Fun Facts About the Fair

Nothing says "September" more than a county fair. Friday night was the perfect evening to hit the road and drive up to the Comal County Fair. While we were there, I learned a few things. At first I was going to call them facts, but they were more like revelations.

Revelation #1: Alpacas are even cuter in real life than the ones on TV. They're even almost as cute as the 500 Babies. But not quite.

Revelation #2: Pushing a side-by-side double stroller through crowds is extremely tricky. The handles are at just the wrong height. What I'm saying is that whilst navigating the crowded fairgrounds I inadvertently touched two strangers' behinds. Not fun. Highly embarrassing.

Revelation #3: I don't care how many blue-ribbons it won, but there is nothing appetizing about a meringue pie that has been sitting in a hot exhibit hall for three days. Pretty much all of the food was gross-looking. And I realize the judges had to taste the entries, but do the half-eaten brownies still need to be on display?

Revelation #4: Roosters can be beautiful. I had no idea there were so many fancy varieties. I thought a rooster was a rooster was a rooster. I was amazed at the diversity of sizes and colors.

Revelation #5: Getting a funnel cake for the road seems like a good idea, but it's not. Funnel cakes should not be consumed in a vehicle, especially a vehicle in motion. They have a tendency to slide right off of those flimsy paper plates. The interior of our van is now covered in powdered sugar.

The kids were tired and crabby by the time we left, but it was worth it. One of these years I want to trek up to the State Fair, but that involves a five-hour drive. I can only imagine the revelations that trip would bring!

Fun with Scorpions

As if I needed any more excitement in my life, the other day I discovered a scorpion in my washing machine. At first I thought it was dead because it went through an entire wash cycle and looked like this when I found it:

I almost picked it up with a paper towel to get rid of it, but decided to leave it to show Billy. I checked on it a couple of hours later and it looked like this:

Yikes! It was resurrected. I racked my brain (or is it wracked?) trying to figure out a weapon long enough and sharp enough to kill it. At first I tried a pick-axe, but it got stuck in the washing machine and I couldn't really wield it with enough dexterity to deliver a death blow. I ended up using a marshmallow toasting stick-wand-thingie to stab it repeatedly. The scorpion was only a couple of inches long, but I think it was the largest creature I have ever killed. Many years ago I once thought I had run over a baby bird with a lawn mower, but what I thought was gore was really just poop. (I had only scared it. A lot.) What a relief!

House Update

I'm happy to report that we are inching closer towards selling our house. We received an offer about two weeks ago and have been dealing with negotiations, inspections and a few more repairs ever since. The timing was less than ideal because the offer came the day our agent left for vacation. We've been working with another agent in his office, but although she's been helpful with the sale, it was obvious that finding a home for us to move in to was not a priority for her. So we did what we could on our own, visiting a couple of new home builders and researching apartment complexes that offer short-term leases. The good news is that our agent is back in town and this Saturday we're going to finally get to look at some houses. He seems to think we may be able to do a lease-back agreement to get into a home and out of this one by closing on October 20. Let's hope! Otherwise some of you may find 500 homeless babies (and two dogs) on your doorstep!

Early Literacy

I don't like the baby to be out of my sight when the big kids are up and about. It's not that I don't trust them . . . well, yes it is because I don't trust them. They wouldn't intentially harm him, they just don't understand that infants can't eat goldfish crackers and don't want to play with big kid toys. But the other day I just had to get some laundry put into the dryer. Mind you, it's not like the laundry area is even really a separate room. There's no door and it's only about 10 feet from the living room. I was gone for less than a minute, but when I returned to the living room I found this:
You've got to love their intentions!

Why I Love Two-Year-Olds

It just doesn't get any better than this:

Daniel Turns Two!

Daniel spent last Monday chillaxing in a shopping cart at Target. Isn't that what we all wish we could do on our birthday?
For his birthday cake, he requested a "doggie cake". Thanks to my mom, who recently found her 1973 copy of Baker's Cut-Up Cake Party Book and bequeathed it to me, I was able to make him the "Woofy Dog" cake.
Then Daniel dressed up in his new firefighter gear.

We hope you had a great birthday, little guy! We love you and thank God for the past two years of your life!

Fun with Shaving Cream

Three cheers for shaving cream! It's the wonderfully messy, yet delightfully clean way to have fun! Let's glop our hands in it!

Let's smear it all over the table! Let's draw pictures in it! Who doesn't love shaving cream??

Wait a minute. What's this?

Sadness? Tears? A toddler who doesn't like playing with shaving cream? (A toddler who regularly coats himself with whatever food he's eating.)

Yes, it's true. The shaving cream experiment was a complete diaster for Daniel. He hated it.

Sorry little buddy, I really thought you'd like it.

I won't make you do it again.

Secret Garden?

I wish I could say I have a secret garden tucked away in my backyard, responsible for the produce you see here. But with our house on the market this summer, I decided it would be better to just throw a bunch of flowers in the two raised beds we put in last year. But since I also want my kids to know that the natural state of vegetables is not frozen chunks or something that comes out of a can, we went to the Farmer's Market last Sunday and came home with a colorful array of produce.