Staying inside on a hot day.

That would be the smart thing to do. But it's not what we did today.

When we got up this morning, I had to hurry the kids faster than normal to get them out the door - we had a parade to go to! I kept saying "If you want to go to the parade, we have to brush teeth/fix hair/get dressed/find shoes/for-the-love-of-all-things-holy-you-have-to-wear-panties-or-pants-Ainsley ('tis a phase she's going through)/get snacks/fill up water bottles/get extra diapers for Gray."

Hannah said "Yeah, so we can get some candy!" Ainsley said "And see the DONKEYS!!!" So we got going and got there on time. Then we sat there in the hot sun while we waited for the parade to start. It was forty-five minutes late.

But there were donkeys. (Mules really, but I won't tell if you won't.)

And candy. And so much more. Go here to read about everything else in the parade.

After the parade, we headed to the fair to watch the gymkhana. We wanted to see little kids riding big horses.

These little boys were in the stands beside us. They told me that they were "going to be in the stick horse competitions. But we're going to get so muddy. Seriously. We're not even kidding. We won't be able to stop it." Inevitability can suck, can't it?

I didn't get a picture of Grayson looking adoringly at them. And then my five-year-old broke out of her shyness and offered them some of her parade candy. Bad boys have a strange attraction. Little boys want to be them, little girls want to share their candy with them.

We were going to hit the gymkhana and then go home, but Daddy called and asked us to stay for another four hours so that he could come have dinner with us.

I agreed. Because I wasn't thinking.

So we stayed and played.

And ate.

And made friends - if only for an hour.

And laughed.

And jumped.

And watched (really bad) puppet shows. The man wasn't even trying to hide the fact that it was his own voice. Ainsley didn't care because it was a talking DOG, but Hannah found it 'pretty lame' which I found pretty funny because just six months ago it would have been a talking dog for her also. Grayson just clapped.

Then there was karaoke. You couldn't set this one up any better, down to his socks.

He wasn't that good, but he was brave and loud. That counts for something.

We talked to the sheep.

Mother turned into a crusty adult and told some kids with no parents around to quit poking the turkeys in the small pens with sticks.

We kept track of the day's activities.

"Saw sheep? Check. Saw man singing? Check. Jumped in jump house? Check. Mother, I haven't been able to check 'eat ice cream' off my list yet. We'd better do that soon." Check.

We explored.
And went back for more karaoke. This little kid who still had a high voice was singing Kenny Chesney. He rocked the house.

And Grayson clapped.

Another man sang several Johnny Cash songs, including a few slow ones that I've never heard before that had Ainsley swaying around like she was listening to a lullaby.

We read - and read - and read.

It was too hot to leave the tents for very long. We visited all of the exhibits in the air-conditioned buildings. I even attempted the vendor building but skedaddled out of there after just one aisle. (That was partly because wrangling three kids - Gray was scorning the backpack by then - through tables filled with just-at-their-height goodies was daunting and partly because of the 'Save Morality!!!' table with the 'There never were dinosaurs, it's all a plot by the ATHEISTS!' table that I could see around the corner on the next aisle. Explain that one to Hannah? No thank-you. Not today.)

Finally, Daddy came, we ate dinner, and came home. A bit anti-climatic, no?

So here we are.

Home.

Overwhelmed.

According to Hannah, that is. And she's not far off. One picture and one child-mother interaction tell the story of the last two days.



Today when we got back from the post office, the girls were setting up coloring implements on the porch. I was taking everything from the car into the house when I noticed I had a shadow. "You look overwhelmed, Mother," said the shadow. "I am, a bit," I said. "Well, I've been watching you and I think that it's the cleaning that's stressing you out. Why don't you give cleaning a break and color with us. That will stop you from being so overwhelmed. And you'll be more fun to be around."

Point taken.

Snapshot Sunday 08-09-09

How it began.

Other snapshots -

Cindy
SunnyMama
Steph
Rinnyboo
Bona Fide Mama

What do I do?

I have thirty minutes to clean and two areas that need my attention.





So which do I do?

Our day today.

It started with Battleship (which for two little girls consists of putting their boats and then all of the red and white 'people' all over in the ocean).

Then breakfast.

Writing in corners.

Ains pretending to be a puppy, Gray joining her.

Painting.

Pony ride. Chores. Garden work.

Books. Lots of books.

Mazes on the computer.

Dominoes.

Yard play.

Helping Ains navigate this sometimes emotionally challenging thing called Life As A Two-Year-Old. She'll make it.

Resting.

Pretending to be Mary and Laura to my Ma and Gray's 'Baby Carrie' (Cygnus made a suitable 'Jack').

Gray sitting on my lap, drawing.

Hannah piped up "I want to learn Chinese, Mother. Can I learn Chinese?" (Kai-lan is a favorite these days.) "We don't have any Chinese programs. Do you want me to put you on Rosetta Stone with Spanish?" "That would be fine. I'll do that."

Those headphones are a bit big.

Stellarium. We love Stellarium.

Painting in the tub.

That took some intense clean-up while Daddy made dinner.

At dinner, there was drawing. Ains had everybody draw a dog, Hannah suggested a horse.

Daddy had everybody draw a mountain with trees, I suggested a cloud with rain (tailored suggestion for Ains).

Hannah's horse.

Then it was puzzles, games, books, and the Island Princess. Now everybody's asleep, and I should be too. Goodnight!

This post is brought to you by the color Orange.

Yesterday was a muggy, overcast day - the first in almost two weeks that was cool enough to hit a park during the day as Ains has been requesting (for almost two weeks). There just happens to be a park across the street from the library and Aunt Ria (It is how she's referred to at all times, so it has become her name.) and her kids were there, so that was the park we went to. I had business at the library after all (or rather, they had business with me - we got a library membership because it was supposed to be cheaper than buying books *sigh*).

Three hours at the park, one hour of that on swings. How do their bums not go to sleep?

Aunt Ria helped two of the girls figure out how to cope when there are three swingers and two swings ...
and she helped my Intrepid Explorer on his adventures.

To escape an interesting extended family that was gathering at the park, Aunt Ria took some of the kids over to play on some large rocks.

I stayed and swung the other kids that were with us and most of the kids of the family that was gathering at the park. I've never seen a family like that, but that's a story for another forum. Boy howdy.

We had a sporadic picnic lunch, bites grabbed between bouts of playing.

It's nice to hang out with someone who you can trust completely with your kids, and who your kids trust. I loved looking over and seeing this.

Then it was off to a few stores for supplies. Just Ains and Gray and me while Hannah stayed and played with her cousins.

We found some treasures in Michaels craft store (was there ever a more beautiful word than 'clearance'?). We were getting in the car when I snapped this picture.

My pirate girl and my backpack monkey having a sword fight.

When we went to pick Hannah up, my sister talked us into going to a sushi restaurant with her. (Pregnancy cravings for her. I just wanted to try sushi. It was gooood.)

Ainsley got her first crack at chopsticks. Very cute stuff. The next two pictures are horrid because of my over-active flash and then my absent flash, but still funny.

First you pick the sushi up with your chopsticks - use two hands if necessary.
Then, when you get it most of the way to your mouth and it starts to fall, you use any means necessary to get it the rest of the way.

It's worth it.

Then home to bed.
It was a long, fun-filled day.

County fair.

Last week was our county fair, something not to be missed even for raging hives. Livestock exhibitions, art shows, food that's rarely part of our diet, and a rodeo. Very exciting.

Well, she's not the best one to ask. Ask Grayson.

Maybe not. Maybe Hannah?

Yeah, there we go. Now that the rodeo's going, maybe Ainsley's gotten more into it.

Then again ....

(The next night, when I forgot my camera, was the crowning of the rodeo queen. All of the contestants buzzed the arena on their horses in pretty outfits and waving the beauty queen wave. By the third one, Ains had perfected the wave and was beside herself with excitement. Very cute, but not captured for posterity.)

Cute snapshots of the rodeo - the smallest contestant

and the tallest contestant (almost seven feet tall).