Air Show

On a warm summer morning, grab your some of your best friends, hit farmers market for goodies and head to the air show for some fun and an amazing day, as you do. 

Parker did amazingly well with the planes and the noise. SO EXCITED!!! (And thankful for Sydney, his kindred spirit who spent most of the hanging with him). However, he did have a major meltdown at the F22 flew overhead as we walked to our car to leave. It was the longest walk. He even went to far as to yell at a 20-something year old airman who was helping us cross the street about letting such loud planes be there when he was and he needed to tell them not to do that again. Thankfully, we made it home in once piece and did not end up in jail on base. 98% win for the day...I'll take it. 

The 4th That Was

It was a great 4th...with parades, zoo time, dinner eaten outside on a nice patio (as you do) and some time at the lake. 

How do you know you live in Iowa and you've gone to a small town for a parade???...horses, tractors and you get popsicles thrown at you to cool off. And it was great. 

She's the only one that would let me take their picture with the statues at the zoo. He was to distracted holding on for dear life on the carousel to notice the picture. 

At the lake to wrap up the weekend. It was hot and sunny and the boat watching was pretty good. Payton is turning all golden from being outside. I started calling her my little baked potato which she isn't too sure about yet. 

Parker spent time digging in the sand but also he went into the water. Let me repeat...Parker went into the water. In. Up to his armpits. In water. (Victory!)

He was also overheard saying after a boy made a comment about his g-button "he doesn't know it's hard for me sometimes and I have to practice". (Victory!)

And for a minute, right before he had a meltdown, he did good. (You can't win them all)

Dream Night 2014

We got lucky and were able to attend Dream Night at the zoo Friday night (thanks Bridget for getting us the info to get signed up in time!)

The zoo for this special night gives kids who have special needs, challenges, etc. and their families a chance to experience the zoo without the normal crowds and the chance to take as long as need to and try new things. It is completely amazing. And for a kid like Parker who has some serious sensory issues, it is a pretty big deal. 

We got to picnic outside with every possible kind of treat we'd want - cotton candy, popcorn, ice cream, hot dogs and hamburgers, apples with carmel, cookies. Yum! (You can see the line behind them for dinner...glad we did that first!)

Running full steam towards the sting-ray fountain (notice how there is only one other person the entire way down the hill??)

We got to go behind the scenes at the aquarium. We went upstairs and took a tour of all the tanks from the top and got to look down in. We got to see one of the sea turtles pop his head out on top of the shark tunnel. Soooo cool!!!

 They LOVE the aquarium!

Parker put his hands in water in the touch tank and touched a star fish, an anemone, and a crab. He put his hands in the water. More than once. This was so huge! Water is a major source of issues for him, and add in the different textures of the animals...HUGE!!!

Shark tunnel all to ourselves. Seriously....who gets that??? We actually got to see and take all the time in the world we wanted. 

One of our turtles swimming in the tunnel with a shark hanging out behind him. 

They got to pick a painting that an zoo animal had done, and then add their own flair to it. Then we got to bring it home. We are now the proud owners of art created by an alligator and them. 

 Face painting!!!

Parker got his face painted. He actually let them do his cheek and not his hand or arm. He let the lady paint a turtle on his cheek. BIG HUGE SUCCESS!!!

And not to be outdone, she wanted to be a giraffe. 

Bubbles before our behind the scenes tour of the animal hospital.

Omaha Street Percussion played in the plaza. They are so fun. It turned into a little dance party and they let some of the kids even jump in and play. 

Fun times playing games for prizes. 

We got to pet this snake. Payton, wearing her newly won bling, isn't having anything to do with it. You can see Parker's hand in the touching it without any issues. 

The dessert turtle was a whole other story. 

The sky as we left was gorgeous. With all the goodies they gave us, having the best time on a perfect night, ran into some friends while we were there and got a couple of wins at the same time, it was awesome. 

Henry Doorly Zoo...you rock! Thank you so much for providing so many families with a perfect evening. If these two have been talking about it for days, I can only imagine that all the kids that were there have been doing the same thing. 

And here is a little video of the band playing. If you ever have a chance, go see them. They are so much fun.