I’ve written before about how much we love living near Foxwoods, and that continues to hold true. We’ve been lucky enough to attend lots of cool events in the past couple of years (from beer to bowling to kids shows) but I think our Friday night trip to see Cirque Eloize Saloon was the best show we’ve ever seen.

From their press release:

This captivating and energetic show transports audiences to the height of the Wild Wild West era, telling the story of a piano tuner’s astonishing journey through a world filled with gold diggers, rail workers, chorus girls and cowboys. Mysterious and intriguing characters will light up the stage to explosive live music, resulting in a series of unexpected situations packed with rhythmic acrobatic prowess and original choreography. The series begins Friday, August 12 and runs through Sunday, August 21 for a total of 12 remarkable performances at a variety of family-family show times.

It was amaaaaazing. Caroline and Evan could barely stay in their seats, they were SO excited about all the tricks and acrobatics. It was lucky we were sitting with other bloggers and the Foxwoods people, because I would have been worried we were annoying regular show-watchers with all the audible gasping and “MOMMY DID YOU SEE THAT?!?!” Even Linc got super into the show, especially the hoop spinning thing (Cyr wheel, according to Google) and the singing, which he joined in enthusiastically. Like I said when I gushing over the show on Instagram, it’s like a musical combined with America’s Got Talent, two things our family loves. There was a part with a teeter-totter board that made me almost as annoying as the kids, cheering and clapping every time no one killed themselves (spoiler: no one killed themselves, they were all incredible).

Our 4th row seats were awesome

Enjoying chocolate strawberries at the reception, like a good blogger

Step and repeat expert

We borrowed a pen and the kids got their tickets signed. Everyone was SO nice.

Caroline: Are those REAL HORSES?! (No, but fake horses are still very exciting)

Our Friday before the show was an epic disaster. No less than a dozen things went wrong and around 6 pm we were debating whether or not we could pull ourselves together enough to even TRY to enjoy our evening. But the air conditioning plus the amazing show plus the chance to meet with the cast afterward was exactly what we needed to cheer ourselves up as a family and have a great time. If you’re suffering through this unbearable summer like we are, I cannot recommend a night out to see Cirque Eloize Saloon enough. Then you too can start to teach your kids hand-to-hand in the lake.

Video taken by the 7-year-old, but it’s still awesome.

Cirque Eloize Saloon is currently playing in the Fox Theater at Foxwoods. Shows are scheduled for: August 12, 7:30 PM  August 13, 4:00 PM  August 13, 8:00 PM  August 14, 2:00 PM  August 14, 7:00 PM  August 17, 7:30 PM  August 18, 7:30 PM  August 19, 8:00 PM  August 20, 4:00 PM  August 20, 8:00 PM  August 21, 2:00 PM  August 21, 7:00 PM

Tickets start at $35

We were invited to the opening night of previews of this show at Foxwoods because I’m on their press list and they’re super nice. No other compensation was provided and all opinions and photos are my own. 

Kohl’s and Carter’s were kind enough to partner with me on this post, so I could shop for back to school. I was compensated as part of the #firstdayeveryday campaign but all opinions and pictures are my own. 

The current temperature around here is about equivalent to that of the surface of the sun, but that doesn’t mean the end of summer isn’t on the way. Also, our district doesn’t seem to believe in the idea that school should start after Labor Day, so the big kids go back the last week of August. I’d be lying a little if I didn’t admit I was mostly ready for it – as fun as summer is, entertaining 3 kids 24 hours a day is a lot of hours of constant needs.

I’m NEVER ready for how much the kids grow between seasons though. Caroline was down to two pairs of leggings and zero pairs of actual pants for fall, Evan had only one pair of jeans, and poor Linc survived last fall in footie pajamas, which isn’t going to cut it this year when he’s an actual person. Thanks to Kohl’s, Carter’s and Caroline’s excellent shopping assistance, we’re no longer in desperate need of ALL THE THINGS and instead can stock up on freshly sharpened pencils, markers for important coloring homework, and thinking about the fact that I’m due to have a baby the same day school starts. Actually, no, let’s not think about that last thing. Let’s look at clothes instead!

Right away Caroline was in love with the trends for fall – lots of florals in different patterns and scales, leggings for under everything (including her uniforms on school days and dresses on weekends), and fun details like belts, lace, and embroidery. She decided she loved navy and pink together, so everything she tried on ended up coordinating.

We bought two pairs of these jeggings. They have real pockets and a real zipper, but they are so soft and stretchy. She declared them the best pants ever and has worn them almost every day since. She loves the shirt too, with the flower corsage detail.

Is it weird that I am jealous of my 5-year-old’s jean jacket? It’s like the perfect level of broken in already and is going to look SO GOOD this fall to extend the life of her summer dresses. You can expect to see it at least 100 times in my weekly photos.

She is pretending to be a bird, because there are birds on her dress. Obviously.

Lucky for Caroline, our Kohl’s also sells Carter’s accessories. Sparkle bracelets for the win! We also bought this two-pack of leggings to use as alternates to the jeans with the polka-dot top or to wear under the bird dress. I think we ended up with at least 5 different outfits when you mix and match.

Our uniform code says “solid cardigans” are appropriate for over uniforms with no rules about color. What could be better than pink?

In the boy’s department, I found matching brother shirts and pants for Evan and Linc. Carter’s goes up to size 8 and runs true to size, in my experience, so Evan will still fit in the brand for at least another year. I got him a couple more t-shirts and a pair of jeans too, because you cannot have enough jeans when you are 7 and rip through the knees of your pants almost on a weekly basis.

In the baby department, I bought a bunch of stuff from the outdoors/bear/camping collection and from the sheep/cloud collection. They also have great nautical stuff (MY FAVORITE).

Look at those outer space jams!!

Whales! To wear to the seaport!

Baby boat shoes, just what every baby needs to wear with their red pants and button down woven shirts for the fall. Because of course I bought Linc and Baby #4 matching red pants and woven shirts for fall.

While we were looking at pajamas, Caroline asked if they were for boys or girls. I told her they were for both, because anyone can like dinosaurs and trucks, so she was excited to pick out matching pajamas for her and Lincoln. We went with sharks and blue stripes.

Linc also got a set of dinosaur pajamas, which are great for the transition from summer sleeping to cooler fall nights. (I’m really excited about cooler fall nights.)

That blue flower shirt dress is another of Caroline’s new amazing fall choices. As you can see, she was really excited about our shopping trip.

Our last stop was to check out the Carter’s shoes.

These were the winners. Easy to put on, closed-toe for school, goes with everything, and that adorable bow. I loved that the Carter’s brand finds that balance between trendy-fun and age appropriate (especially for Caroline), so I could let her shop without worrying that I’d have to say no to half her choices.

Once I have a new baby – fingers crossed for NOT the same day as the first day of school – I’ll have so many adorable new baby outfits for him to model. Until then, I hope all the photos of Caroline will do. She’s very good at style, you know. But here’s a sneak peek of what we found:

Two onesie sets (dinosaurs and foxes), the outfit that matches Linc’s red pants, sheepy onesies, and of course, MORE FOXES.

Thank you so much to Kohl’s and Carter’s for including me in this super fun campaign. The kids and I LOVE new clothes and it’s such a great way to start the countdown to back to school!

Starting August 1st, Kohl’s is having $10 off a $40 purchase of back-to-school clothes and shoes! It runs 8/1 through 8/17 and you can shop online with the code BTS10.

HAPPY SHOPPING!

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I promise to have Linc birthday party pics up soon, but these are a) done and b) on a drive that hasn’t yet overheated so I still have access. Plus I like documenting our annual things the best, since I can go back and look at last year vs this year. (I took way more pictures last year, because I was way less hugely pregnant.)

We’re playing Pokemon Go. I don’t actually want to hear about how it’s a secret plot from the CIA to data-mine us all or whatever. I don’t care. It’s been a super fun way for our family to spend time, outside, together, getting lots of fresh air and exercise. It’s gotten my tired, pregnant butt off the couch every day since I downloaded it. The kids are all exhausted at the end of the day from the walking. And believe it or not, looking at REAL animals or boats or flowers is still really fun, in between catching Clefairies (Caroline’s favorite) and trash birds (stupid Pidgies are everywhere).

And if you want to visit Mystic in the summer, may I recommend the Monday night after-hours at the aquarium? The outdoor section isn’t all open (no penguins) but it was SO fun to visit when the place was empty, plus the octopus, whales and frogs were all extra active and fun to watch.

Here’s the thing about having a fourth baby – you don’t really have time for a fourth baby until the baby actually shows up and you HAVE to give them your attention. That’s why I am currently  31 31+ 32 weeks pregnant and haven’t written a single pregnancy update so far. I have no weekly bump shots, no cute comparisons to fruit sizes, no lists of symptoms or weird body changes. All changes have already been made, at least one whole baby ago. My body can do all sorts of horrifying things and my reaction is “meh, I’ve seen worse”.

It has gotten very hot recently, and I am reminded why summer pregnancies are the worst. I am feeling extra large and swollen and sweaty all the time, even when I am doing my best to drink water and keep my feet up and not move more than necessary between the hours of 11 am and 4 pm. Several of those hours also happen to be Linc’s current nap hours, so there is a lot of afternoon screen time happening in our house. I keep trying to feel guilty about it – because I’m supposed to feel guilty about letting the kids watch iPad instead of having an #unpluggedchildhood, right? – but can’t work up the energy. Maybe after a quick nap.

I had such good intentions when it came to really enjoying and basking in this last pregnancy. I was going to think about things like “This is the last time I’ll feel relief at 24 weeks” and “This is the last time we’ll get to pick a baby name”. Instead, I keep forgetting how pregnant I am and please let’s NOT talk about the complete lack of name decisions being made. I think a big part of it is that when I was pregnant with Lincoln they were concerned with my amniotic fluid levels, so I had a LOT of appointments. There were bi-weekly non-stress tests and weekly ultrasounds, all of which Evan and Caroline attended with me, plus regular check-ups and blood work. In contrast, this baby had one extra ultrasound early on and we’ve reached the point where I have the standard weight-belly size-any questions? appointments every 2 weeks, but no NSTs, no extra testing, no dragging my kids to the hospital all the time. This baby is unwatched and unmonitored and completely average.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to to make himself known. My current daily heartburn levels are somewhere between “being stabbed with hot knives” and “oh my God I must have esophageal cancer this cannot be normal”. I still have daily morning sickness and sometimes evening sickness. I have to pee constantly. Like right now. Even though I just went 10 minutes ago. And all night. It’s exhausting. He also kicks and rolls more than any previous baby, sometimes moving so much I gasp and clutch my belly and feel like he’s about to just pop right out, Alien-style. I would much rather he make his exit the normal way, so hopefully he figures that DOWN is a better direction for the poking in the next few weeks.

I have plans to force my family to help me take maternity photos again, like I did last time. Since this is my last pregnancy, I’m going to be as completely cliche as possible – long dress, flower crown, standing in a river looking pensive about the miracle that is motherhood – and not feel the least bit self conscious about it. Plus any excuse to stand in a river sounds really good right now, since it’s 93 degrees outside and we don’t have air conditioning. For now I’m going to finally hit publish on this, put a cold washcloth on my head and take a nap.