The Circus does the circus

The Martels were back in town today after vacationing at the family cabin in Wisconsin for a few weeks. What could be better than transitioning from squirrels and beavers to tigers and elephants within 24 hours?

Upon arrival, Lukas and Aiden held hands.

Katharine and Liam held books.

On the floor during the pre-show: noses were attached.

And an elephant painted a picture.

Katharine could care less about anything else but sitting down and ordering a bag of cotton candy. Here she is checking to see if the seats were starting to fill up yet.

Our view- quite nice!

We saw the circus in Dallas this year. Last year we were in Fort Worth, and I could have sworn that there were 3 rings instead of one.

Some of the early acts.

Aiden, Lukas and Meghan having fun.

This was the coolest part of the show: 6 motorcycles speeding around inside a metal ball.

During intermission we walked the concession stand floor, and only came out 34 dollars poorer.

Katharine finally got her cotton candy...

and shared it!

Katharine and Liam were still chomping away when the second half started, but Katharine would outlast everyone.

The tigers...

The friends...

The iPhones...

The finale...

The fixed stares as they exit the stadium, hoping that some surprise encore might kick in...

The end.

Seeya next year! Maybe my indoor lens will be fixed by then and I won't have to try to shoot steady in low light with a 200mm zoom :P

Last year:

http://the-doeschers.blogspot.com/2008/08/greatest-show-on-earth.html

iKatharine

Katharine has taken over Iria's old iPod (good thing she bought it in pink).

Her current playlist:

- Peter Pan soundtrack

- Magic Treehouse musical

- Assorted Disney Princess and Barbie music

Dance Camp Week 2

Leaving the studio after a long morning of dancing. Not that that will stop her from dancing again at home. On Monday, Katharine will start a 4 afternoon long ballet workshop with the Frisco Ballet. She is looking forward to that, too. It's amazing to think about how many opportunities our children have to find out where there passion lies and once they find their sweet spot, we can help them to pursuit their dreams.

Absolute bliss: dancing and smarties as a special treat (note the stick of smarties in her right hand).

Doing the hamster dance.

This week was Katharine's second week of dance camp. I didn't get as many good pictures as the first week due to too many other parents sitting in the best spot for picture taking. At the end of each week, the girls got a special award for outstanding participation. On there, it said what the girls liked best. So far, Katharine's answer has always been ballet and tap, this past week, she answered: ALL!!!!! This translates into ballet, tap, cheer, hip hop and jazz. I am happy to say that when Katharine dances, she dances with her heart and soul and it shines through on the outside.

Next week, Katharine and Lukas will go to camp CDC at church for three days and we school on our calendar for the other two days of the "work week." But before then, we will join the Martels at the circus on Sunday night. Can't wait for that!

Swimming with the shark

Week 2 of swim class went a bit better for Lukas. He slowly began to participate in more of the activities, and afterwards he always talked about how he loved going under water "3 times!".

Lennon joined us for the final class, and it didn't take long until his shoes were off and he started to get wet. I think I amused the other parents there as I continued to repeat "Lennon... Lennon.. Lennon! Out of the water, Lennon... Good boy, Lennon......... Lennon... Lennon.. Lennon!"

This week Lukas actually did his Superman arms,

And kicks!

Lennon anxiously awaited the big plunge,

Score!

Lukas then performed a few assisted - and unassisted - swim strokes.

Here is Lennon with the toy fish that he kept digging out of the water (note the shorts).

And happy Lukas, all proud of himself!

All in all, it ended up being a great experience for him. He still gets very nervous and upset before a lot of the swim activities, but he is definitely a lot more comfortable than last week.