Family Fair Day

Today was our annual family fair day. It was a great day. It was a HOT day. We got there early, about 9:00 am. This year Grandpa came with us. It was nice to have a 3:2 ratio.......everyone had a job. You'll notice that there aren't any animal pictures. We really didn't see too many. We walked through the cow barn but there were only two there. The rest must have been being judged. Other than that we walked by some sheep but that is it. This year it was unlimited rides and taking in sites and good treats.
Serious spiderman.........before you die that I let my kid put something on his head at the fair.....Patrick has a buzz cut. There is no way that any critter could stick to his head. Elizabeth, no way. No hats.
Smiley spiderman.
After we got our unlimited ride stamps we were off to the carousel. It has an upper floor! This was the only real mid-way both kids rode.....Patrick did the haunted house (or roller coaster as he was calling it) with Dad. Then it was off to kiddie land! That's where we tore it up and rode tons of rides!

Serious driving.
Fun driving.
Liz had to have a pink motorcycle, of course.
As simple as they may be, the kids always love riding the motorcycles.
I took Elizabeth to the bathroom and while we were gone Patrick managed to get Grandpa to let him go on the bungee ride. He loved it. And obviously was able to get pretty high.

Here he spots me and Liz, although we don't see him yet.
Every since Patrick was two I always take ice cream pictures at the fair......it is always the last thing we do before we leave.

The kids weren't too cooperative, at least not as cooperative as they have been in the past, but I can't blame them......it was too hot to be cooperative.

Beach Day

......the last beach day of the summer :(
The kids had a lot of fun today. We swam a whole lot and played in the sand. It was nice to be there as a whole family.

Lizzie showing off her tricks in the water. She was quite brave walking all over and going out to where the water was above her mouth!
Pat and Dad were building a mountain/pond/Bowser's Fiery Stronghold with sand and water. Liz helped here and there but was more interested in "swimming" (walking out to the deep water and then running back).
Patrick was so serious and so methodical in where he dumped water and how he smoothed the sand. Must be the left hand-right brain coming through.

My Little Miss

We are trying a new way of doing chores in our house......in exchange for allowance, of course. The kids pick different jobs every day. The other day Elizabeth picked dustmop the first floor. She had to do it with style.
This afternoon Pat was playing and Elizabeth just made herself a little bed and fell right asleep on the livingroom floor. She was so cute! And her picture reminded me of one my favorite pictures of her from just after she was born. I thought it was the same blanket......it's not, but close enough.

Oh How We Love The Zoo!

It is no secret that our membership to the zoo is the best investment that our family makes all year. We uses it so much that it must pay for itself at least four times. Today the kids and I ventured out. It was a very exciting day because we had to stop at school first and one of Pat's teachers happened to be there. He was so excited to meet her, tell her a little about himself, and see his classroom.
We got to see the otters today! I was so excited. The kids loved "playing" with them.

After playing with the otters we continued on to the lions.........which made Pat's day. The "daddy lion" was right up next to the glass. We stared at him for a long time........which would have been longer, but Liz had moved on.
Of course we had to.
Crouching tiger hidden dragon........Patrick in the soods of Siberia trying to scare us.
And Miss Lizzie Lou had a great time playing with the penguins. We at a great lunch, watch lots of animals, had some good talks, and enjoyed a fantastic day.

Bumble Bee

Can you tell that Elizabeth just adores her older brother?? She even picks out toys to look at that he is interested in.

Cool and Rainy

We spent all day yesterday inside and it looks like we will spend most of today inside. So that we would be entertained Mom busted out our tent. At first it was a time machine - taking Patrick and Elizabeth to Africa, China, the ocean, caveman times, and dinosaur times. Then it became a library. Then a camp. Finally, it was a snuggly place to watch a movie for quiet time.

Old Friends :)

Every year Mommy's good friend Kate and her family are in town to visit. We got together today so that we could catch up, the kids could play, and we could meet their newest addition, Emily. It was a wonderful visit.......made me sad that we live so far apart.
We met at Joe's parent's house and then walked to the park. Emily loved the swing and was so laid back. If she wasn't swinging then she was content to watch the big kids play.
Patrick and Elizabeth liked helping out with Emily. Patrick especially liked pushing her in the swing.
Elizabeth really liked pushing Emily in the stroller. Emily's big sister Meagan was great at helping Elizabeth keep Emily straight on the road.
We played back at Joe's parents for a while also. Here's all the kids minus Molly (who managed to avoid my camera entirely) I will have to get the pictures of all the kids and all the kids plus the mom's from Kate to post. It was a great visit!

Beautiful Ballerina

Tonight was Elizabeth's last summer ballet class.......which meant parent observation night. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen!
Getting ready to go.
Class began with attendance circle. Everyday Ms. Rochelle (who by the way is great with the little ones!) asks a question for each girl to answer. Today's question was "What is your favorite part of ballet class?" Elizabeth said it was doing ponies.

After attendance circle the girls had to follow Ms. Rochelle and do their stretches.
There were lots of stretches.....all with a story to focus the girls.
After stretching the class did a little routine. They showed us first and second position, pontue (I don't think that is how you spell it), and plies. Elizabeth does quite a plie!
All the girls showed off their music box ballerina twirls......to the rights AND to the left.
When it came time to dance across the floor, Elizabeth was the first in line. The girls showed us shayes first.
Elizabeth did a great job listening to directions and waiting her turn. She told me after class that she never touches the bar because Ms. Rochelle said they couldn't.
The girls did "ponies" across the floor. (Liz had been practicing all week)
Elizabeth's favorite is freeze dance with a scarf. She had fun dancing and twirling, and got the freeze part down too. When dance was over all the girls curtsied and blew kisses. It was a great performance!

SU Fan Fest

Not that I am excited to kick off football season, but it is fun to see the kids all SU'd up and have fun with them.
Fan Fest is an open football practice. There are treats for the kids, posters, tattoos and bouncy houses.
Elizabeth was a huge hit with all the cheerleaders because she was wearing her cheerleading outfit. There were tons of oooohhhh's and aaaaahhhhhh's, and by the end of our time there she was saying hi to every cheerleader and felt she had full license to all pom-pom's. She was excited to get a Otto tattoo on her hand like she had at Halloween.
She made special friends with the cheerleader running the bouncy house.
We watched practice, had HUGE freeze pops and lots of popcorn.......and of course, fun.