The Fair

For the first time since we moved to the Raleigh area in 2009, we finally made it to the State Fair.  It's actually the first time I've gone to a fair in almost 10 years.  (Pitiful, I know.)  One of the things that I was most excited about was the whole fair feeling--the yummy smells and the cool fall air with people milling around... so naturally it was the hottest day since late August.

We bought our tickets in advance so we were able to just walk right in, which was awesome.  Rory was so incredibly excited by everything.  As soon as we got there, she started on a rant about how she was going to ride all the rides including the big Ferris Wheel.  We just wandered around for the first little bit just to see what there was to see (and smell what there was to smell) and try to find a map.  I eventually found one on the ground, brushed it off and took it with us (never did find a legitimate one).

The girls were both very excited to see this little train.  Quinn loved it so much, she actually rode it again later on in the night. In fact, according to her, it was her favorite part of the fair (despite what the picture shows).

As soon as Rory got off of the train, she wanted to go on a "faster" ride.  I was pretty sure that once it got started she would spend the rest of the ride screaming to get off.  She got my goat.

In fact, she eventually asked to ride the little roller coaster.  I don't have a picture because Nathan had taken Quinn to the bathroom, and like the genius I am, I didn't think to at least take a picture of the ride itself before we left.  Anyway, the girl LOVED it.  She even kept her hands in the air almost the whole time (except for the "big" drop).  I was thrilled.  Now I can't wait to get her on a real roller coaster.

The girls ran into Mr. Cow and acted like they hadn't seen him in a million years.  I think Nathan and I could have told them we were going to the fair, showed them Mr. Cow and gone home heroes.

Nathan and I ate WAY too much.  Just know there was Italian sausage, a burger, a gyro, pizza, some funnel cake and a few other things involved.  Too much.  For the girls, their big treat was cotton candy.  They liked the blue.  And that it turned their mouths blue.

Rory riding the pony.

Funny story about the pony ride... When Rory was done with the pony ride, we started walking over to the Village of Yesteryear.  Quinn started having a fit--sobbing, yelling, the works.  As it turns out, what we thought was her asking to get out of the stroller as her saying she wanted to get on a horse.  And the farther away from the horses we got, the more hysterical she got.  By the time we got to the building the Village of Yesteryear was in, I FINALLY figured out why she was so upset.  After some calming down and her asking politely, we went back so Quinn could ride her horse.

That smile was totally worth the way-to-much amount of money required to ride the horse.  

We stopped to eat some more food. (Somehow we never made it back for me to go to the Village of Yesteryear...)

Quinn felt the need to show off how cute she is--blue mouth and all.

Random silliness around 7:30.

I made Rory wait until it was dark to ride the Ferris Wheel. By that point, she wasn't thrilled with it because it didn't go fast.

But she did like the view of the whole fair. (All I had was my 50mm lens.  The fair was MUCH bigger.)

This last picture makes me miss having access to editing software. When I get the chance, I will lighten it up a tad, decrease the noise (I only brought my XTi--I was NOT about to haul my big camera around), and make a few tweaks.  Even without that, I know I will cherish this photo.She was so pretty up there looking out over the whole fair.  I just loved watching her.  

Oh, and I know there were no pics of me, but when I handed the camera over to Nathan, I forgot to change my autofocus settings over to full auto for him.  So the pics with me in them turned out like this:

Good times.  But I'm still going to save it so 30 years from now the girls know I was there, too. :)

We had a great night.  It all fell apart a little at the end (overtired kids, 2 year old had an accident... all the stuff that happens when kiddos get overtired), we spent way too much money, the kids were up too late, we ate WAY too much, but it was totally worth it.  Great memories. 

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Haven't posted in a while....

just wanted to get your hopes up that I actually blogged.  I know you hate me.  And yes, I'm talking to you.  Patrice Williams.

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Fall Questions

My friend, Leigh, tagged me in this Fall question fest. I love fall, so I felt compelled to participate---maybe if I participate it will FEEL more like fall.

Do you like Starbucks? And are you a fan of their seasonal coffees?
Not really.  There's just a ton of hype and the fact that they charge like $84 per cup of coffee seems excessive.  The only saving grace is that they make a good molasses cookie. 

How do you decorate and prepare for Fall?
We will definitely carve pumpkins and I'll get a few mums for the front porch.  It's actually good timing because my bagonias (sp?) are starting to look iffy.  Though I'm sure if I watered them they'd jump right back. 

Will you participate in your college's homecoming activities?
No, but if I still lived in Greenville, we'd at least be at the parade.  I miss going to football games.

What is your favorite Fall clothing item or accessory?
It's not really a favorite since I get all weepy when I have to pack my flip-flops away for the winter, but I guess it would have to be my Sperry's.  I love good comfortable shoes.

What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?
I don't really remember having a favorite.

Do you like Halloween/Horror movies? Do you have a favorite?
No.  Not my cup of tea.  The typical horror movies are cheesy and the serious ones freak me out.  After I watched Mothman Prophecy, I ran everytime I saw the woods.
What is your favorite Fall Activity?
Going to pumpkin patches, carving pumpkins and Halloween.

What is your favorite Fall recipe?
Pumpkin bread.  Mmmmm.

And then she added eight more quickie questions, and here they are:

What movie coming out soon are you looking forward to seeing?
I don't really do movies, but I'll steal Leigh's for this one...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

What will you miss most about Summer?
My flip-flops.

When do you start your holiday shopping?
Right here in the next week or two.

Favorite exercise/activity?
I'm really enjoying softball right now.  As far as working out, I really love the elliptical.  I wish I had one in my house.  But not the regular kind--the gym quality ones that actually have a really long stride.
Best book you've read lately?
I haven't read a lot lately because when I do read, I get COMPLETELY engrossed and kinda neglect things that I should be doing around the house. 
Do you make your bed every day?
Yes.  It's just nice to get into a nicely made bed at night.

If you could choose a personal chef or a personal shopper, which would you choose?
Personal Chef!!  Shopping is something to do out of the house so I'm not giving that up (even though the kids drive me crazy).  Plus, a personal chef could cook healthy foods that taste good and I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of figuring out a healthy menu. 


Which TV show are you most excited for this Fall?
Big Bang Theory, The Office, maybe Mythbusters (yeah, I know)

I think I'm supposed to tag people, but pretty much anyone I would tag has already done it, so I'll just let you guys sit in amazement that I actually took a few minutes to post. :P

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I'm Bringing Blogging Back...

for a visit. I'll quit again in, oh (looks at watch) tomorrow. But, I wanted to share my new purchase. I got a new camera. What kind you ask? Drumroll please.... a new point and shoot. :) Nope, not a new fancy big camera or exciting lens. A point and shoot. One that has a lens that comes out every time I turn it on and that will actually open the shutter cover. Pretty exciting stuff considering my old one has been acting up for about 2 years now.

I haven't been taking as many pics of the kids recently because I don't like hauling my SLR to the park every time I go or while we are out on walks and the old point and shoot made me mad. So I decided it was time to get a new point and shoot. I went with one that has some manual controls so the control freak in me can override the camera's decisions when I think it's wrong. It's got an awesome zoom and HD video which were important because I don't want to haul around a camera and a camcorder. I'm pretty happy with it. In all honesty, there is a part of me that LOVES the harsh shadows, crazy flash, and graininess that comes from a point and shoot. I know that sounds insane from someone so into photography, but I adore snapshots--pictures that are about the moment and nothing else. A picture doesn't alway have to be composed well or be technically correct to warm your heart and make you smile.

It can remind you that your 3 year old cares more about directions than daddy.

Or that your 14 month old covers her face anytime she hears the word "where" because she thinks you are going to say "Where's Quinn?"

And then she has to show you where she was.

Or that your husband will let you take a wide-angle shot that will make his head look huge simply because he knows that playing with photo stuff makes you happy. And at the end of the day, he loves you so much, that doesn't care that he looks silly as long as you are happy.

I like my new point and shoot.

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Gabe...

I haven't met you (yet), but I love you. Happy Birthday little boy.

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Take that Alexander!

I'm sure by now we all know that Alexander had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I get it--I do. But I think, today, just this once, I have him beat.

It didn't start off that way. Quinn actually slept until 7, which was wonderful. We got up, ate breakfast and did all of our normal morning stuff. It started going downhill a bit when Quinn got up from her nap. She's got some of her top teeth coming in and they are giving her a heck of a time. Needless to say, she woke up in a fury. So, to try to calm her down, I put her in her high chair and gave her some Cheerios. And this is where it all falls apart.

As I'm sitting in the dining room with Quinn, I look out in the yard and see Darby (the dog) thrashing around on the ground. To put my reaction in perspective, you should understand that the dog is epileptic. So in my head, I think she is having a seizure. I grabbed my keys to unlock the deadbolt (we have the kind with they key slot on both sides) and darted outside to check on her. Moron dog was fine. She was rolling in a mud puddle. Great... now I have to bathe her.

As I walk back up to the house, I realized that I'd left my keys in the deadbolt. I immediately freaked out because Rory has been known to lock the doorknob--I always take my keys out with me. Well, today, she locked the deadbolt. I knocked on the door and tried to get her to open the lock. After about 3 minutes of that, I reached in my pocket (thank HEAVENS I had my cell phone in my pocket) and googled the closest locksmith. I told them what was going on (all the while trying to direct Rory on how to turn the key)and she said they'd be here in 15 minutes.

At this point, I called Nathan. While I was on the phone with him, the reality started to sink in a bit and I may have started crying a bit. That's about when Quinn ran out of Cheerios and started screaming her head off. So, I got off the phone and started trying to give Rory better directions for getting in the house. She was struggling to reach the deadbolt enough to turn it all the way back around, so I told her to grab a chair. It should be said that the chairs are, oh, about 2 feet from her. But, alas, my little 2 year old disappears into the kitchen and reappears in the living room, where she flings her stuffed animals off of her rocking chair and proceeds to drag the chair--across the living room, through the kitchen, and back around to the dining room. She climbed up on the chair, tried for a bit to turn the lock, but got frustrated. So what did she do? She just sat down in her little chair and started rocking--all the while looking straight at me. Punk!

I took a break and ran around to double check the rest of the doors and windows. No dice. By the time I got back, Rory had caught a second wind and started playing with my key chain again. Right when I think we are on the right track, she hit the panic button on my key chain and set the car alarm off. And it proceeded to go off for about 2 minutes before she figured out where the button was to turn it off. BUT.. it gave me a GREAT idea. I had a spare set of keys in the car. I immediately turned all of my attention to getting her to start hitting buttons on the key fob, hoping she'd unlock the car. When I saw her hit the right one, I darted down the porch, through the gate and to the car. 1) because I was afraid she'd turn around and hit the lock button, and 2) because my car relocks itself if you don't get in it fast enough. Thankfully I got my keys and ran back and let myself in the house--almost 20 minutes after the whole thing started. Poor Quinn had been screaming the whole time.

I was supposed to be meeting a friend shortly after that, so after calling Nathan and the locksmith (who was still 10 minutes away... ggrr) I got the girls ready and headed out of the house. I had a nice break from the suckiness of the morning while I was hanging out with Heather. That was, until, I went home.

As soon as I walked in the door, I realized that Darby wasn't in the house. So I went to the backyard to let her in. But she wasn't there. Apparently, when I was running from the backyard to my car during the lockout incident, I didn't shut the gate and Darby ran out. At that point I broke into panic mode. I started checking closets and bathtubs around the house hoping I was wrong. I started shaking around her food container (this is a parallel to the incident where Patrice's cat Sam got out and Patrice was opening food containers around the house, though I was a little less pathetic) and yelling for her. It was about then that I realized that after we moved, we'd never updated our information on her collar. I called my old cell phone number to leave a message for whoever had the number now letting them know what happened and giving them my new number. After that, I just sat down on the stairs and started blubbering like an idiot. Rory walked over and said "Where's my Darby? My Darby is lost. Where's my buddy?" It was heartwrenching, but a good reminder that I needed to be the adult in the situation. So we got in the car to drive around looking for her. As I was putting the girls in the car, a neighbor (that I didn't know) pointed me in the direction they had last seen here. I headed that way and THANK HEAVENS a group of kids that is ALWAYS outside had picked her up and brought her into their house so she couldn't run off any more.

As soon as the older boy went to get her, she ran out of the house straight to me. I put her butt in the car (while whispering in her ear that I was going to beat her from here to Canada for scaring me like that). I thanked all of the kids and the mom that was out with her. The littlest boy, about 5, was apparently all ready to adopt her and make her his. He looked at me with a little sad face and asked me where I lived. I pointed toward my house and told hime where. Then he asked, in this cute little voice, if he could come visit her. It was SO sweet. He and all of his friends are welcome to come and see her any time.

We left and immediately went to PetSmart to buy her a new tag. She now has a new shiny tag with our new shiny phone number and address. All tired and worn out we came home to recover from our long and stressful day.

And Darby peed on the floor. At least things are back to normal.

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Jonah's EB Auction

You guys know Patrice by now and her awesome little Jonah. In honor of his first birthday we're holding an auction to raise money for EB research. The auction will be hosted at http://jonahsebauction.blogspot.com from February 23-27. It's pretty simple, all you have to do is stop by at any point during those five days to browse items and bid on the ones you like. And trust me, there are A LOT of great things to bid on. (Like a lot, a lot. Like 100ish things a lot!)

Right now, we're holding a giveaway for those that help us spread the word! Go to the auction site and check it out!

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