Bike rodeo and TWO carnivals!

We had a really fun week full of "extra-curricular" activities.

Sam's school had "Safety Week" that included a fun "Bike Rodeo".
All of the kids could bring their bikes, scooters, and in Sam's case - a trike, and ride them in an obstacle course that was set up on the playground. The only rule was that you had to wear your helmet to participate...which was a big deal for Sam. He hasn't been the biggest fan of wearing his helmet when he rides his trike around, but I think this finally sealed the deal for him to wear it from now on. (I'm crossing my fingers, at least!) He was very excited that Matt, Tyler, Lilly, and I came over to the school to watch him...and of course, take pictures!

I know, you're jealous of his sweet ride.
This is actually the coolest tricycle I've ever seen. He outgrew two other trikes and we had a hard time finding him a bigger one that was his size. We found this one at Harbor Freight (a tool store, of all places!) and it can hold up to 500 pounds! Crazy.
Sam is still working on mastering some gross motor skills, and so until he can learn to ride a two-wheeler, he is as happy as a clam riding his trike! Way to go, buddy!

Sam's school ended their special week with a huge carnival. There was plenty of blow-up slides, bouncy houses, carnival games, yummy food, and such. Tyler was especially excited about the idea of face-painting...which he had never experienced before. So I let him pick whatever he wanted, and this is what he chose:

(If you can't tell, he is shooting his "web" at me.)

Yesterday we went to, yet, another carnival....and the one we look forward to all year!
The Sahara Cares Carnival for Autism!
This was our FOURTH year going...and it gets bigger and better every year.
The whole event is geared towards children with autism, and their families. The Sahara Cares people spend months getting major sponsors and other fundraising to pay for it (so it doesn't cost a dime for the families to attend). They also train all of the volunteers that help out that day on what autism is all about and how to interact with kids that have it. In other words, the volunteers are AWESOME and soooo cute with the kids!
This year Sam was totally entertained by the blow-up slides, bouncy houses, and (this was new) a magician! Sam thought he was hilarious and was fascinated by his tricks. He even made Sam's balloon turn into a real, live bunny rabbit. Amazing. This was Sam's reaction:

Tyler thought the magic show was great too and got picked to help out with one of the tricks. He thought that was sooooo cool, and he even got a (plastic) magic wand for helping. Sweet.

The Star Wars characters were there...as usual. Sam was totally excited to see Darth Vader (or as he calls him, "DARK Vader") but when it came time to get his picture taken - he chickened out. So we stood on the side lines and took a picture of Matt and Tyler. They totally fit in with this crew, eh?

The Balloon Guy made Sam a Shamu the Whale (which Tyler called "Shampoo" for the rest of the day). I was surprised that Sam was patient enough to stick around and wait while it was created. He was genuinely excited, and I luckily caught the moment on camera:

I am pleased to announce that Shamu is still "alive" and doing well - hasn't popped yet, thank goodness.