State Fair 2011

Way back in October, we went to the State Fair. Normally we try and go on a weekday to avoid the crowds, but with Lila in school now, that wasn't possible. Unfortunately the only weekend that worked for us was the weekend of the Cotton Bowl game. Was that going to stop us? No way :) So we braved the crowds and the heat! Here Piper is riding with Daddy on the tram to the fair grounds. (Due to the crowds we parked in the first lot we came to which happened to be farthest away. Just when I was despairing the long walk with three little kids, we saw the tram pull up. The kids thought it was fun to ride.)

We came in the gate that was closest to the petting zoo, so we decided to do that first. We went ahead and paid a $1 for feed but in the future, we now know you can pick up feed off the ground to give the animals! The baby goats were particularly cute.

Lila feeding a baby goat.

I don't remember the name of this animal... an antelope? He was hungry though!

Sweet girl.

She was happy to ride around in Daddy's arm.

Family photo. Fortunately for us, my sister joined us for this outing and took our picture for us.

I could have tried to Photoshop these two images together to get one where all 3 kids are looking at the camera, but that would be too much work :)

This is what I normally get when I say "smile for me".

Happy girl.

Next we went to the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit. Before you begin, we had to take advantage of the cutout photo op.

Silly kids!

On to the tour... first up, the orchard!

Feeding the chickens.

Milking the cow.

This is the first time since we've done this exhibit that Lila was willing to go anywhere near the fake cow.

Wyatt really liked riding on the tractor.

Sorting out their goods to "sell".

Here they are spending the "dollar" they got for their "goods."

Riding around in the stroller. I thought it was funny how she pushed her toes against the tray.

We let the kids play an arcade game for the first time. Basically, pick up a duck and win a prize. The prizes weren't that great (not anything you can see in the picture). So we probably won't be doing any more arcades for awhile yet.

We were off to find some rides.

Here we go.. the Kids Way.

We found a whale ride where basically the whales go around in a circle. Lila and Wyatt were going to ride together. Lila wanted blue of course! But then, at the last second, Lila decided she didn't want to ride after all. Wyatt was already strapped in though and unaware of the change.

Once he discovered she wasn't there, he was NOT happy. Poor guy. He just had to finish out the scary ride by himself.

So then we decided to do another ride, but this time Ben and I rode along. Ben rode with Wyatt.

I rode with Lila.

I tried to get both of them to stand in front of this sign so we could see how tall they were, but Wyatt wasn't feeling cooperative.

Next Lila and I went through a fun house.

After watching us, Wyatt decided it looked fun so both kids went through with Ben.

At the end there was a rotating barrel. Next to that was a wavy mirror (which is what Lila is looking at).

Both Lila and Wyatt needed help getting through the barrel.

This year we found something new - it's probably been there every year but we hadn't found it before - the Texas Midway Greenhouse. And inside were a bunch of trains!

It was pretty neat how the trains went around and above us.

There was also a place in the greenhouse for children to decorate mini pumpkins.

Then we found a very special train...

Percy! (from Thomas the Train)

Wyatt was pretty excited!

But not as excited as when we went to the Bob the Builder exhibit in one of the museums on the fair grounds.

It was a hands-on, interactive exhibit. This was a fun display on plumbing where they put balls (water) down a pipe and then they came out into these buckets.

Wyatt really liked this station.

Here he is playing with Bob and Scoop.

Another station they had was this "stone" wall. They could complete the wall by placing the stones (which were magnetic).

Piper finally decided it was time for a nap, so she snoozed while the other two played.

Next they found the play tools. Wyatt cracked me up how he wore these goggles.

Wyatt had his tool belt and tool box ready to go.

Banging his hammer.

Both of them hard at work (notice Wyatt's goggles again).

Finally it was time to go... but not before enjoying a funnel cake!!

Riding the tram back to our car. It was a fun day.

Fire Station Tour

About a month ago, I joined some other moms for a fire station tour at a local fire station. I was excited to do this with Wyatt because he is always so enamored with fire trucks when we see them. The station we went to was older... the only one in the area that still has a working pole!

For the tour, Wyatt wore his *favorite* shirt, his fireman rain boots and his fireman's hat (I tried, but I could not convince him the hat was meant to be worn the other way!).

Even though he loves fire trucks, when we got inside he was pretty shy. He didn't want to touch the hose. I was able to get him to sit on the truck but only for a minute. Then we got to go inside the truck but he was very quiet through it all.

Here he is hanging back while the fireman shows off the equipment at the back of the truck.

Then they had us all sit down and showed us the gear that the fireman wears. They wanted the kids to see the person beneath all the gear, so they wouldn't be afraid if they ever encounter a fireman in his gear.

Here he is with all the gear. The mask made his voice different. I thought it was such a good idea for them to do this because kids probably do get scared in a fire if they've never seen this before! After this, we got to go upstairs and tour their living area which was neat to see.

Then we came back downstairs, and they showed us how the pole worked. This is all the kids watching. No, we weren't allowed to try it :) In fact, they said only firemen who've been trained can use the pole!

Then they gave us some goodies, like this plastic fireman's hat. Wyatt decided to wear it the correct way... long enough for me to take this picture anyway.

By this point, Wyatt had started to warm up and not be so shy. Here he is helping roll up a hose.

Standing up on the back of a truck with a friend (who incidentally is only 2 months younger than Wyatt... can you tell my boy is tall?!).

Standing in front of the truck bay before we left. It was fun. 

I love my little firefighter :)

(Yes, Piper was there. She hung out in the stroller the whole time, even snoozing part of the time.)