State Fair Day!

Each year Tony and I look forward to the Minnesota State Fair. He has been going since he was a baby and it didn't take too long for him to introduce me to the whole shebang. We both love going...and Oliver does too! 

We planned to go on Friday but the weather was supposed to be cool and rainy. Tony headed off to work, but at 11:00 the rain still hadn't come and the day was beautiful. He took the rest of the day off, his parents came over and we made it a family event.

The trip to the fair got off to a rocky start thanks to the lack of parking (even at the park & rides), but once we were inside all of that melted away. Yummy food, fun things to do, not overly crowded and the coolest, nicest day we've ever had at the fair led to a fantastic time. Oliver was absolutely amazing! He was having such a great time, only had one meltdown and managed to stay awake and alert the entire time. 

Since Friday he's been asking every day if we can go back today or tomorrow. He wants to visit the Little Farm Hands again more than anything! While we did go last year, this was the first time we were able to really DO -- visit the interactive Little Farm Hands, watch births in the Miracle of Birth barn, learn about bee hives in the Horticulture building and more.

I can't wait to take him next year!

He was so excited to take the "school" bus to the fair!

Checking out the Toro equipment.

Working on the farm!

Planting his corn on the farm.

Posing with Opa on the farm.

This piglet was born just one day before.
Fitting since we are reading Charlotte's Web.

Bumper boats!

What a goofball!

I'm not even sure which big piece of equipment this is, but he's having fun!

He fell asleep on the way, but sadly didn't stay asleep.
 It ended up being a late night for this little guy.

Weird Mixtures

This summer Oliver and I have been working our way through a few different activity books. One of them focuses on science and nature. In today's experiment we got to see a "Weird Mixture" -- colored water mixed with cornstarch. What a cool experiment!

It's a solid! It's a liquid!

He played with the solid/liquid/thick/sticky mix for more than half an hour (did you know a penny sinks in it?) and loved every minute of it. It's fun seeing him enjoy science and I hope this interest continues. He of course wants to do it again sometime soon! Luckily it cleaned up easier than I expected.

On another "Weird Mixture" topic -- Tony and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary last night...nine years! We are a bit of a weird mixture. Different personalities, interests. Yet I wouldn't want to be with anyone else. I love him and our family and am excited to be coming up on ten years as husband and wife soon (and about 18 years of knowing each other).

First kiss as husband and wife. Yeah!

We celebrated family style with homemade french bread pizzas and one of Tony's favorite desserts: a DQ ice cream cake! We planned to watch our wedding video (we thought someone took a video of it, casually not a hired professional). Turns out that what I thought was a DVD was actually just a CD recording of the audio portion. We played it anyway and Oliver enjoyed hearing our names announced and dancing to some of the music. I'm bummed we don't have a video recording (I really regret not spending the money to record the ceremony), but it was fun to hear it and look through pictures with Oliver. He enjoyed seeing everyone looking so much younger, too.

Thank you, Tony, for the past nine years and the many more ahead of us. I love you.

Grasping

Unknown. Even to ones's self. 

Lost. Adrift. 

Yet tethered to the world by life. Roles. Responsibilities. 

Darkness swirling. Loneliness. 

Wishing for connection. 

Searching for answers. 

Nothing comes. Still unknown. 

Even to one's self. 

Swirling, whirling, out of reach. 

Yearning, longing, grasping. 

Hoping. Praying. 

Curious George goes to the Zoo

Oliver and I made the trek to the Minnesota zoo on Tuesday. While we are members, it is quite the drive and we don't get there as often as I'd like. This was the first time we made it there all summer, in fact. 

Oliver likes taking selfies. This one was on our trip back from the farm.

The last few times we've been to the Minnesota Zoo the weather wasn't great and we only saw the animals inside. So this trip we were able to focus on seeing everything outside. The morning started off a bit rocky -- Oliver was obsessed with following this little girl he had seen and was also frustrated because I didn't bring the stroller. He's only four and already chasing the girls! Oh no, what do we have in store for us in 10 years!? I will admit that the situation was pretty funny even in the moment, with him furious at me and melting down because I wouldn't follow a stranger around the zoo. Just typing that makes me laugh.

After a little while he mellowed out and we both had a great time. He got to ride on a camel, take a turn on the carousel, be pulled by the tractor and visit the farm, brush the goats, and check out lots of fun animals. 

I was glad he was able to ride with another kid; they both had fun.

Last year he was afraid of the goats, but he had no fear this year and was so gentle with them.

One of his favorite places was the chicken barn. For a long time now he has pretended to be an egg hatching at home, so he was intrigued by the chicks and the eggs. He watched the video of how a chicken embryo develops several times and was completely entranced. Of course is goofy side prevailed and he had me snap a few pictures of him:

Funny guy

Action shot

We actually spent so much time that we were needing to leave in order to beat traffic, but hadn't made it to the butterfly exhibit yet. Last year he just wanted to run through it as fast as possible. This year, it was amazing. He grabbed the portable butterfly identification card and proceeded to take his time looking for different types of butterflies. When we got to the end he didn't want to leave because we had not yet seen all of the butterflies. His patience, observation and excitement were incredible. I truly wish we had more time to spend with the butterflies as I would have enjoyed watching and helping him!

Naturally he fell asleep before we even pulled out of the zoo. We had a great time and even though he complained some, I am proud that he was able to do so much walking without his stroller. He sure is growing up fast!

Family Vacation

Somehow it is already August. I'm not sure how that happened, but it means I am overdue for a post on our family vacation!

In late July we headed up north for a traditional Minnesota summer vacation: a week at Bowen Lodge on Lake Winnibigoshish and Lake Cut Foot Sioux. Joining us on this adventure were two sets of grandparents (Tony's parents and my Mom and Dan) and two of Oliver's cousins. Quite a family affair, and a great time for all of us to catch up. While a week up north isn't really my idea of a relaxing vacation (seemed like a lot of work!), Tony has long wanted to take this kind of trip with our child. Last summer was a little too soon after bringing Oliver home for us to go out of town for that long, but this summer's timing was perfect. 

Oliver had a blast and it was the ideal setting for him to explore, make new friends, fish and play in the water. He has really become quite the water lover and it was fun to watch him enjoy a little more freedom and the outdoors. We were happy to find that Oliver settled into the cabin and resort fairly quickly and did not become too overwhelmed by the new surroundings. We certainly have come a long way from this time last year when even an overnight was full of trials and challenges. Having the opportunity to spend a full week with two sets of grandparents and two of his cousins was also a wonderful blessing for all of us.

As is usually the case when we are doing something fun, I didn't get too many pictures as I was busy just being in the moment. Here are just a few highlights of share.

A photo with the St. Louis side of the family with Babe the Blue Ox

A cute picture with the cousins!

We couldn't believe Oliver, who is always saying he is "scared of spiders" wanted to hold
the tarantula. He did a great job and loved it!

*Action shot!
Cookie making. Oliver ate his ENTIRE cookie, which was piled as high as his cousin's with sugary goodness. 

Afternoon fishing trip

Opa helping get Oliver's line ready.

Ian taught us how to make Brown Bears, and here he is helping Oliver cook his over the campfire.
Pawpaw is watching over the action!

Silly photo!

Minnow racing was a hit! Oliver nearly won but his minnow decided to turn tail and head back to the start.

Oliver and his gaggle of girls. They were so sweet to him all week!

Minnesota family photo on the last morning.