The Puyallup Fair 2011

Have I told you how much I loooooove the Puyallup fair? I have some great memories of it growing up, and just the smell of sauteeing onions brings back those memories. Seriously, the entire fairgrounds smell like delicious food- onion burgers (the *best*!), fresh scones, elephant ears (huge pastries with butter and cinnamon/sugar on top), hot dogs, fries, etc. I could spend all day just snacking on yummyness!

In high school, my parents would let us get out of school with a friend and go (in junior high we'd do the same, but my parents would come with us). I just remember going on rides until I was sick, and then spending too much time eating elephant ears and flirting with boys.

Now I get to pass on the fair tradition to my kids. Yes, it is uber-expensive, but it is so worth it when I see the glee in their eyes as they go on rides and eat cotton candy. This year we pre-bought them ride bracelets, which were over $20 a piece. And we bought one for all three of them. Madelynn is old enough to go on most the kiddie rides, Jack is fearless, and Olivia is tall enough to go on some of the older kid rides too. We brought in some snacks, but still bought some things inside. They were so excited and we stayed for many, many hours. Or at least my feet felt like we did. It was warm, sunny, and lots of fun! We went with Celeste and her kids (minus Rix, who was there, but with a friend and his dad) plus my mom came to help out.

Adam and I went the next week with Celeste and my parents. It was lots of fun to just go with the adults and we try and do that every year. We get yummy food (seriously, Adam and I split an onion burger because they're huge!) and walk around the pavilions that host all the vendors. We usually find some cool things and great deals, but usually we just wander and look. And get more food (are you sensing a theme here?). Next year I'm getting the corn fritters with honey butter. My mom got those and I only got a bite and now I can hear them calling to me!

Bryce and Jack on the swings. The ones that go up high and then in a circle. I hate that ride. And any ride that goes in a circle. Ugh.

Olivia and Cole. This was our first ride and they loved it.

Madelynn, my fearless 2 year old, insisted on going by herself. No seatbelt, just a chain in between her legs. I was so nervous! She literally giggled the entire time. It was really cute, but I was still glad when she was back on the ground!

Cole is serious about his motorcycle riding.

The big slide. My kids didn't get to do this last year because we ran out of tickets. Thank you really-expensive-unlimited-ride-bracelets!

Uh, I think she liked it :)

Jack, Bryce and Olivia were big enough to go on a roller coaster, while Cole and Maddie went on some helicopters. They loooove roller coasters. Does anyone remember Olivia's first (click here... it's HILARIOUS!)

Jack also looooves roller coasters :)

Cole, Madelynn and Bryce on the motorcycles.

Jack and Livvy on one of the few rides just the two of them went on.

Ethan and Rix. The only time we saw Rix, on this ride. He had lots of fun. Olivia also got to go on this ride as her "last ride" but since she couldn't go on by herself, some other kids let her on with them. I think they were less than thrilled (so why'd they offer, you ask? Maybe the pleading look I gave them?) but she was oblivious and loved it.

They have this cool drum thing with lots of things for the kids to drum on. My kids love this every year. This is also where I switch to my small digital, since I didn't check the battery life of my DSLR.

Excuse the random bum in the picture, but these two loved the rolling room at the end of the fun house!

So each stair moves in opposite directions. It was really funny to watch her try and get down. She ended up doing the splits more than once.

Jack trying to make his way across the rolling floor.

Barely got this, but Madelynn finally was tall enough for a roller coaster. Her face is priceless.

But alas, she is also still too short to go on most rides. Poor thing!

They had these cool bikes with clown on them. They were pretty amazing.

Almost done for the day, we finally made it to the train which takes you around the kiddie land part of the fairgrounds. Until next year Puyallup Fair! Even if I have to start stashing away some money each month to afford you, we'll still go every year!

First Day of School and Jack Lost a Tooth

Olivia is growing up way to fast! I was just looking at some of her baby pictures and got all teary-eyed. She's in second grade now! She's a great speller, loves to read, spends countless hours writing books and illustrating them, and is maturing right before my eyes!

Jack is in preschool again this year, much to his dismay. He missed the kindergarten cutoff by 26 days! He loves his preschool teachers though and is learning a lot. He recognizes all his letters, numbers and shapes. He can write his name, and his teachers say he is a leader in the class because he knows the routine from last year. Seriously, his teachers loooove him!

Jack also lost a tooth the next day. As you can see.... it traumatized him.

He's slowly making his way through the cycle... anger, depression, denial...

Ah... acceptance. Mostly he's happy that the Tooth Fairy is coming later.

Week of Fun: Pump It Up

I swear we keep Pump It Up in business. We actually had a Groupon to use up so we headed on over for some fun the day before school started. The kids were super excited, and I'm always excited that at least one of them will take a nap afterwards. Oddly, my fearless Madelynn was afraid of the big slide this time, which has never happened. She would only go if I went with her. And if I carried her the whole way up, which is really hard to do when you're lugging a 30 lb toddler up an inflatable ladder made for feet half my size.

All the kids paying attention to the video of the rules... I mean all are listening except the one that should be paying attention the most (ahem, Madelynn!)

I love the plastic things they have for the kids to slide down on. My kids literally get airborne, they are going so fast!

Bryce, the only Pearson child I got a picture of. The two I got of Cole were blurry because he was on the go the whole time, and I don't even think I saw Rix because he was having so much fun!

Since she wouldn't go down the slide, she became obsessed with the baseball game. Madelynn+bat=disaster.

Funny. She saw the camera, stopped running just long enough for a weird smile, and then took off again.

Anyone else cringing at her fingers at the table? I waited the whole time for smashed fingers but she was lucky.

Starting to get tired, I can see it in his eyes!

We had so much fun at Pump it Up and it was a great way to end the summer. Later that evening Adam and I took the kids to Applebee's for a before school treat. It was fun, the kids had fun, and then went to bed early so we could get up on time!

 As much as I love the structure of school days and having some quiet in the house when the kids are gone during the day, I always miss the summer days when we could just get up and go do what we want. I can't wait for more vacation days to come up soon, and for next summer when we will go and do more fun things (maybe the Pacific ocean this time?).

Labor Day 2011

We had a low-key barbecue on Labor Day this year. It's always the last big hurrah before school starts. It was fun to just eat yummy food and spend time outside with the family.

So, these are deflated balls my dad bought online. There were a bunch of them in a bag and we all (I mean all had to ask what they were). Bryan had fun playing with them before they were inflated.

And then he had more fun :) So pretty, haha!

Oops! Gotta fix 'em! This is what happens when Mom is not home for the weekend :)

Adam loaded up on the good stuff! Marinated steaks, roasted corn and tomato salad with feta cheese, and so much more! Don't forget the Dr. Pepper!

The kids waited so patiently for the balls to play with. And Madelynn wouldn't be complete without something on her shirt.

Olivia on the merry-go-round. My dad made this waaaaay back when I was like in kindergarten and he moved it to our new house when we moved. It has been around for so long and the kids love it.

Jack is such a boy. He loved playing catch almost all evening.

Week of Fun- Blackberry picking

The Sunday before school started, we met up with the Pearsons to pick some blackberries. The lake at Steilacoom Park is surrounded by blackberry bushes. There are so many of them and most of them are too far back or high to actually get to, but Adam and Bryan didn't let that stop them. We got tons of blackberries (Celeste and I used them to make our own fruit roll-ups later in the week) and we used them for a blackberry cobbler for dinner the next Sunday. It was fun for the kids to get out and run around too.

Yes, we filled that bowl up about 3/4 of the way. And that doesn't include all the blackberries we ate along the way :)

Madelynn brought her own bucket to "fill up". I think the most she had in her bucket at a time was ten, since she ate pretty much everything that went into her bucket.

Another fun thing about the lake are the ducks. There are so many signs telling you not to feed them, but every one does anyway. We just let the kids give them some bread, but the ducks and birds can get pretty agressive so we have to keep an eye on them.

The path around the lake is beautiful. It's also marked as an exact mile, so Celeste and I like to run there.

The kids looking at the ducks. I think it's beautiful.

Jack stole (okay, borrowed) Bryce's scooter.

Adam filling our bowl. He did a great job!

These two frenemies are so cute :)