Fair Days and Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

Having a great time at the Clark County Fair!

I was going through a low point, feeling overwhelmed with life and all of it's many responsibilities. So taking a nice long vacation to the country was just what I needed! We spent four days at my parents' house and it was fair week! Possibly the greatest week of my childhood! I was so excited to spend some time with family, unwinding and eating lots of bad food :).

YES! This is what childhood should look like!

The Clark County Fair was perfect. You couldn't ask for better weather, the kids had a blast visiting all the animals and eating lots of ice cream, I got my Texas Twister drink (and had to ask for extra cherries because the kids ate them right out of my drink!), Grandma and Grandpa were happy for the company and we had a great time together. The prices have gone up since our last fair experience So we had to limit our carnival time to one horsey ride and each of the kids got to choose a ride. Evie was ecstatic to ride the Ferris Wheel and Austin was finally brave enough to try the giant bubble experience (last time we waited in line just to have him panic when we got to the front and we had to get our money back). There were actually a lot of moments when I saw Austin rising to the occasion and doing things he would normally be scared of. It was a proud Mommy moment for me :). Evie, of course, was scared of nothing (like a true Taurus). She squealed with delight as the Ferris Wheel rode higher and higher and happily waved down at all the little ant-like people. The only thing missing from the experience was Daddy. But he had to work and chose to spend the rest of the weekend in solitude... and who can blame him? Quiet moments around the house don't come often and he needed a break just as badly as I did.

Having a blast in the kids zone!

Digging for the buried golden coins hidden in the sandbox :).

Austin was really good at the bean bag toss!

Putting on a puppet show for Grandma and Grandpa

Silly girl :)

Learning how to milk a cow :). We tried explaining to Evie that she would get kicked in the head if this were a real cow but she wasn't getting it... hahaha

Grandma showing them how it's done!

Eating Anderson Dairy ice cream while Grandpa pulled them around in style.... it's no secret that they can talk Grandma into anything ;)!

Nothing better than fresh-made strawberry ice cream on a warm sunny day :).

The moment Evie was begging for! HORSEY RIDE!!!

My shy little cowboy :)

Evie was in heaven! Her horse took off before I could get by her side and she was NOT SCARED AT ALL! She amazes me.....

So handsome.

Mom got her drink! Life is good :)

And Evie got the cherries...

Taking a break to munch on some fair food!

Gampa's girl :)

Grandma's boy :)

LOVE

Is there anything cuter than baby piglets???!!! The answer is no.

Evie visiting the cows :)

Oh hello!

Petting the bunnies.

Austin getting into the giant bubble!

It took him a minute to figure out how to stand up but he had a blast trying!

We were laughing so hard and he was loving every minute of it! :)

Evie girl on her Ferris Wheel ride!

Sometimes her dare devil side and lack of fear scares me for her teenage years.... She's way too beautiful to be that carefree...

Our view from the top!

Yelling at Grandpa, Grandma, and Austin to look at her! hahaha!

There they are! They looked so small!

We spent the rest of the week outdoors. The kids swam in the pool, played with the dogs, and ran around wild. And I sat watching them, in my own little world of happiness. I felt like this was just what we all needed; a little freedom.

They were freezing cold but wouldn't get out of the pool! Oh to be young again :).

We went on a four wheeling adventure with Grandpa Nathan and it was a blast! We were reliving my childhood and it made my heart so happy to share this beautifully wild experience with my kids. We went back behind the Mesa and let the kids play in the river. Then we explored the land, finding ancient Anasazi Indian dwellings and their pottery and arrow head shards. We even found a desert turtle which I have never experienced in my whole life of exploring the desert! I know they are everywhere but they are usually hiding deep underground. Yet another cool experience I will always remember! The kids fell asleep in the back of the jeep as we drove back home, the sun warming their bodies and the bumps of the dirt road rocking them into dreamland :). We came back to the house muddy, tired, and half naked, just the way it should be!

Taking a ride in Grampa's jeep!

Exploring the Virgin River. the kids loved feeling their feet sink into the mud and it was just shallow enough for them to walk through!

Wading across to the island in the middle

If you look close, you can see the foundation of an indian dwelling! I would have just walked right past it but Nathan is a pro at spying this stuff!

And sure enough, there was pottery shards all over the place!

Meeting our friend the turtle :)

The kids were amazed at how slow he was.

The perfect end to the perfect day!

On the next morning, Austin got to go shooting with Grandpa which was another awesome experience! He is so into guns (like every other little boy his age) but we live in the city and we don't have the luxury of taking our gun out into the middle of nowhere to fire at broken bottles and empty cans. So Austin was in heaven :). And Grandpa Nathan was so proud of how well he listened and how good he was at hitting the targets! Austin brought home all of his bullet shells as keepsakes and happily showed us the soda cans he had blown into pieces :).

Grandpa has a mini-22 rifle, just perfect for little kids! Austin was in heaven!

 

 Sometimes life feels too regimented; too restricted. Something that makes me want to run away on a big adventure. So this was just what my soul needed, and apparently the kids needed it too! None of us wanted to go home that Sunday but Austin had a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese to attend so that helped coerce them into getting in the car. It was a trip we will always remember, and hopefully one we will be repeating again soon!

Jacob is one of Austin's best friends from preschool :). Aren't they all adorable?!

Pizza and unlimited arcade games = best day ever!!