Moberly Mini Train

Amelie had back-to-back birthday parties on my last weekend off work and James was feeling a little neglected, so while Sam was at the party, I took James and Leah to the Moberly Mini Train. We'd been meaning to go for a while, but had never made it up there.

It was $7.50 for the three of us to take the ride around the park. The conductor said we were going 10 miles an hour and it took about 11 minutes.

I forgot to get a photo of the engine, so I took this one from the city's website. You can tell it's from warmer weather than Sunday, but one of the volunteers told me that they run through the end of October, and have Halloween and Christmas events if the weather's mild.

I took a picture of James:

And then I gave him the camera so that he could take photos. Here's the station:

He took several selfies!

And candids of me and Leah. Ha!

I look more delighted with the ride than she does for some reason:

After the ride, we played on the playground at the park - and ran into some other kids from Ridgeway while we were there. Then they left and we had the place to ourselves for a bit so I took pictures of James and Leah playing in this tunnel.  

Electronics

I'm not sure what they're playing on Sam's phone, but it sure looks like they're enjoying it.

Playing in the Rain

Leah wanted to go out in the rain.

Spark was suspicious. He didn't want to get wet, but he stood guard in the doorway while she was out there.

She wanted to wear James's raincoat and these water shoes (quite sensible).

I also observed from the safety of the kitchen! She lasted about 10-15 minutes all together.

And look what semi-artistic thing my Google assistant put together. Color pop:

Zoo Trip

We went to the zoo over Labor Day weekend (it was actually not too crowded!) I did not take very many pictures, but we stayed about six hours and ended up having a good time (it was touch-and-go over the map for a minute.)

The kids had ice cream while we were waiting on the sea lion show to start (that was ice cream break #1)

James had Dippin Dots for ice cream break #2, which we're pretty sure he's allergic to. He said, "These are spicy," then "My mouth is burning," and then developed a gnarly case of hives.

Everyone liked the penguins, even though the kids thought it was too cold (see how their arms are tucked up in their t-shirts?) and Amelie thought it was smelly. 

 Amelie at the children's zoo, exhibiting her new transitions lenses.

Whoa! Meerkat!

Whoa! Frog!

I'm pretty sure Amelie spent about an hour just reading books in this spot when she was Leah's age.

James being James.

The big kids are about as tall as a pigmy goat. Sam's approximately the size of a llama.

We rode the train:

More playing in the children's zoo area. One of the bonuses of having big siblings is that they'll take you down the slide:  

This hippo has been there since my childhood and Amelie took yet another great picture with it.

Leah at the children's zoo.

James was a big fan of the misters, even though it was actually a pretty comfortable temperature. 

We got to "pet" the sting rays (though Sam sat this one out). If you put your hand in the water, they'll just come up and rub their backs against you - a little like a cat asking to be petted.

James got fantastically wet so he changed clothes afterwards. Amelie only got moderately wet, and unfortunately we just brought one big-kid change of clothing.

We went ahead and got a membership, so there may be several more zoo posts over the next year.

Doctor's Visits

James and Leah had their respective well-child checks and flu shots today.

I didn't remember there being a 2.5 year well-child visit with the other kids, but I just went along with it since she needed the flu shot anyway. The nurse asked Leah to sit down so that she could do her blood pressure, and Leah sat right on the floor.

Statistics!
Shots: 1
Height: 2 feet, 10.5 inches (21st percentile)
Weight: 27.3 pounds (32nd percentile)

I had James get his flu shot at the appointment with us, with the thought that Leah could watch him (since in the past it hasn't seemed to bother him); however that turned out not to be the case this time and he was a stinker about it, though I guess I saved the nurse at school some trouble. Here's him drawing on the back of his health survey:

So then Leah wanted to draw on hers, too (still on the floor): 

Statistics!
Shots: 1
Height: 4 feet, 11 inches (31st percentile)
Weight: 57.5 pounds (77th percentile)

James is just one inch away from being able to go down the slide at the pool! Here are some other things that he's doing now that he's 7:

• Reading very well! (Mostly graphic novels)
• Learning how to ride his bike
• Drawing very detailed pictures of superheroes and some basic comics
• Adding, subtracting, multiplying (some)
• Getting along better at school
• Listening to pop music (Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, Imagine Dragons, Lucas Graham, the soundtracks to The Descendants and Zombies) 
• Lost his first tooth!
• Still has a little difficultly with pronouncing some letters, but has lost almost all of his baby talk/lisp
• Loves the computer, video games, and watching YouTube
• Is very helpful with Leah and feeds Spark breakfast
• Prefers to stay home, but usually enjoys himself if  he can be convinced to go out
• Climbing (to reach things on the top of the fridge, for example)
• Tries to write in cursive (mostly of his own invention) 

We also talked about him developing some new allergies - he got hives all over his trunk, arms, and legs after eating Dippin Dots! So he's likely allergic to some component in the rainbow sherbet flavor. We went to the doctor and I said, "THESE ARE TERRIBLE!" and the doc responded that they were "textbook hives."

And also he's recently become pretty bothered by cat dander - sneezing, eyes watering, the whole shebang. Doctor Swofford said to make sure that he wasn't petting cats and he said that he'd slept with a kitten over at Nana Jana's & she said, "Well, definitely don't do that!"

School Pictures

The big kids got school pictures (texted right to my phone).

James is in first grade with Ms. Newkirk. He had Very Strong Opinions about his outfit and how his hair should look, and then, if you look closely at this image, you can see that there is both an actual twig and a leaf in it. They must have done the picture after recess. 

And Amelie is in the fourth grade with Mr. Gramke. She also had Strong Opinions about her hair, and requested a ponytail with a bow.

Here's the link to last year for comparison purposes.