Friday, July 29, 2011

The Fair and a Milestone

We've had a pretty busy week.  I'm just getting around to posting pictures from last weekend.  As I suggested in my last post, we headed to the Rock Island County Fair.  I forgot how scary fairs are as a kid.  When you're a parent, multiply that fear by about 50.  Wow.  Huge cables everywhere to trip on, rusty rides that make noises they shouldn't, High Voltage boxes marked "DANGER" at every turn, interesting individuals yelling about games...I could go on and on... 


There are some things that you will only see at a fair (case in point, hearing a small child tell his dad he wants to win the "top hat with the green flower on it"...not a green flower, people).  Anyway, Addy had a blast.  She had her first fair food (meat on a stick, cotton candy, and a funnel cake), went to the petting zoo, but most importantly, rode rides!  Jason took her down the slide first.  Sister loved it!  They went down 3 times...my little thrill seeker even had one of the newspapers taking her picture!

Next was the ferris wheel...

After much debate (in other words, Jason and I examining ride operators, restraint systems, and how kids appeared to feel about the ride), we finally decided the ladybug ride would be a good candidate for her first solo flight. 


OK, rusty ladybug with the glasses and operator with the handlebar mustache, we're putting our child's life in your hands here...She seemed a little reluctant.  Then the ride took off with a sudden lurch, and she fell over inside the car.  Mr. Mustache was ready to shut the ride off.  Our hearts dropped to our stomachs as I thought, "Well, the fair is over for us."  I should have known better.  Her head popped back up, and she had a huge grin on her face. 


Then it was all about what rides she could do "by herself!"  She rode in the car with the sick sounding horns, the choo-choo train, and the fighter plane...





She also chose the only animal on the carousel that wasn't a beautiful horse...a rooster.  Our child picks the rooster.  I love it.



Brother Man was rather unimpressed by the whole thing...


These pictures have me thinking back to our first outing with all four of us.  It was a simple trip to the grocery store and to Target.  No big deal right?  To us it was.  Addy acted up.  Cohen cried.  It was about 200 stinking degrees.  We didn't realize we would need more than one cart.  The cashier made a mistake which meant standing at the service desk for what felt like 10 years.  It was a challenge.  Jason and I both were like "Seriously?  How do people do this...especially people with 3 or 4 or more kids?"  I remember thinking every outing would be stressful from now on.  I thought, oh well, a little stress on us is definitely worth letting our kiddos do fun things.  The thing is, the fair wasn't at all stressful.  It was wonderful.  We enjoyed it all (yes, Cohen was sleeping for most of it, but we have had plenty of other outings where he's been awake).  The point is, somehow, “How are we going to do this?” has become "Damn. Look at us. We're doing this." What an awesome feeling.
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Lil' Homie hit the one month mark this week.  Here's a pic of Sister Sue (yet another pet name) with him on his big day...I'm so proud to be their mama.


Happy Friday, everyone!

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