To infinity and beyond!

Josh and I play the "I love you more" game. I say that I love him, he points to himself and I say, "Well, I love you more". He points at himself, and so on. I began saying,"I love you to infinity and beyond!" Then he puts his fist in the air like Buzz Lightyear flying, matching my claim of love. Today I put him on the bus and before it pulled away I signed I love you to him and he smiled and raised his fist into the air.

The zoo!

Josh loves going to the zoo. But again, many zoo pictures are like the last zoo pictures so I tried to do some different ones. Also, our zoo just opened a "Rocky Shores" exhibit which has seals, polar bears, sea lions, and all types of sea creatures. Josh loves sitting on the animals and getting his picture taken.

Rocky Shores

The polar bear was a show off. He would dive into the water, pop up right by the window right in front of the kids, push off backwards, repeat.

Follow that bird!

Carousel

Special Kids Rodeo 2012

The Special Kids Rodeo may look very similar from year to year but let me tell you how it was different this year. Josh still wanted to ride the horses first, no big surprise, but every year he is more and more comfortable up there.

He still wanted to be painted like Spiderman but I did not have to beg and plead. He was not afraid of the clown and sat very still.

He still loves riding the "bucking bronco". In years past he has been unwilling to loosen his death grip on the rope to ride with one hand up like a real cowboy. This year he took it a step further and (although I didn't get a picture of it) rode with BOTH hands in the air for part of the time.

Josh still loves Sundance Ogden's dancing horse but does not have the obsession he had with him the first year.

For the first time EVER, Josh got in the rodeo clown's barrel to be rolled around. He only needed a little coaxing and to see his rodeo queen do it first.

He roped the bull 3 times with a little help.

He raced the barrels with his rodeo queen, and won (with a little cheating).

And the biggest surprise is that for the first year ever, he kind of liked his rodeo queen.

The cabin 2012

Making calzones with Grandma

That face again!

Holding a frog for the first time EVER!

This (below) is my favorite picture

Bedtime

Josh, I have to admit, currently (and for the last 2 or 3 years), I hate putting you to bed. You like to run away, hide, yell, scream, kick, all the while laughing your head off. After I have fought and forced and held you down to get the bedtime routine done, we may or may not read (which I actually enjoy) depending how naughty you are. Not fun for me. However, there is one thing about bedtime that I absolutely love. After all the craziness and frustration, I turn off the light and I hear a little, "mom". I hear a little hand patting the bed. If there is enough light I can see your little smile as you lightly pat right next to you. When I lay down next to you, you grab my head and hold it against your chest tightly. I can't help but start to whisper about how much I love you and how much you mean to me. After about 45 seconds, while still holding my head tightly, you whisper, "go!". "you want me to leave?" Head nod. It is only 45 seconds of a 15-25 minute ordeal but that 45 seconds means the world to me.

Bruce Wayne?

So if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time you will know that my son likes to dress up as many different superheroes. Now that it is hot, he often just puts on a cape and/or mask instead of the whole get up. Even so, I still play along. I will say, "Oh my goodness! It's Batman!" He grins and lifts his mask with a look that says "Won't she be surprised?". "DOSH!" "Josh?" one big head nod "Oh, I thought you were Batman!" Huge grin. He pulls down the mask and we do the whole thing over again. Sometimes we add in, "You know, there is a rumor that Batman is actually Bruce Wayne." Shakes the head no then shows me who Batman really is. The most interesting thing is that I think he really believes it. Not that he is Batman necessarily, but that when he is wearing the mask I can't tell who he is. There is just something so sincere about his face when he pulls up the mask. A look that is both reassuring and amused. Like when a parent tells the secret to a magic trick.

Bullied Bus Monitor

I do not normally post news stories of humans at their worst. I may talk about it but I feel that most people know how bad other people can be. However, when I watched this, http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/21/155491802/bullied-bus-monitor-wants-apology-but-still-believes-all-kids-arent-bad(**WARNING** Watch this video without kids or with earphones, there is bad language) I was outraged. Actually, I didn't even finish it. I couldn't I only got about 3 minutes in (it is 10 minutes long)and for my own well being I could not finish. Children are getting more and more disrespectful and nasty. Parents: we need to stop this! We need to speak to each other and treat each other in such a way that our children know what is okay and what is not. Everyone: We need to be kind to everyone. We need to stick up for others. I believe if we do not want our futures and our children's futures to look like this, we have to change ourselves and our children NOW. I will step off my soapbox, if any of you want to use it, feel free.