Sugar, Fried Food, and Fun!

James and I took off work today, so we could go to the great state fair of Texas on the kids' fair day.  We woke up to LOUD hail slamming against our roof and windows a little before 5AM, but miraculously all three kids stayed in bed.  We went back to sleep after it ended, and had a relaxing morning around the house before heading to the fair around 11.  The kids were excited to see Big Tex and ride some rides!!

When we got there, James headed to buy coupons while I lathered sunscreen on the little ones, and  we even had time to pose for some pictures...

Then we headed straight for the kid rides.  We told the kids they could each use 20 coupons on rides, but then realized all the rides were 8-10 coupons each!! Because we're awesome parents, we changed the rule to 5 rides for each big kid.  Grey sat out on rides this year, because he doesn't know the difference, so obviously we chose to save ourselves the $20. 

First they picked this fun house with a slide at the end...

Charlotte flew down!

 Then the spinning bears...

Then they lined up for this flying ride...

All set to start...

Grey was happy to just chill in the stroller and watch H and C...

This was Char's favorite of the day!

Next was this spinning roller coaster...

It was 3-4 per car, so this dude sat with them.  They were fast friends...

It was so fast that none of my pictures turned out, but it was Hunter's favorite of the day...

 

Then Hunter rode the bumper cars...

while Char and I rode this dog roller coaster...

It was fun, but I think she liked the other one better.

Then we shared nachos, a catfish po boy, and a cinnamon roll for lunch, and after we were done, we found Big Tex!

After we stopped by the cars, we headed to the Children's animal pavilion or zoo or whatever...

Hunter held his nose or grimaced through most of this exhibit.  I think we all know who he gets that from:/

Porcupines...

I forget what this animal is, but I thought the baby had interesting looking ears...

Those donkeys were so still...only their eyes blinked!

We headed to the dog stunt show after that, and then James and the 2 bigs rode the gondola for like $18 or something ridiculous.  Grey and I stopped for a funnel cake beside Big Tex while they rode.  He made this face each time Big Tex talked...

He loved the funnel cake!  Who doesn't?!

We were all exhausted, so after that we headed out.  By the time we got to the car, this is what our little loves looked like...

 

Wiped out, flushed and frustrated!  Those seat belts can be difficult when you're hot and tired.  It was a fun, full, exhausting day, and we loved it!

Sparkle

Char has been asking to get her ears pierced for months now.  We actually went to Claire's this summer while we were in Corpus visiting Mom and Rich, but she watched a teenager get her cartilage pierced and decided against it.  She started asking again several weeks ago, so tonight we went for our monthly date night and got them pierced!

 

We went to Sweet and Sassy and I'm so glad we did.  They were awesome.  The worker showed Charlotte that she would make two dots on her ears with the marker, and then made a smiley face and said she'd be smiling with sparkly earrings in after it was all done...

Measuring...

Marking...

Charlotte was pretty nervous and told me I couldn't take pictures during because she wanted me to hold her hands.  Another girl came over so that they could pierce both at one time.  So I knelt in front of her and she squeezed both of my hands (hard!).  They told her that they would put the guns to her ears and count to five and then it would be over.  She had the most serious look on her face when they were counting.  They pierced on three and pulled the guns away on five.  She barely even flinched!  I was so proud of my beautiful girl...

 She got to pick out some suckers and get some glitter afterward...

She chose purple hearts...

 and purple suckers...

"Because purple is my favorite color now"...

 

We went to Scotty P's afterward to have dinner and split a chocolate shake.  At dinner I asked what it felt like and she said, "It felt like two crabs pinching my ears really tight."  I thought that was such a clever description!  It was our best girls night yet!  She asked if we could do it again next time:)

Pumpkin Patch

We spent most of September adjusting to our new home and school and routine, but are so excited for October and all of the fall fun we're going to have!!  We went to Vanesa's football game last night (on her 16th birthday!), and today we went to the pumpkin patch after school.  I always love picking out our pumpkins!

The big kids were a great help to me.  They found some great picks and helped me carry them around.

Grey loved running around and throwing the baby pumpkins everywhere.  He is quite a handful these days...into EVERYTHING and doing a great job of exploring his environment, just like he's supposed to:)...

Also, it's really hard to get him to sit still for a picture...

Got one!

 

My favorite of the day...

 

We love fall! 

 

First Day of School!!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks with the move and starting school, so blogging hasn't happened.  The first day of Kinder and Second came and went and honestly, I'm thankful that it's over and we're settling into a routine.

 

I made bought these chocolate chip cookies for the kids' teachers on the first day...

She's so excited to be a KINDERGARTENER!!!

Second grader!

Hunter chose a minion (Despicable Me) backpack and Angry Birds lunch box and Charlotte picked a princess backpack (Jasmine, Tiana, Belle, Ariel, and Rapunzel) and a Sofia the First lunch box this year...

The original plan was to take the whole crew to Hunter's class first, and then leave him there and drop Charlotte in her class.  But, of course we were running late, so James and Grey took Hunter to his class while I took Char to the Kinder hall.  She was a little unsure at first and kept asking me to stay right by her as I was trying to unload her supplies and put them in the right pile around the room.  We took some pictures, though, and that seemed to help her transition...

I just read that sentence and realized how ridiculous it sounds, but the girl has had pictures taken of her incessantly since the moment she was birthed, so I guess it felt like home to her:)

We got a picture with her teacher, Ms. Anderson (last year's Teacher of the Year at Sewell!)...

And then she got busy coloring...

There were lots of parents lingering in her class, so I took my time sitting with her and saying goodbye.

Apparently, second grade didn't have the seem feel because James said he was the only parent in there.  He felt pressure to get out as soon as the bell rang, so he just got this one blurry picture of Hunter and his teacher, Ms. Priske...

I've been really pleased with both teachers so far.  They are super sweet and Mrs. Priske has gone out of her way to update me on Hunter and assure me that he is transitioning well as one of the new students.  It was kind of a rough start for both kids, but this week has been great!

We're excited for a fun year!