Besties!

Have you ever had a friend that you share SO much in common with, you just click? That's how it is with my sister Nicole and me. We've always been close...sure there were a few tumultuous years of stealing clothes, boys, money, and makeup from each other, but we seemed to have ironed all that out by now...at least I think we have (I still double check my closet after she leaves, j/k Nikki). Anyway, I am always glad when she comes to visit and I'm always sad when she leaves. Other than taking all the kids to the fair together, we did lots of hanging out and having fun. Luckily, I think our kids get along as well as we do...




Here they are all ready for church...
Carver getting some much needed guy time with Ethan...

We also walked down to the park one day...

E, A

Thanks for the visit Nikki, now hurry up and move down to Texas so we can hang out more often!

Everything's BIGGER in Texas

Everything is bigger in Texas, and the State Fair of Texas is no exception. We have been wanting to go to the fair since we moved here, but we never could convince ourselves that 12 bucks a ticket was worth it. But when my dad scored some free tickets I just couldn't resist... especially since my sister is in town from Utah and we could make it a family affair. Even with the free tickets it still would've cost Kaydree and me $12 to ride the Ferris wheel together, so we all decided to stick with the free shows and booths. The kids LOVED the puppet show we went to, they were glued to it as soon as we sat down...

Personally, I thought some of the puppets were a little creepy and apparently Elsie agreed with me...
Here's what Ava thought of the show...
The only other drawback besides the crazy prices was the crazy Texas weather. We've been having nice fall weather for the past week (in the 60's), I was all excited to get out the cute fall clothes, and in the blink of an eye it feels like summer again (back to the high 70's with what feels like 100% humidity...what is this, Florida?). Anyway, here we are sweatin' it out at a pretty cool dog show we saw...
We also went to a car show that showcased a lot of the newer models that will be coming out soon. I think my dad liked that the best, and Ethan (my sister's little boy) liked looking at all the cars. Plus anything that was indoors and air conditioned was a welcome relief. But I think the favorite for my kids was the petting zoo and farm. Yep, no swine flu outbreak can keep these kids from lovin' on some farm animals...I thought the farm area was really cute...The kids put on some aprons and prepared for a day of work on the farm...They gathered chicken eggs...Milked a mechanical cow (daddy would be so proud)...And harvested crops...Then they were paid for a hard days work (under the table, I'm sure) and 'bought' a snack with their earnings. What a cute idea...

You'd think with all there is to see at a fair, people wouldn't want to stop and stare at twins. But even the action all around couldn't stop several people from coming up, commenting, pointing, smiling, even gasping. I guess they are pretty cute...

A, E

Okay, so maybe we did have quite the crew. We got a few "did you bring enough kids?" comments, and "wow! look at all those kids." I just wanted to say "Yes people, we brought children to a fair, is that so weird?" but I just bit my tongue when I saw the grandparents beaming with pride...they love for their grandbabies to be noticed.

Poor Ryan is traveling for work again, so he missed the whole thing. I'm sure he would've LOVED to spend $10 on a corn dog, but we'll just have to take out a small loan and go another time. There's always next year. And who knows...maybe by next year there will be some sort of government program for family recreational activities. Fun is a right you know! By the end of the day, we all felt like Shelby - wiped out and ready for bed. But even in the Texas heat we would definitely do the State Fair again, high prices and all.

Pumpkin Patchin'

We visited our favorite pumpkin patch a little early this year since Ryan has a busy month of work ahead of him. So these pictures are from about a week ago when it was still warm outside and feeling like summer (hence, the shorts)...

The girls were just the right age for their first trip to the pumpkin patch, they really loved it!

A, E AvaElsie

How hard is it to get a decent picture of our family? This hard...

Since our trip to the pumpkin patch it has cooled off and Fall has officially arrived!