Scattered thoughts...

Yesterday was Kinsmen Day at the zoo so admission was free. Not being ones to pass up free stuff Mom and I took the boys to see if any of the animals might be awake and visible this time. The bears did not disappoint us as they were romping in their pool and putting on a pretty nice show (really hot day and we were all wishing we could jump on in there with them). 

There were a few different kid's shows around the zoo grounds and a clown show happened to be on at noon so we took a break to lunch the children and watch the incredibly boring, stupid 'Wacky Wizard' show (and we got goose poo all over our shoes for that!).

In preparation for the big Canada Day festivities Dad went and got the boys some little chairs they can use in the backyard and for the parade. As soon as Dillon sat in his it was like he had never sat in anything so comfortable and kidtastic before. 

Atticus sat down in his and, while letting out a big sigh, said, "I need a coffee." Been hanging out with Grandpa much?

Then there was a brawl over who got to put the cup in their chair's cup holder (I could've gone and gotten another cup, but who'd have taken pictures?).

I don't like Atticus to have much juice so I can sometimes convince him that water with a bit of lemon juice is just as good. Dill's never had any before so it was a bit of a shocker when he took a big mouthful of lemon juice water.

Graham, Dawn and baby Anna were over last night for a feast of a BBQ. As soon as they stepped out of the car and Atticus saw them he got so excited that Anna came back to play with him. I guess smiling back and forth at eachother are good times in his book.

His first corn on the cob. At first he was unsure what to do with it and how much you're supposed to eat. He'd gnaw down past the corn part and then spit the little pieces out. He even tried to eat the cob once all the corn was chewed off.

Dillon was batting clean-up on Atticus' supper. He ate most of Atticus' chicken and knocked a whole wack of jellied salad out of the park. It was a good eating day for my little sting bean.

Chris plays in a group called Jatino (jazz/latino music). I'd never heard them play so we all went to the bookstore they were playing at after supper. They were really good (Chris, seriously, you guys were SO good) and I thoroughly enjoyed their music. Atticus was so excited to listen to his Uncle Chris play guitar. I tried to teach him how to hold and strum an air guitar, but he had some trouble with the neck hand (I'm pretty sure that's a real guitar term, Chris).

He loves him some Uncle Graham.

Chris is on base guitar behind the flower shirted guy. 

I'm not sure if he's practicing the drumming part or the strumming part (they look so similar), but he was definitely into audience participation.
And then Ethan stayed the night with Atticus. Not sure what the deal is but Atticus has been waking up for 3 nights in a row cying about his digger, about having an ouch, about 'no, no, no'...all night for 3 nights he's had me up and down the stairs. I was hoping that having Ethan as his bed buddy he'd sleep through, but no such luck. He ended up in my bed and STILL waking up every 10 dang minutes. 

And on another note, Dillon has been working really hard on his standing. He gets such a kick out of standing up and showing everyone his handywork. Atticus noticed that Dillon was gaining a lot of attention and praise for standing (Standing? What's so hard about that?) so he decided to do some standing for praise as well. He'll slowly stand up, teeter a bit, hold out his arms... and then wait for the clapping to begin. He's also noticed that Dillon can stand up without using his hands so he tries to do that as well (but it's harder so he usually just laughs and says 'I can't do it!').

And finally, I was really sad to hear of Michael Jackson's death. He was one of 2 people I really wanted to see in concert (preferably before he so completely lost his way). I remember being at a sleepover birthday party in grade 3 and the girl got a 'Thriller' jacket and we were all SO jealous. He was phenomenal. His music, his videos, his dancing, his larger than life persona...it's just really hard to believe that he's dead. Although, it'd be just as hard to imagine an 80 year old Michael Jackson, but I guess it would've been nice to see him get himself back together again and 'go out' on a better note. Ah well, I shall choose to remember him the way I loved him the most...the Thriller and Billy Jean times.