Howard County Fair

Friday was GORGEOUS!!!! One of the nicest days we have had all summer. It was one of the last days of the Howard County Fair and I figured we would take advantage of this small fair and nice weather and check it out. We had a really good time. The rides were closed in the morning (something Skyler found hard to accept) but there were plenty of animals and exhibits to keep us busy. We saw rabbits, roosters, sheep, pigs, goats, cows, and horses. Sadie did great with the rabbits, but the roosters completely freaked her out and she was only happy in my arms. I don't blame her. She has no experience with these animals, and some of them are very loud and pretty darn big. Skyler on the other hand, who used to be freaked out by this kind of thing, was incredibly brave and wasn't bothered by anything. Even when they closed us in the alley with the huge pigs barreling past us...even I was a little unnerved. Skyler just stood there eating his granola bar like it was an everyday thing that humongous pigs barreled past us oinking and snorting. He never fails to surprise me:) Here some pics that captured our time at the fair...

I finally bought Skyler his own umbrella the other day. He was so excited about it that he insisted on bringing it to the fair to 'protect him from the sun'. Love him so much!

Rabbits...Sadie's face explains how she was feeling:)

Playing on the bleachers while we watched the sheep...with his umbrella.

He couldn't wait for the tractors. Sat on every single one more than once.

And of course Sadie wants to do everything Skyler does:)

She insisted on walking with Skyler and holding his hand. I think she felt safe with him because she was pretty unsure what would happen next.

Magic show! Skyler LOVED it...laughed the whole time...holding his umbrella:)

I caught his amazement...

Have I mentioned our pepper plant? A couple of months ago, Skyler was really into making salads with me. He found the seeds of the pepper and I figured I would make it a 'teachable' moment. You know, the whole sun, dirt, and water making things grow lesson. We planted them...they sprouted....and grew....and grew....Who would have thought that something I usually throw out has started growing peppers!

Maybe he'll actually eat a vegetable?? There is always hope:)

Summer:)

I have been so bad about keeping up with the blog! I think that it's mostly due to not really being able to carry my camera around. When I didn't have my license, the kids were constantly on their bikes and I had a bag of drinks, snacks, wipes, lotion, phone, and anything else we might possible need on an outing. And when we were in the yard, there was always water or bubbles involved, neither safe for my camera. This made it difficult to capture some really good times. And when I did attempt it, one of the kids was wacked in the head by it when I bent over. So, I had to leave it home most of the time:( Missed a lot of fun playground trips, grumpy faces that had to walk up steep hills, and rosy cheeks. Since I have had my license back, we are incredibly busy catching up on errands that were stacking up over the past few months. I still make sure to get a bike ride or playground trip into our day because it lifts everyone's mood to run around. I'm just happy that I don't HAVE to walk to a playground miles away in the crazy summer heat. So much more pleasant to roll up with our cool drinks in an air conditioned car:)

We had a great weekend with my parents. They brought back their Halloween/dress up costumes from California. Sadie looked so darn cute in her dress, but loves the shoes the most. Skyler went crazy over his 'cars' race car outfit and must have put it on a zillion times that day. I had to hide it because I think he would have lived in it if he could! After the stress of the driver's test, we had a really good time at the Air and Space Museum in Virginia. Skyler was fascinated by everything and Sadie ran around until she was exhausted.

Here are some random pictures I have collected over the past couple of weeks:)

This was the day before my parents came...we were so bored at this point!

Sadie looking at her new cinderella book in her fancy new cinderella shoes.

Skyler LOVED his new cars outfit. Thanks Uncle Matt for the awesome hat to match everything!

My little princess...

He had to check himself out in the mirror in my room.

Sigh:)

My friend Jenn got us hooked on smoothies. The kids LOVE them! We mix whatever fruit we have in the blender with ice and vanilla milk. I get lots of yummy noises:)

We make the leftovers into popsicles for the next day. Sadie keeps saying thanks for the special treat:)

They decided they wanted to eat their smoothy pops with their sunglasses. Completely random but insanely cute:)

Pheww!

I have pictures I have to post, but thought I would add a post dedicated to ME:) So, we had a plan...my parents were coming for the weekend of my driver's test. 2nd driver's test. Nothing like failing something so simple to throw your entire self image for a loop. I had anxiety attacks for weeks. Seriously, it was bad. We had decided that my dad should take me because he was definitely the calmest one out of everyone. My mom would watch the kiddos...and Michael had the choice to stay at work or come home. But, one thing was for sure, I was NOT BRINGING MY KIDS! I love them more than anything. And Skyler has been my biggest supporter...he has encouraged me the entire time. But, as I left, he said, "Mommy, here is the monster we made to help you pass your test (he gave me an art project we did), but please get your license." Um, pressure. I SO did not want to disappoint him. Role reversals aren't supposed to happen until I am OLD! Off my Dad and I went. I was insanely nervous...like, I wanted to pee in my pants nervous...Losing sensation in my legs nervous. My dad was great, distracting me in every way he could. Staying calm even when the sign at the desk said 2 hour delay. We even studied the course for 10 minutes. We waited in line. I was dying. Trying to be positive and shake my nerves. Impossible. As we got closer, we noticed one particular instructor failing everyone she took out. Literally. I was FREAKING OUT! The car in front of me got the happiest and friendliest instructor I have ever seen. Lucky. As we pulled up, a very tall, lanky, dreaded, goateed, extremely slow guy, possibly high, came up to us. The first thing we do is 'show we understand how to work a car'. He asked me to put on my blinker....I put on the windshield wipers. Yep, sure did. I blanked...couldn't figure out how to do the signal. Thankfully, he didn't notice or didn't care, got into the car. First stop...parallel parking. First try, was about four feet from the curb. "Can I try again?" I asked? You have 3 minutes total, he mumbled. MUMBLED is the key word. I couldn't understand ONE WORD THIS GUY SAID! It's a problem. Try number 2....I thought I was golden. IN SLOW MOTION(remember, I have 3 minutes total, he opened his door, checked, slowly closed it, and told me I wasn't close enough. At this point, all nerves out the window, and I think I parallel parked faster than anyone in history. I refused to fail within the first 2 minutes of this test. Relief when I didn't hit any curbs. Off to the road test. Just a heads up, the area is like Rockville pike. SIGNS EVERYWHERE. Within a minute, he mumbled, what did that sign say? WHAT SIGN? WHICH SIGN? I had no idea. He got mad, "Speed limit sign..." Oh...um, 40? Apparently I was wrong. Two minutes later. "What did that sign say?" Oh, COME ON! Um, 45? Wrong again. The entire ride was like this. You'd think I would learn to pay attention. By the end, I was annoyed and told him he asked me too many hard questions. He told me I go whatever speed I want. Figured I wouldn't fight too much with him right before he makes his decision to pass me. Amazingly, he passed me. This was seriously the most stressful situation I have experienced in years. So much was riding on me being able to drive....Pheww~

THANK YOU DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pics to come of our fun weekend with my parents soon!