A fun weekend with Grandma and Papa

This weekend Grandma and Papa (Jeremy's parents) came to visit. They spent the evening with the kids on Friday while Jeremy and I enjoyed a night out at a dinner party. Then in the morning they took the kids over to Cowden for the Pioneer Days parade while Jeremy worked and I spent some time at school. I love my new job, the kids are great, but it's a bit like being a new teacher because everything I teach is so new to me!

It was the first time Jack and Alex have been to a parade and Jack was so confused when they started throwing candy at him, no worries though, he quickly caught on! Alex loved seeing the little horses and the marching band. Here she is with Papa on the way to the fair later in the afternoon.

During Pioneer Days we were able to see what life was like long ago. Jack and Alex saw yarn being spun, played in the school house and explored a family home.

Jack was exploring a tepee, when he went in he wanted to know why the bed was all dirty, of course he asked this as he was standing on it!

Great pic, would have been even better if Jack had looked at the camera!! We are in line waiting to go down the giant slide.

So much fun! I loved riding the slide and so did Jack, Alex on the other hand screamed and flung her arms around all the way down:)

Getting ready to ride the Dragon.

The Dragon was Jack's favorite ride (much to my dismay). Even though at the last fair he could ride it alone, this time (actually 3 times) I had to go with him, and this ride was not made for adults! My legs were all scrunched up and I now have bruises on my back from all the jostling, I guess I'm getting old:)

Alex loved riding these little horses. I think she went on this ride about 4 times!

Ribbon Cutting

Jeremy had his ribbon cutting ceremony with the Chamber of Commerce this week! That's him with his team members - Liz and Brenda, and some of the members of the chamber.

Picnic Lunch

Now that Jeremy works Saturdays the kids and I have been getting creative with things to do in the morning. We decided to have a picnic lunch in the backyard, grapes, tomatoes, hot dogs, cheese, and pickles!

So much to share!

Surprise! We went to another fair. I love taking the kids to all the fairs around. They had a great time riding all new rides (well new to them, the rides actually looked like they were from 1950). Plus, Joe Diffie was singing so I got to enjoy some fun music. I tried to convince the kids to go watch him but telling them we'd come back to the rides wasn't going to work:)

Riding the pink elephants. This was one of their favorites.

I was so scared Alex would try to climb out but she loved it.

Bad to the Bone, my biker boy.

My silly boys!

Awww! Father and Son

On Sunday evening we went to a picnic that our church was having. We got to lots of yummy food, get to know people better and they had lots of water games set up for the kids. Its so fun to watch Jack participate in the games, and the older kids were so good at guiding him along!

Alex is definitly my little water baby:) She decided to plop herself down right in the middle of the game.

Well, I might as well just get all the way in!

Jack's first slip and slide run. He was playing kickball and this is how he slid into home:)

More to come after another trip to a fair next weekend!

Our state fair is a great state fair, don't miss it, don't even be late!

You should be hearing the music from "State Fair"! If not you missed a classic movie. We took the kids to the state fair in Springfield today for the first time. They had a good time, Jack especially had a blast. He rode so many rides he has never been able to before.

Jack went on his first roller coaster. He was such a big boy and absolutely would have done it again and again! He's the 3rd little one from the front.

So cute. Alex loved the rides she could do and was VERY mad when Jack could do the others and she couldn't. I'm thinking next year we'll spring for the unlimited bracelets since she'll be able to do most of the rides and Jack managed to blow through $25 worth of tickets is about 20 minutes!

We braved the spinning rides too. Jack loved it and so did I!

Of course we visited the petting zoo. The kids loved it, they can never see too many billy goats.

Jack on his 1st pony ride. We tried to have Alex ride one too but she did not want anything to do with that pony!

We saw the Wild About Monkeys show while we were there and Jack loved it! Alex and I enjoying the monkey show.

Jack loving his Dippin Dots in the basket of the stroller!

Ending Our Summer Vacation with a Bang

Our most important announcement as the summer comes to an end is Jack is POTTYTRAINED! Oh my gosh, I wasn't sure it would ever happen, especially after how he responded when I attempted earlier in the summer. But one day he took his own shorts off and told me he wanted to use the potty and he's been using it ever since! So everyone who told me. just wait he'll tell you when he's ready, were totally right:) You'll also notice he got his hair cut. It's his bib boy hair cut. It is definitely growing on me, but sometimes when I see a pic with his long little boy hair I get a bit teary.

I can finally put Alex's hair up. Look at her adorable pigtails, of course sometimes they last longer thatn other times!

So I decided to brave the pool for the second time this summer with the kids. I know I should have taken them more but between the fact that they don't open until noon and the sheer work involved in keeping them in my eye sight every minute, I have just nor attempted it that much. Here is Alex splashing in the shallow part. However, this picture is way deceiving because she rarely stayed in the shallow part. Most of her pool time was spent seeing how far she could go before being totally underwater. I would then pick her up and bring her to shallower water and she would kick and scream until I put her down and she could run back to the deep part!! Exhausting! I can't wait to be one of the moms that gets to sit on the edge soaking up the sun and talking!!! Maybe next summer:)

Jack soaking up the sun!

We have been very lucky to find great people to spend time with in Shelbyville and enjoyed a backyard party last night. It was a great time for us and the kids. Alex especially enjoyed walking from plate to plate and eating other kids food! They were too busy playing so she decided to help them out.

Beth and Nikki did a good job leading a game of duck, duck, goose. You'll notice Jack is absent because he was loving the bouncy house too much! However Tatum did give him a duck, duck, goose lesson later (it was awfully cute) Jack loved the bouncy house. He was in, out, and through it so fast this was the best pic I could get.

Family Photos

Here are some of the pics we had taken recently. Some of them are pretty cute and I count any picture where both kids are looking foward at the SAME time and not crying a success! We're scheduled to try again in the fall, outside this time, so hopefully the kids will have a little more fun and be more willing to smile and pose!

My baby girl! She's growing up so fast.

My little prince:)

Shocking, right?!?! We had a lot of pics like this!

Aww, Daddy and daughter:)