"Fried" Burg Fair- Part 1

Sunday we headed over to Maine for the Fryeburg Fair!

The girls found this pretend cow

that they could practice milking just inside the gates.

Next we stopped by a petting area and enjoyed

feeding and petting some of the goats.

Soon it was time to hit the Midway and the rides.

Josie and Gabrielle on the Ferris Wheel.

Josie is pointing to the "big kid" rides in a different section

and is telling Jie Jie she wants to go there next.

Me and Clara Rose on the Ferris Wheel.

Swings!

The "big kid" section.

Home of the Zipper.

The ride Jie Jie wants to go on.

No single riders allowed.

Wim will not go on it.

Josie wants to go on it-- says to me, "MOMMMMM! I AM big enough!"

Uh, I don't care.

A random picture of "the Zipper" ride from google images.

Another view of how this thing moves--for those who are not in the know.

An actual picture of the zipper with me and Gabrielle inside.

I label this a stepdaughter's revenge.



Me SCREAMING inside one of the cage cars.
Gabrielle is sitting on the other side of me-- also SCREAMING.


Below is a shot of what it looks like in full motion--from google images.

A Real picture of me trying to walk after riding this crazy thing.

It brought me back to the days of my youth--

the one's that involved a really baaaad hangover!

Josie was hopping all over the place to go

on some of the "REAL" rides.

**SIGH**

Josie and Wim on the Thunder Bolt.

Clara Rose was thrilled to be 'just' big enough--by a hair,

to go on the "REAL" rides.

She was yelling at the operator to go 'faster' and then exclaimed,

"OH Yeah!"

Me and the girls on the Scrambler.



 This was the last of our expose in the Midway

section of the Fair.

Next we are on to more mellowactivities looking at farm animals.

A Day for Exploring

There was a chance for rain on Saturday, so we decided

to stick a little close to home for a day of exploration.

Josie and Clara Rose were excited to hike through the wilderness.

They took turns being the trail leader

and finding the trail markers

for our path.

Clara Rose was her usual funny self.

A walk in the woods is always fun.

Even more so in the fall.

With lots of pretty leaves falling all around.

The girls thought the fungus growing on

this tree was really cool.

After our hike we headed off to

a playground for some more fun.

The playground was a bit on the smallish side, but

there were lots of open soccer fields and a track

to play on as well.

The girls had fun racing, practicing cartwheels, and playing tag.

We did one lap on the running track and discovered

a long jump area. They each had several tries to see how far they could jump.

Fall in New Hampshire

Back to work and school after a lovely long weekend in New Hampshire.

We had a great time enjoying the colorful foilage offered this time of year.

Josie and Clara Rose love visiting our special spot in NH and having a sleep-over.

There were still a few wildflowers growing in the pasture for them to pick.

After trecking through the pasture,

we made our way down to the frog pond. 



Clara Rose and Josie- Frog Pond, Fall 2012



Josie and Clara Rose- Frog Pond, Fall 2010



Clara Rose and Josie- Frog Pond, Late Summer 2011

 Our usual banquet on arrival night--

pizza rolls, carrot stick, and hefty glass of moo-juice.

Happy Birthday Cousin Emily!!

This past weekend we spent a wonderful day

celebrating cousin Emily's 5th Birthday!

All of the cousins enjoyed playing in the school yard

next door.

After expending some energy outise,

much of the crew settled-in for

a fun pumpkin painting craft. 

The Birthday Girl! 

Josie loves a good craft! 

Cousin Abbie- helping her younger cousins while

decorating  her own pumpkin.

Clara Rose painting away. 

Cousin Nate gave his pumpkin some

hair and lots of wiggly eyes. 

Josie finished pumpkin--

Lots of Bling!

Happy Birthday Emily! 

Trick not Treat

Aren't they cute?

The girls love this new Halloween decoration I bought for the yard.

We had it for less than a week before some D-HEAD stole it.

Yeah, I'm pissed about it.

Part of me wants to let it go-- pity the pathetic person(s) who would

actually stoop to such a level as stealing something like this.

Seriously? Who does that!?

Part of me wants to buy another one and booby-trap the yard-- but

booby traps, even on you own property are illegal.

Something tells me that the kind of booby traps that spew sulfuric acid

at people are probably even more illegal.

The girls didn't notice it was gone this morning, but they will tonight . . .

when it is time to turn on little ghost.

Animal Experiences

A few weeks ago the girls were invited to a friend's birthday party. The birthday girl had Animal Experiences come for entertainment-- and as you can see in the picts, Clara Rose was definitely entertained as well as entertaining with all the slithery creatures.

Most of the pictures are of Clara Rose as Josie was not as "entertained" by the slithery creatures as was Clara Rose.

Taking turns holding the Chinchilla.

 This was the only small cute and cuddle critter.

Clara Rose holding "Steve."

She changed her mind on holding this guy

pretty quickly after they put him on her. 

Turtles are much easier. 

This is named Dora.

Josie with a tiny baby turtle. 

I forgot the frogs name. 

Evidently, small snakes named

jellybean are OK. 

Of course, a bearded dragon. 

Clara Rose wanted to hold the 3-ft alligator as well,

but holding that one wasn't allowed.