Our Adventures with the Adventuremobile

Our library here in Topeka has a few mobile units called Book Mobiles and in the summer they have one called the Adventuremobile. Each week has a different animal theme with a section of books on or about or with a character that is that week's animal du jour. Last week's animal was dogs. Lydia LOVES to see dogs. I didn't know before we got there that it was dogs, so when I saw the dogs in a pen, I told Cade we had to go into the Adventuremobile stealthily around the dogs so that Lydia wouldn't see. If she had, we never would have made it to the books.

Monkey see...

Monkey...do?

Monkey tried.

This is Lydia saying, 'Hi puppy! Hi puppy! Hi puppy! Hi puppy! Hi puppy!'

She could barely contain her excitement when she saw this little guy. I, on the other hand, was wondering how this petting session was going to affect Lydia later on...

'Niiiiiice puppy.'

'PUP-PIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!'

No, Lydia, you can't get in the cage with the puppies.

For the record, this has NEVER happened before.

She partied too hard with the puppies. Or just the dog allergy kickin' in. Probably why she passed out on the floor.

Glutton for Punishment/Temporary Amnesia

Last week Rusty suggested that I take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's, commonly referred to Carlos E. Queso's in the presence of Lydia. As soon as we turned onto Wanamaker, Lydia spotted the sign and immediately started saying, "Cheeses? Cheeses? Cheeses?", over and over. 'Cheeses' being Lydia speak for Chuck E. Cheese's. Once we parked I asked her, "Lydia, do you want to go see Chuck E. Cheese?" Her eyes were as big as saucers and her smile filled her whole face when she said, "OKAY!!!!" It was at that moment I felt conflicted with two different emotions: 1. Elation. The look on her face and the excitement that Cade had for getting to play games for tickets made me feel like everything I was about to endure was all worth it. 2. Sheer terror. I mean, I'm sure I swore back in March that I would never do this again. What was I thinking?

This time, however, there were maybe five other families in there with us. Completely different than the last time. My fears were relieved upon seeing this. Lydia bee-lined it to the tot section and said, "Slide? Slide? Slide!", like a million times. Almost the same number of times she actually went down the slide.

Of course I can't get them both looking at the camera at the same time.

I'm just going to have to settle for one at a time...

This game just gives me the willies.
Do you know how many other foreheads have touched this?
And do you really think they wipe it down?
{shudder}

Loving every minute of slide time.

Hard to find a place in town where you can entertain two kids, six years apart, and have them both be extremely happy. This mouse is running a racket.

This was when Lydia kept saying "Hi, Cheeses! Hi, Cheeses!" over and over so many times that it started to sound like, "Aye, Jesus! Aye, Jesus!"

This was as close as she wanted to get to Cheeses.

I was surprised she went anywhere else
besides the slide and the stage.

...aaand we're back to the slide.

Her smile never left her face the whole time we were there.

Cade took this picture. Not bad, huh?

Last Game of the Season/Tournament

Monday night's game ended up being Cade's team's last game of the season. It was their second loss in the double elimination post-season tournament. They went to extra innings but fell to the Mavericks 14-12. Cade was bummed they lost, but not so bummed about the season finally being over. They also received their 3rd place tournament trophies at the end of the game.

Lydia was in rare form that evening as well. She found the dirt again but this time managed to keep the damage to a minimum.

Getting a ball in to first.

Just waiting for some action out in right...

'Do it?' Lydia speak for, 'Mom, come over here and dig in the dirt with me.'

'I do it!'

Still waiting for another ball to come his way...

Had to come over and give his mom a hug.

Precious.

Umm...what's going on here, you two?

Oh. That's what I thought. Tell him who's the boss, Lydia!

Last second advice.

Just a split second ahead of the pitch.

{cricket chirp, cricket chirp}

Checking out the hardware.

Way to go Giants! Great season!!

Thanks, Coach Kyle!

Pictures from our 4th of July Celebrations

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We Know, Jeffy. WE KNOW!

The Curse of Motion Sickness

Tonight we went to a friend of Cade's birthday party at Gage Park and the Carousel. While Cade was one of only two boys at the party, he managed to survive all the pawing and teasing unleashed by the many smitten girls. (Maybe one of these days Cade will realize the boy to girl ratio in his class is actually to his advantage. Let's just hope it's not any time soon!) Lydia had a blast. She loved sitting at the table with the big girls, coloring and eating. But most of all she loved, loved, LOVED the carousel ride. As most of you are aware, I get terribly motion sick so I was a bit apprehensive about the ride, but I sucked it up for the kiddos and put on a brave face. I rode it not just once, but twice. I know. Crazy, right? That's just how I roll.

The following photos are my photo diary of the evening and how things looked from my perspective at different points during the party.

Lydia was in heaven sitting at the 'big kid' table.
(Note how nice the photo looks while my feet are planted firmly and safely on the ground.)

Cade and Aaron sitting among the sea of girls, pink flamingos, hibiscus flowers and leis.
(Still feeling pretty good.)

She loved playing with these straws. Not sure why it brought her so much joy, but whatever. It kept her in her seat.

Ok, now we see my photography skills starting to wane and my wooziness starting
to kick in. I'm sure anybody else would not have had a problem, but you know me...

Seriously, I don't even remember taking this one.

I'm thinking maybe I was listing a bit to the right and my aim was a bit 'off'.

This one was taken as the carousel was coming to a stop. My whole world was still spinning, but I managed to keep the camera still long enough to get a half-way decent shot of the joy on Lydia's face while she was riding her camel.

Again, don't remember taking this one...

I have to admit that this one and the rest of these were taken while the carousel was stationary. You can tell we're not moving because the background doesn't appear to be spinning.
(Hallelujah!)

This is a more accurate depiction of the reaction from Lydia as she rode the carousel for the first time. She said, "Up high!" and "Up and down!" the whole time. It was so cute. I think.

Lydia wanted to ride the carousel over and over and it broke my heart that I couldn't take her on it again. I had definitely had enough. Rusty can do it next time. He owes me.