Midlands Auto Show

I was going to take Benjamin and Alexander to the auto show while Ryan was at Army drill, but I figured Ryan would be REALLY sad he missed it. When I gave him the option to take Benjamin in the evening, Ryan gladly agreed to go. Benjamin promised he wouldn't lose Daddy like he did last year. Daddy promised he was going for Benjamin this year.
Benjamin won a pocket watch at the Ford display. He's still a Mustang man.
He must have spent an hour in this bounce house which was next to the Bat Mobile.
People were wondering what Benjamin was doing after he jumped out of the Corvette and ran around it. He had put the hazard lights on and was "checking" them. Most of the other cars' batteries were disconnected.
I finally called at 2045 to see when they were coming home. Benjamin probably would have stayed until 2200 when it closed for the evening if he had been given the opportunity. We've been pretty good about maintaining a 2000 bedtime, so this was a special occasion. Of course, he was up before 0800 the next morning like usual.

Denver International Airport

Benjamin was fascinated by the "ugly horse" at DIA. He talked about it for two days after he rode with Grandma and Grandpa to pick Alexander and me up. I was trying to take a photo of it for him, but did not time it intentionally to be covered by the light post we were driving past. That brought up a whole other set of repeatedly asked questions.
I figured we could easily and happily burn a couple hours at the airport before our flight. Trains and airplanes are very entertaining to Benjamin. Benjamin loves pushing the stroller, so I didn't have to check luggage (0ther than a free car seat). Moving walkways were the only issue, but our gate was one of the first ones, so it was merely more entertainment we missed out on. People kept telling me how brave I was to be traveling with two small children... I'm not brave... weekly sacrament meeting at church is much more challenging.
I was afraid they'd decide to swap out the train car we were on when we stayed on after the last stop, but it was fine. The train does not turn around at the end, but switches over to the other track and goes in the opposite direction. Part of the time we got out and crossed over and part of the time we rode backwards. We stayed on the train too long and Alexander got a little fussy (after at least 45 minutes).
I am a well-seasoned traveler, but I was stumped when we got on the airplane. I only looked at one of our tickets and assumed we had the window and aisle. We sat down and a lady came up who said we were in her seat. I looked at a boarding pass (the other one) and saw we were indeed on the wrong side of the plane. Then it happened again. They had seated us across the aisle from each other! (...Because you can't check in on-line early with a lap infant -- so of course all the seats together are going to be gone). Luckily, the guy who showed up second didn't want to be seated next to my busy 3 year old and opted to sit next to the lady.

The only disappointment for Benjamin was the windows on the airplane were too high for him to see out of while he was sitting in his seat. We almost had an issue with him unbuckling when the seat belt sign was illuminated. The fact that it was only a little more than an hour long flight made that part bearable.

National Western Stock Show

After dropping my mom off at the airport, my dad took us to the Stock Show. I took earplugs with us because of the "tractor races". I knew Benjamin wouldn't care about the animals, but would love to see tractors racing... silly me:
Benjamin really wanted the "dually" tractor, but it was already taken for the first race which he won by 1/2 the length of the tent even though the volunteer helping to guide him didn't realize they were racing up-and-back so he was at the back of the pack getting turned around. The "dually" was much harder to pedal.
It was nice they let Benjamin race as many times as he wanted after all the other kids took their turns. He stuck around the longest and helped park his tractor in the "garage" (under a table with a skirt).
Benjamin was scared he'd get bitten by a goat. I kept putting food in his hand and he'd drop it before a goat could get near enough to him to eat it. I'm not sure if Benjamin is scared of animals by nature or if it's PTSD from when Ryan put him in a pen with yapping puppies shortly after he got back from Afghanistan.
I always love getting a good deal. They were selling ice cream cones full of food for $3 outside of the petting zoo and inside from a dispenser on the wall for 25 cents.
Alexander didn't seem to mind the goat jumping up on us while trying to get the food I was attempting to save for Benjamin.
Alexander throws a fit when he isn't getting what he wants. He was squawking, arching his back, and throwing his head back just seconds before this photo was taken. He wants to do everything his brother does.Most of the tractors parked around the show were locked up. Benjamin was happy to find some he could pretend to drive.