Circus

 Papa took all of us to the circus a few weeks ago! He has always been a circus lover and we have a great picture of me when I was around the girls' age at a circus. The expression on my face in the picture is a combination of fear, excitement, and nervousness as I was watching the tightrope walkers. We were all laughing because the girls had the same expression on their faces. I tried to capture it but this is easier said than done when you're eight months pregnant and trying to lean over a bowling ball belly!

 Larkin loved the "trapeze girls". She's been saying for about a year now that she wants to be an acrobat someday, so they were right up her alley!

 Willa loved the cotton candy, popcorn, and the "mermaid girl" that was part of the show. She got all excited anytime she spotted the mermaid!

 Joel's favorite part was when they drove motorcycles into this metal sphere. First they start off with two motorcycles and you think, "Ok, that is crazy! Someone is going to crash!" and then next thing you know they start adding more and more motorcyclists--I think there were about 10 total all whizzing around there at once!

If someone else had been holding the camera, they could have gotten a picture of me with the same expression on my face from when I was three. We were sitting there and suddenly heard a motorcycle revving, and then directly over our heads (and I do mean directly!!) was a man and a woman riding a motorcycle over the crowd--their bike was balanced on a tightrope. The motorcycle was attached to the tightrope, but it was a bit scary because I swear if one of them fell off, it would have been right in our laps!

Thanks Papa for a memorable day!!

Larkin's first day of Pre-K

 I started Larkin in a pre-k program three days a week this year. She is loving every minute of it! Here's a pic of her on the first day. I let her bring her "Lucy" lovey for the first few days since I knew there would be tears at drop-off (and there were!). But after the third day Lucy wasn't needed anymore and and Larkin was tear-free. Now when we go she can't get there fast enough and stresses out if she thinks we're running late--she doesn't want to miss anything. She's made a few friends and loves chasing boys on the playground!

 Her teacher teaches the class table manners and students have to bring two cloth napkins to school each day (one to use as a napkin, and one as a placemat). I had Larkin pick out some fabric and sew her own napkins. She chose some fabric that she says "looks like peacock feathers" and was very excited to use the sewing machine.  She was able to push the foot pedal and guide the fabric through the machine all by herself!

 Willa helped make a napkin too!

As soon as she got home from school on the first day, she talked non-stop about everything they did and then rearranged the playroom to have centers like her classroom. Here's a pic of Larkin reading to Willa in the "library center".

Willa is enjoying her time alone with me (at least for now!). Here she is in Costco pushing her baby in a stroller while Larkin is at school. I never noticed how much Willa loves to talk to strangers until this day--she didn't have Larkin there to talk to so she went up to over 15 people (I am not exaggerating here) and told them all about her baby doll, her new sister that is coming, the pumpkin bread she just sampled, etc. Just like her dad--she can talk to anyone about anything!