Circus Folk & Little People

Josh got a special daddy date to go to the Circus - which meant he got to ride the trax train into downtown.  He couldn't stop talking and pointing out everything he saw as we rushed by. Once there, we found a churro and made it to our seats. Unfortunately, they were in the upper bowl behind the entrance, so the concrete wall is all the Josh could see while sitting in his seat (although he was just so excited that he smiled the whole time). Once the circus began, Josh alternated between sitting on the edge of Daddy's knees or standing/peering over the wall to see.

Josh was amazed by the animals and loved the elephants. Unfortunately, some of the acts went on longer than his little 2 year old attention would sit through. Just before intermission, we took a walk back out on the concourse to let him stretch his legs and go down to the front doors to see Grandpa Fergy (who works at the front doors in guest services) again. We were treated to spend the second half of the performance in the lower bowl in some fantastic seats where Josh could see much better.  

While his attention hadn't grown any, he did have a little more patience for the horses and elephants. 

Then the fire breathing dragon came out for the finale, and Josh couldn't stop pointing it out in excitement - he was thrilled to see a "real" dragon.

The circus was fun, but maybe a bit over Josh's understanding, maybe next year he will be at a better age to be more excited for all the acts & demos.

September's Storytimes

We started September's story-time with the Medico family for, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus." These are apparently a series of books I had never heard of, but since then my kiddos have fallen in love with.

Charisse was feeling overly ambitious for this story craft time because not only did we have one fun cute craft of creating our buses, but then we did a second craft creating out pigeons and it involved paint...always a scary venture with toddlers!

Afterwards we just hung-out eating cookies and running around in the nice fall weather.

We unfortunately missed Aunt Julie's pirate story time due to the flu sweeping by in our family. So the next story time we attended was mine where we read, "Who Stole My Hat." For our activity we decorate paper and made our own hats. I think they came out adorable and with the already short people wearing them it reminded me a lot of Gnomeo and Juliet, except for Phoebe who insisted on wearing hers like a unicorn.

This story time was so wild and fantastic that it wore poor miss Sophie right out.

I am proud of us for maintaining this story group so far for 2 months, I am having a lot of fun participating in it and I think the kiddos are excited for every Wednesday's story and craft with cousins.

A Little Hula, Hula

In the end of September we got to celebrate summer for one last with the Fergy clan by having a Luau in Cory's mom's backyard. Our little fergy family had a lot of fun dressing up in our authentic Hawaiian clothes (thanks to my parents) & enjoying awesome diet breaking food!

We had all he grand kiddos present dress up in homemade grass skirts, which you can see some enjoyed more than others...poor Sophie detested this experience.

The kids all loved the fact they got their own pineapple cup and flamingo plates o take home which we eat off it still just about everyday.

After dinner we enjoyed a Hawaiian dance putt of by the older cousins. They even went through the dance a second time to each the younger kids, which they really enjoyed. Some followed the script dance closer than others. Cami's version of the dance was unique to say the lest and involved several twirls and karate like kicks then finished with a gymnastics like presentations to the judges.

Dancing was followed by all the kids receiving their own personal hula hoops & even a few personal demonstrations on the adults behalves...let just say some were better than others.

This was a fun way to squeeze the last bit of summer fun in to the season and I had such fun I hope there are more Fergy clan luaus to come.

Our Miniature Grape Gobbler

For the past 4 years we have enjoyed grapes in our backyard which I admit we never pick and eat because I am ugged by the seeds and there aren' really enough to do anything with so every year they stay on their stems until the birds finish them off or they fall on the round.  This year, however, is a different story because we have discovered Sophie LOVES the grapes and doesn't mind the seeds in them. Many days in Sept Sophie could be found here eating all he grapes possible in her little 2 foot reach, which I admit is just so darn cute to watch I am sad now that she has done picked the vines clean and there is no more for her to reach.

I just had to add this one picture too of Josh playing with his beloved trucks in the dirt. This is he most favorite past time and I am thrilled to finally be getting a larger yard for him to dig and play in.

All in Tow for a Week in Tahoe

In the middle of September our family got the opportunity to go to Lake Tahoe with my parents for a week. We loved the time to relax and see grandma & grandpa Potts. We spent time coloring, cuddling, reading & doing tons of playing!

Phoebe & the twins got to go on pony rides on Elko the horse. This was a special hose ride that was guided and not just around and around in a small circle. All of the kids loved it and loved that they got to wear fun helmets too. Cami and Josh even gave little Elko a kiss when they were done to show their appreciation.  When all was said and done the kiddos were filthy from all the dust Elko kicked up along the trail! We also found one of the largest pine cones I have ever seen in my whole life.

After our hors-e rides we had a picnic at the beach of Lake Tahoe and it was warm & GORGEOUS!

After eating we wen down to play, where we were way over dressed. I am use to the Oregon coast that is cold even in the summer, but this beach & water was warm and there was no real wind. The girls were still excited however there there were still shells to collect near the water. We ended up having a ball swimming for hours in our clothes.

On a side note: Phoebe took this picture of Cory & I, didn't she do a great job! The kids toward the ended tried to dry out on the warm sand but instead just became encased with sand on heir wet clothes. We had to have them just ride home naked and yet the van was still covered in sand.

The next day we came more prepared for he warmer water in our suits. We also for most of our couple hours had the WHOLE beach to ourselves, I couldn't believe how empty it was there.

On the last day of our vacation we drove up to Virginia City, an old mining town. We saw they had affordable train rides there and I know the kiddos would love it and that they did! We learned all sorts of interesting facts about Virginia city along the way too.

What I didn't anticipate was that Virginia City was an old functioning mining town. It had TONS of old fashion saloons, and all the sidewalks were wooden. It was a really fun town and much larger than I ever thought. It was even a special Harley Davidson convention the day we were there and so we got a peek of what I imagine the city would have been it's hay day with all the saloon full of rough and tumble men. I had to take a picture by one old fashion saloon called The Bucket of Blood, what a name & apparently it's famous too. A side note about the reindeer ride Phoebe is on...it was about 40+ years old and it wasn't the smooth ride that they now had for kids this think shook and bucked so hard it was all Phoebe could do to hold on.  I was laughing so hard just watching her trying to hang on to this thing, I definitely regret not getting video if it!!! Lastly Cory even got to check off a couple must tries as he ate deep fried Twinkies and Reese's Cups. I didn't care for either, but Cory said he really enjoyed the PB Cups.

On way back to the car we saw an old fashion train that the kids really wanted to look at, so we stopped into the free museum.

This was a pretty fun vacation and though the own of Tahoe was old and pretty dried up we had a lot of fun with the family on the beaches, ponies and trains. Thanks for having us Mom & Dad!