Balogh Time!

The kids are having a blast in Birmingham with their cousins. Today, all the Baloghs were together at the pool along with Goodsells. Twelve little swimmers and tons of fun! I highly recommend the large water guns at the $1 store -- for $12 we had 5 hours of pure pool gun fighting fun!

The whole gang . . . we bribed them to get them to cooperate -- no dinner unless you get in the picture!

Thanks goodness for Ansley -- she loved helping with Jeb and he loved having her around!
Virginia and Martha . . .
Jeb and Bobby -- how great to have a cousin that thinks you are this funny?!
My handsome Ford . . .
More pictures to follow . . . tomorrow we head to Lake Martin for more water fun!

Circus Flora

Today was our day -- a chance for some quality time "under the big top".  This was our first time at Circus Flora and we are hooked!  I'm not sure what my kids liked best -- the amazing jugglers, the crazy horse riders, the hysterical painters, the silly dog tricks, the fantastic tumblers or the awesome acrobats.  They all sat quietly with their little mouths open in awe for the entire hour (well, Jeb opened and closed his mouth as he gobbled popcorn, cotton candy and smarties!).  Circus Flora was a hit and we are already looking forward to next year.  My one suggestion is to order tickets a bit earlier.  We were crammed in a corner and it was hotter and had a little less visibility.  It was a sold out show too so there was no seat switching opportunities.  But even in less than perfect conditions, it was a fantastic morning.

The kids spotted the tent before I did . . . and were screaming with delight before we even got out of the car!

I am proud to say, I even purchased the messiest treat known to man -- ridiculously expensive cotton candy.  They all liked it but Jeb was momentarily in heaven! :)  He would laugh hysterically every time he grabbed a new wad of his newly discovered sugary joy!!!
The popcorn was a hit also and it didn't last long . . . 
Virginia was the only one up for a pony ride.  Ford is apparently too big for pony rides -- he only rides horses these days and Jeb was just absolutely "no way"!  Virginia was delighted by her short pony ride though!
And since the kids couldn't decide on a favorite part of the circus, I will tell you mine -- the amazing woman that hula hooped about 50 hula hoops at one time while still maintaining an ability to look amazingly beautiful and pulled together.  I look like a total fool trying to keep one hoop around my waist and she had them spinning from head to toe while still looking fabulous -- truly amazing!

Glasses galore!

Today was a big day at the Balogh house!  We started the morning with raspberries for breakfast . . .  very appetizing, don't you think?  Amazing what entertains my kids!

But to the more serious stuff!  Jeb's glasses arrived.  Here he is sporting his cool new glasses -- so far so good but it has only been 45 minutes!
It is all in the family!

Pool Time!

A 3 hour afternoon at the pool and some poolside dinner . . . the joy of summertime!

Ford really was having fun . . . not sure what that face is about!

Reach for the sky . . .

Well, today did not go quite as I had planned.  We started the day at Jeb's eye appointment.  He had gone at 17 months and they said he was nearsighted and had astigmatism and would probably need glasses by age 3 -- welcome to the family sweet Jeb!  Jeb was a trooper -- he took his eye drops like a man, cooperated with the doctor, and even had some fun picking out his new glasses . . . notice I said "some" fun.  It all started to fall apart at the optical store.  Virginia was tired of being in appointments and Jeb was tired of "let me see how cute you look in these".  Not to mention, there were literally 15 other families CRAMMED into the tiniest "kid section" of a store that you have EVER seen.  So, we finally ordered some glasses and I just pray they look ok when they arrive -- they had no samples in his color of choice (blue) and they didn't even have the appropriate size for his face in the frame we chose.  Good thing they have a 30 day return policy!  When our backordered glasses arrive (apparently blue is a popular color), pictures will follow.

Then, we were planning a visit to the pool.  No such luck.  St. Louis had a major rainstorm at 2:30 today just when we were hoping to head out.  So much of a storm that at least 4 trees were down in our neighborhood alone!  

Plan B . . . the mall.  I decided to head out to Chesterfield Mall (because I needed to pick up curtains for Ford's room at PBK).  I thought the kids would be entertained by the pet store and maybe a ride on the carousel -- and if they were good, dinner in the food court.  Well, Ford and Virginia had a bit of a different plan.  They decided that a little bungee jumping, trampoline bouncing was in order.  I couldn't believe they seriously were going to let some teenage boy strap them in a harness to jump crazy high in the middle of the mall -- I was so proud of their crazy idea that I agreed to pay $7 each for them to jump for a total of about 5 minutes.  But it was PURE DELIGHT for them.  Virginia was squealing with happiness -- not something she does often but such a sweet sound when she does!  Ford was cautious, as usual, but happy with the jumping too.

Obviously I did not come prepared for such an adventure so the pictures are horrible . . . but thank goodness for cell phones or there would be no pictures at all!  Hope you recognize the blurs!!!

Ford, flying high!

I thought Virginia was going to touch the roof of the two story mall!
Next time, I'm jumping with them! :)

A Conversation with Ford

Brent:  No Ford, you can't do that.

Ford:  continues in his behavior

Brent:  Ford, what part of "can't" did you not hear?

Ford: The "t" part, I guess.

How I wish I had actually heard this in person . . . sadly, I only got the whole conversation 2nd hand from Brent (with Ford agreeing and laughing the entire time!!!).