St. Charles County Fair 2013...

...it's fair time again! Daddy went out there and camped all week. AR and I went out on Tuesday and this afternoon to visit him. Luckily, the weather has been fantastic this year! I know in a few years, we'll be up there entering craft projects and fruit and then a few years after that, we'll be showing steers...I just hope we stay away from showing the smaller animals like chicken and rabbits. They're cute but I don't want them at my house. At least with a steer, they'll "live" somewhere else and AR will just have to go there to take care of him. Anyways, on to the pics!

 

When we first arrived on Tuesday, Daddy greeted us in the Bobcat so AR jumped on and went for a ride.

Then Daddy took us for a ride on the Mule...she loved this. The majority of the time we were there, we were riding in the Mule. She quickly got obsessed with the key when we were parked...taking it out, putting it in.

Big girl "driving" by herself

On Tuesday, we tried to lay down in the camper for a nap but new environment, lots of people meant no nap. While we were waiting for Daddy to finish dinner, AR laid down on the picnic table to rest.

This is on Friday, more driving in the Mule

She even steered! We were in the lower parking lot where no one was so Daddy let her steer and she enjoyed it.

Then she found the horn...

Big girl steering!

Did you know the fair has lots of toys to play with? They're called rocks. AR would pick up the big ones and hand them to me then take them back and throw them down and repeat.

We walked over to the rides but AR was too short to ride any wides, including the ferris wheel. There was one ride she was short enough for but there was no way she would have ridden it alone. So here's she's telling her daddy to come on and get off the phone.

Daddy bought her boots for the fair. She looked so cute in them but unfortunately, they fell off...a lot. Here's Daddy putting them back on for who knows what # of times this was!

AR spotted this fluffy thing, an angora rabbit, and asked to pet him

We checked out our friends steer and AR petted him. We also saw some pigs and she was about to pet him when he snorted right in her face and then she had to be carried through the rest of the pig barn.

She was so excited to see our friend, Lee from Texas! At first, she was bashful but then recognized him and gave him a big hug. Last summer, Lee worked with Matt so he got to see her a lot when she was a little bitty baby. We've seen him a few times since he's moved back and AR always gives him a big smile and hug.

Lee is great with kids. I think he's one of 10 (maybe more!). Some of his brothers and sisters came up from Texas for the fair. AR fell in love with 2 of his brothers! One had on suspenders and kept tickling AR which she laughed hysterically. Then this guy would pick her up by the arms and set her down. Then she'd sign more for him to do it again! Both of them pulled her right up into their laps and played with her.

Next year, maybe we'll be brave and stay overnight in the camper with Daddy...

Playdate at Faust Park...

...a couple Saturdays ago, AR and I didn't have anything to do. I posted on our Mom Board on Facebook to see if anyone wanted to meet up. Luckily, three other moms and babies met us at Faust Park.

 

AR was pretty excited when we got there and went off exploring.

She got excited and ran to give her bestie, Emma, a hug when she saw her at the park.

Dez and Sophie showed up to join our playdate. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of Sophie or Nick. They were busy bodies on the go, go, go! Here's AR and Dez hanging out on the blanket.

It was a hot, HOT day so I brought water for AR. She looks like such a big girl! We also had Cheez-Its and some bird kept trying to fly down and get them-freaky! Luckily, they only did it when we weren't at the table.

Here's AR and Emma swinging

AR was crawling through the play structure and we're working on her going down the slide by herself too.

We're supposed to have another playdate this weekend so hopefully the weather will hold out!

Goofy AR!!!

...AR has been such a ham lately! I'm loving all the great pics I'm getting of her although my FB friends are probably annoyed with all the pictures.

She's also into "talking" on the phone or anything that resembles a phone...a remote, calculator, you name it and she can chat up a storm.

Nana told her to show us her belly button...great.

Sunday night, Matt and I took AR to a Rascals game which was cancelled because of rain. Of course, AR just wanted to go play in the rain. Silly girl!

On Monday night, I made chicken with lime. She insisted on eating a slice of lime. This is what happened:

Whew-sour!

Apparently she liked the chicken though because she was licking the plate.

And she's really into holding her cup and drinking it herself...or wearing it-whatever.

AR, you are such a hambone!

Fourth of July Celebration 2013...

...Aside from last year when I was on maternity leave, this is the first time in 8 years that I haven't had to work on the Fourth of July. Luckily, I had the July 3rd shift so my holiday was open all day long!

 

AR and I started the morning with breakfast with Jenni, Emma and her grandparents. Ugh...I totally blew my diet but it was so worth it! Waffles with peanut butter and chocolate chips-yummy! After breakfast, we all headed to St. Charles for their parade.

 

Backtrack a second...when AR and I got to Gingham's for breakfast, Jenni pointed out that AR only had on one shoe. I assumed the other one was in the car, put her in the high chair and didn't think much about it. When we parked for the parade, I went to the back of my car to get out the stroller and found her shoe sitting on my bumper!!! I guess it fell off before we left and Matt put it there. I drove on the interstate, people, and it stayed on! I was so shocked but excited because we just bought these shoes last weekend.

 

We staked our spots and set up camp. Here are the girls:

Emma was all ready for the parade...AR and me on the other hand, weren't so prepared-thanks Jenni for letting us use some sunscreen.

We got there early to get good seats so we had awhile to entertain the girls before the actually parade started. AR enjoyed walking up and down the street.

Jenni bought an Italian Ice that Emma and AR shared...it turned their tongues blue as you can see on AR's tongue. Here she is talking to her Daddy who met us there.

The G-Fam on Fourth of July!

The parade was right during nap time. AR was so tired, she tried to lay down on our blanket to nap.

Emma was a sweet girl who stayed in her Grandma's lap the whole time

AR loved all the animals (mainly horses and dogs). This is a reindeer horse.

Santa and Mrs. Claus

We put AR in her stroller and laid it back for her to nap if she wanted. She'd lay down but then a band would come by and she'd pop up.

She loved the band playing "God Bless America"

She even clapped along!

AR and Daddy sharing a kiss

The fair Matt volunteers for had a float and we knew them so the stopped to say hi to AR

And then the parade was over and AR passed out before I even pulled out of parking place.

After the parade, we sat in the parking lot at the pool for an hour for her to nap. Oh the things we do for our babies! Then Matt, AR and I went swimming. It was a great place...3 seperate pools, a "waterslide" Matt could take AR down, 2 zero-entry pools-she loved it! Except that the water temperature was artic. We only stayed about 1.5 hours and about 30 of it, we were sitting on our chairs because the sun went behind the clouds and we were FREEZING!!! Normally, you warm up and get used to it but not today, I was chattering the whole time. Aside from the goose bumps, AR didn't seem to mind at all. Even Matt thought it was cold so we decided to leave.

 

We spent the rest of the day at home...us girls playing inside and napping while Daddy mowed. I made pulled pork in the crockpot for dinner and then we all went out for snocones after dinner. It was a great family day and a perfect way to celebrate Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

...last weekend, AR and I did a photoshoot with our Steltenpohl Studios. It was Fourth of July themed. Here are the pics! Hope you all had a great holiday!

And I saved the best for last!

Happy Independence Day!!!