The Day We Became the Coolest Parents Ever (AKA: The Carnival)

A traveling carnival set up shop just a few blocks away from our house Friday night, complete with rides, games, flashing lights, balloons, and questionable "fair" food. Ben and I decided that it was our parental duty to take the kids to their first carnival experience. ;)   The best part? Malcom was tall enough to ride on every ride except maybe two or three of them!!

"Which ride do you want to go on first Malcom?" 

"This oonnne", he says as his eyes glaze over in the direction of the magically lit Ferris wheel.

I dutifully (haha!) volunteer to go with him on his first "big kid" ride. I'm giggling and fidgeting impatiently like it's Christmas in July, and I think I might be more excited for the experience than he is... 

...that is until we are buckled in and the Ferris wheel begins to roll. I can't stop watching his face! Can that grin get any larger?! 

We practice waving our arms in the air on the way down, as any "big kid" does on those "big kid" rides. :)

The ride ends too soon, but that's okay because there are plenty more to experience! Malcom leads the the way to the next one, a roller coaster just for him. He is very brave as he hands the carnival worker his ticket, and climbs into the front car. 

The roller coaster is followed by the spaceship ride- which turns out to be Malcom's favorite. The ride consists of several different "space ships" that go around in circles, and can go up high by the control of a button on the dashboard. The rider can then feel like they are flying the ship on their own. Ben and I laugh at Malcom's serious demeanor during this experience- flying a space ship is not a joking matter to a three-year-old!

As the space ships slow Malcom gets unbuckled, Ben is exclaiming that it's time for a father-son "man" ride. They chose a very fast spinning-type carnival ride, and hurry over to get in line. Both of them look beyond excited as they buckle up and the wheels and beams start to spin. Slowly at first...

...then faster...

.

...AND FASTER...! They are spinning so crazy fast that I can hardly tell where they are anymore!

Malcom squeals and screams maniacally in complete delight like a crazed mad-scientist-rabid-squirrel-banshee who is about to take over the world! No one has ever heard the likes of such a sound!

The ride ends in good time- long enough to be fun, not too long to make them vomit on each other (which admittedly would have made for some hilarious pictures). Malcom was unscathed from the spinning (that's my boy!), poor motion-sick Ben, on the other hand, did not fair so well. He lays down on the sidewalk and groans for a bit, waiting for things to stop moving and for dinner to settle back down where it should be. Poor man. He refuses to be defeated, and promptly takes our oldest manchild for another go at the Ferris wheel. 

The Ferris wheel proves to be Ben's undoing, as he ends up spending the next hour or so locked away in a bathroom trying not to be sick. I guess if we ever go to a theme park, I'm going to have to be the fun parent. ;)  Poor guy. Ben's leaving defaults me as the Calvin-holder/stuff watcher, and so Malcom gets to go on all the kiddie rides by himself for a while (and the camera gets put away as my hand are busy with Little Brother).

A few more rides pass by, and he loves all of them. We wonder where Ben is and if he's still alive, call a few times, take a potty break, ride a few more rides... and then Ben finally returns with a bottle of sprite in hand, looking a little worse for wear. Finally, it's time to go on another big-kid ride with Malcom! I'm so excited! I've been waiting for this since we rode the Ferris wheel!

We wave at Ben and Calvin before the ride starts...

And then things go so fast that the centripetal  force makes malcom sink in right next to me. You can hardly see him! The feels like it goes on forever... I'm not one that is prone to motion-sickness, but this ride definitely starts to get to me... Ugh, so much spinning!

Malcom goes on the "space ship" ride again for the third time, and we hand our 1 left over ticket to a very confused dad standing near us in line. I'm pretty sure he doesn't speak English, because when we explain that we are heading home and that he can have our last ticket, he just stars at us bewilderingly (is that a word?). 

Last but not least, we walk back to the carnival booths and try our hand at throwing table-tennis balls into empty goldfish bowls. We start with an entire bucket of balls, and are only able to make one in. It's harder than it looks! Who was the one who does it, you ask? ME! I know, I know. I'm amazing. ;)   What did I win us? A goldfish!! 

Malcom carries the goldfish all the way home, and names it "Fishy". Ben gives him a first name of "Reginald", and for short we call him "Mr. Fishy".  At home, we empty Mr. Fishy into an old mason jar, and put him on the dining table.

In the morning, we eat breakfast with Mr. Fishy and sing him songs. 

Unfortunately, by Saturday night Mr. Fishy decides to swim in the great fishbowl in the sky. I am sad to see him go, but relieved that the kids have apparently completely forgotten about him.  

R.I.P. Mr. Fishy. You were a great pet for the 24 hours we had you! Sorry we didn't take any pictures of you to remember you by...

.... And because this post is almost entirely about Malcom, here's a photo of Calvin to prove that he was there, albeit too small to ride or do anything super fun a the carnival yet:

I am so glad for my little family, and for opportunities like this to make such great memories. What a fantastic day to share together! Best. Family. Ever.

Independence Day

Our fourth of July was pretty standard this year- parade in the morning, followed by lunch and naps. My old roommate, Alisha, came over and helped me make cookies and potatoes later on in the day, and then Kevin, Becca, and Caleb came to celebrate with us with BBQ and fireworks. It was laid-back and great! Malcom and Calvin had a great time playing with little cousin Caleb (and uncle Kevin is a lot of fun too!)

Ben had to work all day, so by the time he got home he was tuckered out. I'm glad he works so hard! Honestly, at first I was a little bummed that he had to work on the fourth, but he got holiday pay, and that makes everything better. :) Plus, there is always next year! Happy Birthday America!

Brothers

I just soaked up the happiness of watching our boys play together on the sidewalk this evening:

Giggles filled with curiosity, mischief, and innocence...

I love my life!

Sage & Tanner's Birthday Party

Splashing in Bubbles

Every once in a while, the boys get to enjoy a little (manly) bubble bath. (And yes, that is a band-aide on Malcom's neck. I think he got barely scratched at some point, and he insisted on the band-aide. Such a strange little phase to go through!)

Malcom likes to "help" wash Brother, but I'm sure there's more to it than mere helpfulness. Luckily, Little Brother is a very tolerant little guy.

Oh, hello Mr. Octopus Bath Toy! I have missed you!

Calvin and Malcom sporting beards and "Santa hair".

Little Brother is a Walker

Calvin officially took his first steps today!! 

We're all so very proud of you. Way to go Little Brother!

Band-aids Make Everything...Better?

The boys caught some sort of horrible sick-bug that's been floating around lately. It's awful- sore throats, sore eyes, sore everything, sneezing, coughing, chills, fever.... pretty much anything that you can think of, they have. Poor Malcom wondered into our bedroom this morning as Ben was hurriedly getting ready for work complaining about his eyes hurting. I rolled over in bed and mumbled something about how the little guy just needed to go back to bed and get some more rest (it had been a long night). Malcom kept insisting that he needed band-aides to make his eyes better. I remember thinking, "That's a terrible idea!" But to be honest here, I was just too exhausted to do the "mom" thing and let Ben handle it. I was back asleep in seconds...

I woke up later snuggling my sweet little three-year-old... and were those band-aids on his eyes??!?  Good heavens, had Ben actually put them on him??? I was horrified! It's scary enough to wake up and think that your son has somehow lost his eyeballs (skin-colored band-aids, extreme near-sightedness, and a dose of sleep-deprivation do not mix!!!)... but then when I saw and remembered what was going on, I realized (again) why it was such a bad idea. These band-aids are made to withstand all sorts of wear and tear. Once you put them on, you're practically committing to wearing them for life. I'm pretty sure they come from the same lineage of persistence of twinkies, cockroaches, and car salesmen! Our poor son was not only going to be running into things all day, but he was going to eventually have to peel those blasted things off of his face. Brows, lids, lashes, delicate hairs and skin...

(This is what Malcom does when you tell him to smile for the camera. Haha! It's a good thing they left a little peek-out-area for him to see so he could get around!) 

(Side view... Also, I just love his profile.)

Malcom didn't even bother with the band-aides until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. By then he was tired of being blind and only seeing maybe 10% of what he usually see. He whined, cried, whimpered, and oh- my poor little boy, did he struggle to get those things off! It took him 3 hours to remove them. I felt so bad for him! Admittedly, it was comical at the same time. I hope he learned his lesson and will be more selective on where he wants band-aides placed in the future.

(Here's a random photo of Calvin that was in the mix. He's holding on to my pant leg here sayin', "No mom, you're  the coolest!" 

... or, "Oh! Look at that neat gadget in mom's hand that I'm not supposed to touch? I should touch it!")

Tomato-Tomahto. 

Evening at the Park

We bought a new lens today- the 24-70mm 2.8 Nikkor portrait lens we've been eyeing for.... well, forever. Haha! We couldn't wait until we got home to open the box, so we biked over to Pioneer Park and let the kids play while we played around with the camera. I think it's safe to say that we all had a great time!

WARNING: There are a lot of pictures, and I can't guarantee how interesting they will be to anyone besides...family? Maybe? I love my boys, I could stare at them all day. If you're already bored, feel free to skip the rest of this post. :) 

Calvin, just like his brother at that age, mostly enjoyed the wood chips. Crawling around in them, throwing them, piling, digging... it's amazing how entertaining wood chips can be to a 1 year old!

Oh Malcom, you sweet little poser. ;)  

Calvin wasn't so sure about the swings...

 ...But Malcom LOVES them!

Then we thought, "Hey, I bet they'd get a hoot out of being in the swing together!"

They didn't agree.

The natural progression of things: first he aims to pull of the ears, then the eyes. Poor Daddy.

Calvin almost always wants to follow Malcom wherever he goes. He will go all over looking for his big brother if he loses track of him. Poor kid, I remember what it's like trying to keep up with bigger, faster, older siblings!

Malcom did a great job at the monkey bars for the first time (with his dad's help of course)!

Calvin got to go on the big-kid slide for the first time. His face was hilarious!

Here's the last photo, from the bottom of the slide (yeah, I made them sit there for a moment. Malcom was tired by this point... but look at their handsome faces! Luckiest. Mama. Ever. Also kids, you're welcome for those bright blue eyes. ;)  )