the CIRCUS!

Awhile ago, Justin and I saw a billboard advertising the Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circus special show "Legends" that was at the San Jose SAP Center this past weekend. We originally thought we'd take both kids, but at $70 a ticket (!!!), we decided that I'd just take Jack on a date. It worked out that it was right after the first week of school, so we called it a celebration of his first successful week of kindergarten and off we went!

It was really fun to have a day with just the two of us. I forget how much energy watching both kids takes...until I only have one. It was a real treat to walk around, have a ($27) snack, look at all the fun toys, find our seats, look at all the animals, try to take a selfie...

They were parading the elephants at this point. He wasn't interested in a selfie. 

That's better.

He was SO EXCITED.

Cotton candy and a hat! 

We were on the second row, and no one sat in front of us! It was so awesome!
Jack could see EVERYTHING and he was so thrilled. 

His faces tripped me out! 

Jack was so sweet, and he thought of Caroline every time something new came out. ("Mommy!!! Caroline would LOVE these elephants!") So I took a picture of everything I could, so that he could show her. Eating dinner last night, we went through them all and he told her all about the show. It was adorable. He's such a good big brother. 

The elephants. 

Jack counted. That's 15 people on two bikes. He thought that
was AWESOME.

The motorcycles in the big ball. SUPER cool (and really loud.) 

The (a little bit feisty) LIONS and TIGERS.

The one named "Princess" was especially gnarly. All the kids
laughed and all the adults cringed!

This was Mustafa, the big ole lion on top of a revolving glittery ball. 

The unicycles and these super flexible acrobats wearing feathers...
it was actually a pretty neat show.

The little person being swung all around on fire-covered ropes.

Jack kept saying, "that kid must be 5, just like me!!" Oh no. 

More elephants.

When the motorcycle went on the tightrope line right ON TOP of our heads.

It was actually a pretty awesome show. The only big disappointment to Jack was that "they didn't shoot the guy out of the cannon!!!" He was really bummed out about it, but he handled it as well as I could have hoped. Poor kid. He really had his heart set on it!

It was a GREAT night. I think I am going to repeat the experience with Caroline and take her to Disney Fairies on Ice in October. She will love it! (And it was Jack's suggestion. I think he felt guilty. He's a great kid!)

settling into routine.

First...we accepted the ice bucket challenge to benefit ALS...I donated $20 in Jack's name because he's so awesome and did this:

Annnnnddd the outtake video:

Here are some other random shots from this past week:

She found markers ... and then ate them.

Jack's classroom while I was waiting outside to pick him up one day.

Caroline had a free vision screening done at her school. Good news, everything in her eyes
looks great!! Bad news, it looks like CREEPY ZOMBIE BABY THAT WILL EAT YOUR BRAINS
is on this page. It cracks me up so much!

She's semi-potty training herself...including dragging her Elmo
potty around everywhere, seen here outside in an emergency
moment I guess. 

She found mascara and lip gloss in my makeup cabinet and put one on each eye.
"SO PRETTY!"

I pick up Jack at 11:55 every day (except Tuesdays, when it's 11:40, what??)
Anyway, since I pick up Caroline at 12:30 and she gets lunch at school,
Jack and I get lunch dates every day. He loves telling me all about his day.
Thursday was cheese quesadillas at Taco Bell day!

I am a co-leader of the San Jose chapter of Moms RUN This Town. Once in the winter and once in the summer, we sponsor a virtual race for our members, with every other chapter across the country (and internationally!) doing the exact same thing. We have over 650 members in San Jose alone, so we had a great turnout this morning at our race, and it was fantastic! We had moms doing 13.1 miles, 10 miles, a 10K, a 5K, and we had all the kids do a kids run after. It was a truly great morning. (Shout out to Justin for all his help!! He took all the pictures AND helped us break everything down and load up the cars after.)

Sunrise at Shoreline Park, Mountain View CA

My other two co-leaders, Irma (left, the original founder of our chapter) and
Darlene (right, who has been with her since almost the very beginning.)

Man, I'm a good artist.

First day of KINDERGARTEN!

We survived! We both (all!) made it through our first official day of kindergarten. Before we begin, let this sink in...

Jack had a fantastic day. I can tell that he's at an amazing school, where the staff, parents, and everyone in between really really love the kids. The support network is pretty impressive and I can't wait to become more involved with it all. 

Our day started off great. Jack got up, had a great breakfast, and was a little nervous but a lot excited. Before we began our walk to school (yes, we can walk! How cool and old-fashioned is that?? "Boy when I was your age I walked uphill in the snow both ways..." I digress.) Anyway, before Jack & I began our walk, we took some photos because apparently that's the cool thing to do these days...

I didn't plan my sign too well. Oops.

Sign says: "First day of KINDERGARTEN!
August 18, 2014 Room 1 Mrs. Toohey REGNART ELEMENTARY"

This was the moment when Jack told me to stop taking pictures
because I was embarrassing him. We were literally 50 feet away form our house.

Checking out the kindergarten playground at school.

From Mrs. Toohey. In the bag was a cotton ball, a tea bag, and a tissue. SO cute.

Showing off his new name tag.

At his table #4.

That's Mrs. Toohey in the blue shirt and white pants. She's in her 31st year of teaching
kindergarten. She's truly amazing.

Jack is such a boy. “What did you do today?” “Mom, my teacher has magic sand. Like that stuff at Brookstone that Daddy won’t buy me. It’s so cool.” “Ok what else did you do?” “Oh I don’t know, nothing....”

So I got a report on the magic sand and that's about it. Here's to hoping I'll get more out of him tomorrow :)