A Parent's Dream/Nightmare

I was able to go to the zoo with Caleb's class last week. We were there when three monkeys escaped from the zoo. Fortunately, I was able to take this picture of the escaped monkeys that helped the folks at the zoo to catch them. They were so good looking though that they let them go free. These monkeys actually rode a bus back to Caleb's school after the field trip.

Coy really enjoys going to Honeybees on Wednesday night at church. He sings some song with it and dances and screams when he learns that he gets to go to Honeybees.

The kids are all going to spend the night somewhere over the weekend. Caleb is going to spend the night with a friend, Katie is going to her Aunt Dawn's, and Coy is going to Grandma Yankey's. This is a parent's dream because we are guarenteed a night of not getting up with someone needing to go to the restroom or having a bad dream or wanting to get up at 6 AM to play video games. It is also a parent's nightmare because we are worried about how they will do away from us. Caleb and Katie will be fine. They have been away from us before and they know how to act. But this will be Coy's first night away from us since he became a part of our family. This is kind of a right of passage for all kids I guess. Staying at Grandma's house is not quite as frightening as staying with a friend I don't think. I know that Grandma Yankey will do a good job of entertaining him and that as long as she has food to eat, he won't get bored. She can always put him in the bathtub because he loves taking baths. He is looking forward to seeing Grandpa's tractor. But as a parent, you still worry about it.

He has back slid a little bit with the potty training. He has gone weeks before staying both clean and dry but this past week or so, he has taken a step back in that area. We are not sure what is going on but we are hoping that this is just part of his learning process. He is really smart and understands almost everything we tell him now.

The soccer season has come to an end but basketball season starts next weekend. The kids did a great job in soccer. Caleb scored 4 goals this season and Katie scored 2 goals. This is especially good for Katie since she was a 5 year old playing in a co-ed 6 and 7 year old league. They play 7 versus 7 with a goalie so there are not a lot of goals scored in any game. Katie is not playing basketball but will probably get back into Angels' Wings or gymnastics or both.

The Zoo

Let me start by sharing this video. Some friends of ours told us about the Go Fish Guys last week and Stacey found a website where you could listen to some of their music for free. Of course, our two musical clowns loved it and wanted to listen to them over and over. I filmed this on Friday night after an afternoon of listening and dancing. They almost have it down.

The big attraction this weekend was the zoo trip. It is another one of those things that we do every year together as a family. It is safe to say that Coy still doesn't know what to think about adults dressed up in costumes. The Cowardly Lion just about had Coy making a cowardly deposit in his pants. He really enjoyed opening his bag and watching candy being put into it though. He got the hang of that real fast. He really didn't seem to be phased by the other kids in costume, but the adults in costumes really bothered him.

We can't believe that Coy is not gaining any more weight than he is. All he did on Saturday was eat it seemed like. The kid seems to go to bed asking about breakfast and he seems to ask about lunch as soon as breakfast is over. We ate lunch out with Stacey's parents on Saturday and I don't know how much he ate but it seemed like a lot. Then, when we got in the van, he asked if we were going home to eat.

Caleb learned a new skill this weekend or at least some time recently. He can cross his eyes. Boy does he make his father proud. He can also make this smacking sound by shaking his finger really fast. I taught him that.

River Dance, Magic Tricks, and Hot Air Balloons

OK, another busy weekend for the Yankey family. On Friday, we went to the local high school football game because Katie got to cheer as a result of going to a cheerleading clinic a week or so ago. There was a good crowd there and we thought that she might be afraid to go out there but she went right on when it was time. She actually cheered the entire 2nd quarter of the game. I am guessing that there were about 40 other girls out there cheering with the varsity cheerleaders. I am also guessing that it will be not much more than a blink of an eye and she will be out there for real. Stacey and I both would rather have her out there than hanging around behind the stands like we saw so many kids doing at the game. Caleb, of course, liked the football and some girls that he knows from school and church were also cheering so he liked that too. We thought Coy would like the band since he likes music and the drums so much, but he did not care for the band. It may have overwhelmed him but he cried for most of the band performance.

The video is of Coy wearing Katie's shoes and doing a dance on the kitchen floor. He thinks it is funny when he wears Katie's shoes (and it is for the most part). Caleb and Katie put him up to dancing in the kitchen and I just happened to catch it with the camera. He could be the next Michael Flatley (spelling??) if he works on it.

After the soccer game on Saturday morning, we went out to eat with my mom and dad and then came back to the house to visit for a while. In the afternoon, Caleb and I went to basketball evaluations for his basketball league and then afterwards, we went shopping for Halloween costumes. Caleb, for now, is Darth Vader. We may try to talk him into being Brian Brohm before we go anywhere other than the back yard. We had a babysitter come over for a little while on Saturday night and he was outside playing kickball in his costume. I am sure that was warm. Katie is going to be the little mermaid. I am concerned that when the weather cools off (if it ever does), that she will need to wear a jacket and that might not go over too well with her. I mean, who has ever seen a mermaid with a jacket on?

Sunday, after church, some friends of ours from over in Louisville came over for the afternoon. Yes, that is two of our children goofing off in the picture when they should be smiling. I think they get that from their mother but she thinks they get it from me. I guess we will never know. This was our annual pumpkin picking adventure but last year we did not have such a good experience picking pumpkins (they were just laying on the ground, they weren't even in a patch) and everyone had already made plans to go another time with others or through school so we decided to go the hot air balloon race at IUS instead. One of the families could not go but the rest of us went to the balloon race. Again, we thought Coy would like this but he was instantly afraid. He finally did warm up to the balloons after a while but it took a little bit of time. We think he really did have a good time. After the balloons took off, we got in our van and headed home. The wind was blowing in our direction and we saw several of the balloons landing in nearby neighborhoods on our way up the hill. There was even a chance for a while that a balloon was going to land in our neighbor's yard. The balloon was actually a lot closer than it appears in this picture. My guess is that it was about 200 yards away. I still had the camera around my neck so I snapped a few pictures of it. We really enjoy the IUS balloon festival because it is not very crowded and we can get right up next to them. This last video is one of my favorites. I used to be really enthralled with magic and I learned a few, very basic magic tricks. My best one is a card trick that I do from time to time. I showed it to Caleb and Katie on Saturday and they wanted to do it over and over. The video shows Caleb, trying to do the trick on Coy while Coy is eating. Of course, Coy is not that interested in the card trick and I don't think that he knows one card from the other. It is kind of comical. The funny part is that Caleb actually messed the trick up and showed Coy his card about 3 times and Coy had no idea what he was saying yes and no to. You have to watch it to enjoy it. It is over one minute long so it may take a little while to download it.

Picnic Day, Huber's, and Comments

We had quite an amazing weekend. To say that we were busy would be an understatement. Friday night, our friends, the Dorschs' came over to visit. Then, we had soccer on Saturday morning, the Hopeful Hearts Picnic for lunch, and then the neighbors had a Halloween party for the kids later that afternoon. On Sunday, we went to church, out to eat, to Target, to Huber's, and then to Dave D.'s football game. We had a flat tire on the way home from Huber's too.

At the Hopeful Hearts Picnic, we got to meet lots of kids that have been adopted from Ukraine and their new families. There were several neat families and kids that we met but one of the most amazing to me is this little boy in the picture with Caleb and Coy. His name is Max and is about 2.5 years old. The thing that is really neat is that he is from the same orphanage as Coy. His parents came and got him about a month or so after we were there. I doubt that they saw each other much because of the 6 month age difference but there is a chance. We also met a little boy named Eli. He is about 5 years old and his parents keep a blog too. If I get really industrious, perhaps I will post a link to their story as well someday soon. We also got to talk to a few couples that are in the process of adopting. Even though we were there only 7 short months ago, it seems like a lifetime ago.

The highlight of Sunday for Coy was by far and away the tractor ride at Huber's. He is definitely on a tractor kick. He even prays for tractors at night.

I have changed the comments settings to allow anyone to make comments on the blog. I wish I had gone in there and done this earlier. I just never looked around. Now, if you see something you like and want to comment on it, you don't have to be a member to post a comment.