The Russells (and then there were four): October 2012

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Circus

I am finally getting around to blogging about our first trip to the Circus a week and a half ago. I love my new job, but we had testing all last week, so I have been super busy!

The twins were so excited about going to the Circus, and had been talking about it for days. We had good seats, with great views of the action in each ring. There was also room for the kids to move around, without wandering off. They enjoyed most of the show, with the exception of a few parts that were very slow moving. They especially loved the white tigers, elephants, and dogs. They wanted nothing to do with the clowns!!! At intermission we were able to walk down to the floor and get very close to the elephants. At one point a clown approached us and the twins grabbed on to us and held on for dear life. When they came out to do their act, Tayden said, "It's time to go to the car Mommy!!!" My camera was acting crazy for most of the night so a lot of my pictures are extremely dark or blurry - very disappointing!!! We bought popcorn, nachos, and two glowing toys that amazingly haven't broken yet. Overall, the night was a great success and the twins are still talking about all of the animals.

My sweet grandfather passed away peacefully yesterday morning. We already miss him so much, but find comfort knowing that he is in Heaven free of pain, surrounded by angels and so many others that went before him. I did get to see him last weekend when he was inducted into the ACU Hall of Fame - very thankful for that. I was able give him hugs and kisses and tell him again just how much I loved him. I want to do a separate blog with those pictures, so look for that soon!

Trapeze artists

Brooklyn watching in awe

tigers

elephants

elephant rides - we might try this next year

Brooklyn and the clown

family photo

elephant tricks

night night for the elephants

I love Tim's face in this picture. You can tell he was loving the circus!!

Our circus treasures

Work from school - the theme was Old MacDonald had a Farm

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Annual Trip to the State Fair of Texas

Last week we made our yearly trek to the State Fair with SueSue. The kids had been talking about it for weeks. They remembered seeing cows, horses, and sheep last year and were so excited. We rode the big train from the American Airlines Center to the front gate of the fair. We went to the petting zoo and it was amazing!!! They had normal farm animals and many other exotic wild animals as well. The twins had a great time petting and feeding all of the different animals.

We felt it our duty to sample all of the yummy fried features and they were delicious!!! The twins were tall enough to ride on a mini train ride, which Brooklyn loved and Tayden feared. Brooklyn made sure she rode the carousel with her daddy. She waved like crazy with a big smile every time they came past us. She loved it!!!

We visited the exhibit that allows children to follow the full cycle of growing food, picking food, taking it to the market, and then purchasing it from the store. We walked through it last year, but they didn't really want to participate. This year was a completely different story. They were into each section, and at one point a song came on and Brooklyn started dancing. Several of the workers came over to watch her dance. They were impressed with her moves! In the final stage, the kids get to pick a treat in the "store" with the pretend money they earned for their planting and harvesting. Brooklyn grabbed a bag of cookies and put them on the counter while handing the lady behind her counter the money. She then went into the gift shop and grabbed an item and put it up on the counter. She thought she had figured it all out and that all she had to do was pick out her item and put it on the counter. If only it was that simple!

We all had a great time and slept very well that night! Tomorrow night we are tackling the circus!! The twins are equally excited about their first trip to the circus. Brooklyn keeps telling me that she is scared of the tigers because they go, "Rarrrrrr!" Then she told me she wanted to tickle the tiger and make him laugh. Tayden loves naming all of the animals that he is going to see. It will definitely be interesting!!!

Tayden continues to love putting things in order. He enjoys putting his ABC blocks in the correct order and tonight he wanted to put the components of his dinner in order on his tray. I have no idea where he gets this from!!!!

I found out today that my last day at my campus is Thursday! I will officially start at my new campus on Friday. I am excited! I moved all of my stuff into my new office this afternoon and worked for a few hours to get things organized. The first round of district testing is next week and I am trying not to feel overwhelmed. It is going to be a challenge, but I am up for it!