Sydney was worried about her first dentist visit when I sprung it on the kids that they all had cleaning appointments today.

As soon as we sat in the waiting room Syd turned into a nervous question box.  She asked me numerous times, "Who's going to clean my teeth? Is it going to be a lady because I LIKE ladies?  Why am I getting a check-up?!!!"

Every employee that passed by the front desk got Sydney's eye of disapproval as she waited to see if they were going to be the one to call her back to the chairs.  I asked her if she wanted me to walk back and sit next to her to which she grabbed my hand and said, "Yes!"  When the time came for her to go, she jumped up and didn't look back.  "Do you want me to come with you Syd?," I called after her.  She didn't answer and started talking to the Doc, the lady Doc.  It was smooth sailing from that point on.

It's not fair

We didn't get very far into the fair before everyone was hot and thirsty.  Two quick rides and a snow cone later the natives were pacified.  

Jessie's favs at the fair were the "huge, creepy swings with Mom" where she felt like her swing was going to fall off.  I'll give it to her, once those swings went up and got going fast it was a little disconcerting.  I'm glad she wanted to go with me though.  J also liked the huge slide.  

Dang this girl is getting spunky!  She has always had sass, but we see the tween years coming fast.  I try to remember she is still a kid, needs Mom time just as much as the young chillies, and helps out so much that she deserves extra-special rewards now and then.

After mutton busting we saw lots of animals and conquered a couple monster corn dogs and giant lemonade.  Logan's favorites of the day were "going on the huge slide two times, getting a silver medal, and eating junk food.  The kids were really good about deciding on the few things they wanted to see or do, and we were able to hit them all.  I knew our resident animal lover would be in heaven with all the animals available to touch and watch.  Sydney touched every living thing possible, and I'm glad she didn't come home with any disease or sickness.  

Check out the poor baby goat trying to grab a meal while Mom forages for food.  The poor little one couldn't catch up with Momma darting in between all the people in the petting zoo.  Syd thought it was the funniest thing, especially when baby accidentally got pooped on by Momma goat.  

 When Syd was happy she was a riot to watch.  She would squeal and wave every time a ride took her around to see Daddy standing on the side.  She was the last one of us out of the small animals area because she was so curious and excited to see all the different creatures.  As soon as she learned there were "real alive ponies" at the fair she didn't stop asking to find them until she was on that saddle.  Her other highlights were talking to the clowns and the animals.  Bless her little dare-devil heart; she was so sad when she was too short to go on the roller coasters.  She's going to be fun at Disneyland when she grows tall enough for Space Mountain. 

 Toby's highlight was the dragon roller coaster NOT the spinning roller coaster in the first picture.  Our Toby is not the adventurous type when it comes to flying, spinning, or riding on crazy things.  We made him go on those two roller coasters and he ended up loving the dragon one.  

This sweet boy learned a hard lesson at the fair too.  We were nearing the end of our day there and each kid had three tickets left to spend how they wished.  We tried to warn the kids that if they chose to spend their tickets on one of the games they wouldn't have any left for rides they wanted to go on.  Toby and Logan especially were sucked into the games from the beginning, but after explaining that they would get one game or three rides everyone made their choice.  Toby was the only one that chose to play those worthless games.  We tried to warm him that he could buy the dippy prize he would win for half the money, but he was determined.  He walked away from his game with a dollar store stuffed rat after less than a minute of throwing darts at balloons.  Off the other kids went to go down the big slide when Toby exclaimed, "I want to ride the slide too!"       

It finally sunk in that he really did trade more rides for his lame game prize.  Poor guy.  I felt so bad for him, yet wondered why he didn't really listen to what we were trying to tell him.  He had to find out on his own.  Isn't that how we all learn hard lessons?  At first he thought we were being unfair, until we explained that we tried numerous times to warn him.  Toby sulked while the other kiddos finished using their tickets for rides.   

 Daddy loved his monster corn dog and lemonade, and had fun helping Logan get ready for his mutton busting.  I loved the swing ride, splurging on corn dog yumminess and watching the kids have so much fun.  

The only downers of the day were that Miss Squid picked the one day we were out to be grumpy, and we had to leave early. Squid was a pickle off and on all day, and really could have used an afternoon nap. I guess we are not quite out of a stroller for her, and I was sorry I didn't bring it.  Four and a half hours went by too fast.  When it was time to leave we all wanted to stay longer.  My Man had a swim team meeting and we had family night planned to celebrate sis-in-law Kristy's birthday, so we had to cut our visit a little short.  We still had a great time as a family seeing all the animals, crafts, rides and eating the junk food!!  Although, I just realized we did not eat, or have the kids try, a funnel cake.  I can't even remember the last time I ate a funnel cake.  That might be a travesty we will remedy next time....

Mutton bustin'

When family came home from the fair last week and told us about Mutton Bustin' we had to go check it out in person.  One quick Google search later and I made tentative plans for a family trip to the county fair yesterday to take advantage of free admission.  We helped the food bank with four canned goods per person for admission and scored 99 cent carnival rides.  It turned out to be the only day we would have chosen to go, because rides alone would have drained our wallet twice over.  It was a perfect way to enjoy the fair for cheap-er.

So what is Mutton Busting you ask?  One child, one sheep, six seconds; that's what the official website says.  It's bull-riding for kids.  All our chillies wanted to ride the sheep so badly, but only Logan fit the age 3 to 6 and under 60 pounds requirement.  Once we got into the fair and Logan got a little more comfortable in his surroundings, he was all for signing up for the next mutton busting event.

This kid was all business, and a bit nervous, before and quietly enjoyed his moment of glory afterward.  I may just be biased, but his sheep (the second one) hauled mutton butt out of that gate faster than any of the other kids sheep.  Logan ended up with a second place medal and couldn't be happier.  When we asked him if he had fun Logan said, "yes and no."  Yes, for riding the sheep and getting a silver medal, and no because he flew off.  He did it with style though. 

A little nervous before.

Psyched and ready to go. Notice the cowboy boots he wore to get in the zone.

Without further ado, may I present our resident cowboy;

Mission accomplished.  He wore that medal proudly the rest of the day.  People who knew what it was would stop him every once in awhile and give him high-fives or shoot thumbs-up his way.  Surprisingly, he loved the attention.


More fair pictures coming next.....   

Dang it our baby is growing fast.  Look at these cute little Squidy buns on her first day of swim classes on Monday.  We have been meaning to get her in some swim classes, and signed her up at the cabana club twenty minutes before the first class started.  We brought her suit just in case, and now she conveniently has lessons the same time the kids are in the pool with the Gators.  The best part is that one of her teachers in Jessie's senior buddy on the team, so Syd already knows her.

After all the kids got out of the pool this morning I told the big kids how Syd almost drowned today during her class.  It's a good thing I was watching because she went off the last step to swim to her teacher, but the teacher was facing the other way with another kiddo.  It took my brain a couple seconds to process that seeing the top of Syd's head under the water was not a good thing.  I raced out of my chair poolside, but got to her just as her teacher turned around to get her up.  Phew.  There are two teachers and three kids, so it's not like Syd was unsupervised for long periods of time, but that sure got my heart pumping.

As I related what happened to the big kids they started to semi-fight over who would be able to save Syd if that happened in Grandma and Grandpa's pool.  J and Toby chatted about what they would do if Syd fell off the step when they were there.  All the sudden Logan pipes up, "HEY! I want to save Sydney!"  Without missing a beat, Syd says, "Okay Logan, you can be my superhero!"  As cute as the entire conversation was, I pray it never happens.

Back, fly, breast and free

I noticed today that we have a new set of words in our vocabulary at home now that we are a swim team family.  Saturdays are proving to be exhausting lately with swim meets in the morning and misc. Saturday stuff the rest of the day.  Our family is loving the swim season with the Gators though.  This being our first year, we certainly jumped in head first (no pun intended).  My Man is Co-Pres. of the team for the next two years, and we just might have all 4 kids swimming next year if little Squidy can make it across the pool by then.  Each of the kids has an older buddy that helps them out during the meets, brings them treats, meets them with their towel at the end of each race, and allows them to hang out at the big kid side of the lawn.  All our kids are loving the older attention and figuring out things to make or give to their buddies every Saturday.  Even little Syd has made some good friends.  She doesn't mind spending so much time at the pool if we have enough books and food to keep her busy.  We love the happy, friendly vibe of our team, and it's SO nice that all the kids can participate in a sport at the same time and place.  I'd much rather hang out at the pool for two hours a day for practice than shuttle kids to three different sports through out the week.  

Our little fish have improved immensely since the beginning of practice.  Mr. Cooper could barely make it across the pool while hanging onto the lane line for a couple rests.  Now he has a basic grasp of all four strokes, and won THREE first in heat ribbons on Saturday.  I'm bummed I didn't record his awesome freestyle race for which he earned a blue ribbon for the event.  Toby loves the backstroke and is also improving quickly in all aspects.  We just need to remind him how things work during a relay, so that he doesn't accidentally start the first leg of the relay as the #2 man from the opposite side of the pool.  Yep, he got a little too excited and before we could stop him he was off at the starting beep.  The kid who was supposed to start was either not ready or saw Toby starting and backed off.  Check out his coach's reaction right above him in the pics below.  Nnnnoooooooooo!  He swam a great lap too.  Figures right? 

Notice the other coach on the left looking Toby's way and blocking her swimmer from making the same mistake.  Also, take note of the awkward flop into the pool.  What's that all about?  The kid is capable of much nicer entries into the water.  Here's proof;   

The best part is Toby didn't even know he went early until I told him after the race.  My sweet Toby; he really does march to his own beat sometimes...... 

Jessie has been the wild card in this whole swim team situation.  She was the most nervous at the beginning of the year to be on the team.  I am not ashamed to say we pretty much made her try it.  J went from a beginning swimmer who wouldn't go under the water without plugging her nose to an awesome swimmer who learns quickly and improves more each week. She has found the swimming stroke that she loves, and it just happens to be butterfly which I think is the hardest.  Since this girl can out swim me with this stroke, and the fact that she has improved so much since the first day of practice in April, I am so pleased that I caught this race on film.

The kids are having fun being at the pool every day, hanging out with their buddies, making new friends and learning all that goes into swimming back, fly, breast and free strokes.  Now that I think about it, Mom and Dad are having a good time too.