before we knew it, it was the last day. I started feeling incredibly tired by the fourth day so I was ready to come home. I can't really post pictures of the other staff members that attended the conference with me so my pictures are of all the pretty things I enjoyed. There are parts of Vegas that would keep me from EVER bringing my children there. There are parts of Vegas that actually disturbed me greatly one evening that I didn't sleep well. However, there are MANY parts of Vegas that are well worth taking the trip to see. Atmosphere and ambiance are two qualities that I like most about places and Vegas has these two things. Our hotel for one was a replica of Italy. The size was overwhelming and it took us about 3 days to figure out how to get around but it was gorgeous. At least while we were walking what felt like miles to find our destination (inside the hotel) we had many pretty things to see.

A few pictures of our hotel, The Venetian:

This was inside our hotel!

It had neat restaurants and stores as well. We did take a ride on the Gondola which all of us enjoyed.

The first night we saw O at the Bellagio.

Words cannot express how awesome this show was! It is a must see!

Talk about Ambiance and Atmosphere at the Bellagio!

If I ever went to Vegas again, I would want to stay here!

I could have sat in this Atrium for hours looking at everything...

The Bellagio also has a dancing fountain show that was pretty cool.

Apparently, you can go to the top of this and see all of Vegas. We ran out of time to take the tour. We opted to go see the Phantom of the Opera. It was playing at the Venetian and it was fabulous!

On the last day, I rode this roller coaster!

Cooper was not himself around me for about a day and it was bothering me greatly. However, I was so tired that I probably was a little sensitive. He was back to his lovey dovey self the next day. Chloe was fine. It appears that all went well while I was gone. Maddie is with us and really helped the babysitter quite a bit. She was running the show. I took her school clothes shopping yesterday for all her hard work!

They got into the brown chair this morning and acted like they were posing for me. I grabbed the camera and this is what I got. Chloe would NOT uncover her face! But, she's smiling! Too funny! She's such a stinker. We are going to have our hands full. It seems that she and Cooper have switched roles.

Mama goes back to work Monday! So sad!

Children's Museum

I took the babies to the Children's Museum before leaving for my trip. It was definitely a very hectic experience. I arrived right at 10:00 and at this point the line to get in was wrapped around the building. It was CRAZY BUSY! Part of me wanted to get in the car and go back home but I was there and we were meeting Edward and Henry (and parents) there to play. Edward and Henry are friends from Miss Shelley's! I have some adorable pictures of Edward and Henry but I get nervous putting other children (unless their parents are fellow bloggers or have given permission) on my blog. Here are some pictures of Cooper and Chloe playing.

We went straight to the Water Works section before it go too hot...

They loved the baby chicks...

Heading to the Tot Spot...

There was a wait time so the best way to corral them was to feed them...

Playing in the Tot Spot...

I imagine one day taking a picture of them in their first REAL car like this...

Cooper preferred the red truck like his Daddy's...

I think he was having fun...

I don't know when the best time is to go to the Children's Museum but this was not it. Fighting the crowds with three toddlers and a baby was not the ideal situation. The kiddos enjoyed themselves though!

Summer Fun

My summer break is about to come to an end. I am leaving for Vegas with my co-workers on Saturday for a differentiated instruction conference that will end on Wednesday. I have Thursday and Friday off, plus the weekend, and then I'm back on contract as of Monday. I'm kind of bummed about it because I felt like the break flew by! I wanted to share what's been happening since the July 4th weekend. We are having some issues with our good camera so most of these were taken with my blackberry. Excuse the blurry photos!

I have been trying to teach them how to brush their teeth and it's really not going well. If anyone has any advice to give me, please share! They really just kind of chew on the toothbrush, dip it in water, chew again...over and over again.

On Sunday, we took a trip to the downtown Aquarium. We had a nice time and the babies enjoyed themselves. I am the Partners In Education Liaison for my campus and I get all kinds of coupons. I had a buy one get one free pass for all rides and activities. Not bad!

This was kind of surreal...can't really describe it...go and you'll know why!

Riding the carousel...

Riding the Choo Choo...

It takes you through a shark tank. It was cool!

Such a sweetie..

Back at home surrounded by his favorite toys...

Cooper's new thing is to play hide and go seek. You can hear him giggling as you are searching for him.

"Where's Cooper? Dad, do you know where Cooper is? Chloe, do you?"

"There he is!"

While Mom and Cooper are playing, Chloe is relaxing with Reba...

On Monday, we headed to the Inflatable Zone where they have open play from 9:30 - 11:30. I was unsure how they would do and if they would like it. Well, it was the perfect activity for Cooper. He wore himself out and took a 3 1/2 hour nap and went to bed at his normal time for the night. We will definitely be going again. Chloe wasn't feeling well. She was getting over the croup so she was held by me most of the time.

Cooper climbed this thing over and over and had the cutest grin on his face as he slid down.

Giving it a try...

And the best thing that has happened this summer...

They give each other kisses!

I plan on taking them to the Tot Spot at the Children's Museum on Thursday and then summer fun with Mama is over. (sniff sniff) I do have a few Fridays off before the teachers return so that will be nice. Of course, we still have gymnastics in the evening that they are loving so much and there is always swimming!

Thanks goes to my friend Wendy for giving me all the inside scoop on what to do with toddlers in the area!