The County Fair

Every year, going to the California State Fair is such a highlight for our family.  The kids LOVE it!  So this year, we thought we'd hit up the County Fair as well.  It was pretty much the same thing... but smaller.  We started our day looking at the animals entered by the 4H kids for judging.  The rabbits were a HUGE hit with our kids.

Then it was off to the petting zoo.  I thought the price had gone up and was a little pricey for our family of five at $3 each, but the kids always enjoy it so much that it was impossible to say "no".

Then it was off to check out the exhibits.  I particularly wanted to check out the photography exhibits because I had kicked around the thought of entering (although I never found time).  Garrett was not as thrilled with looking at pictures and preferred making giant bubbles....

Then it was lunch time.  Way cheaper (and healthier) to pack a lunch than buy fair food.  Although I must admit that the fair food was tempting us...

The day ended by partaking in a handful of fair rides. Garrett and Paige were finally tall enough to ride some of them and Molly enjoyed showing them the ropes.  She's such a helpful big sister!

Last day of "Toddler Class"

For the last two years, I have taken Garrett and Paige to a "Parent and Me" toddler class at Christ Community Church.  It has been such a fabulous way for them to interact with other kids, do crafts, learn about circle time and classroom structure, and even get used to me leaving them in other people's care for short periods of time.  Last week they had their LAST class ever, as it was ending for the summer and next fall they will be going to "big kid" preschool in their "3-year old" program.  So off we went to the park to celebrate!  Here's part of the class with their teacher's Miss Jocelyn and Miss Nancy!

This year, Garrett and Paige had their friends Jadis and Isaac in class with them.  We know their family from our twins club, and it's been so great to watch the kids all play together more and more as they get older and older.

Paige spent much of our park day swinging and digging in the dirt, and Garrett was enamored with Isaac's bubble gun.  Those bubble guns are AMAZING inventions, because mommy doesn't have to sit for hours on end blowing bubbles.  I need to invest in a few of those!

This fall is going to herald a whole new stage... having Molly in school ALL DAY in grade one, and having the twins in preschool two mornings a week!  When did these kids grow up?

Backyard Camping

Last weekend, we bought a new "family sized" tent for camping.  We have a couple of camping trips planned for this summer and were extremely excited to finally feel like our kids are old enough to enjoy camping... something Steve and I both loved doing in our single lives.  Needless to say, the biggest kid (Steve) was VERY excited about our new tent, and decided he just HAD to set it up in the backyard.  Next thing I knew, we were having a family backyard campout!  Steve got everything set-up in the back yard with the kids' "help".

Our new tent is HUGE (sleeps ten) and the kids had a blast running around inside of it before we moved any gear or bedding in.

After some stories and popcorn, it was time to sleep.   The tent can be separated into two compartments, so Steve and I had our own sleeping area.  It still gets pretty cold at night so we piled all the extra blankets on the kids... not thinking much about our own warm. Needless to say, the only person who didn't make it through the night was me.  I work up freezing and went in the house!

We have two (potentially three) more camping trips on the books, and after this backyard test drive we feel pretty confident that the kids will do great and enjoy the outdoor adventure.  Steve and I are both looking forward to sharing our love of the outdoors with the kids as they grow up!