Arizona State Fair in October

I love State Fairs. We went every year to the California State Fair while we were living in Folsom, and went to the Iowa State Fair while we were living in Omaha. What's not to like...arts and crafts exhibits, weird food, etc. The California State Fair was by far the best we've ever been to, but large or small we always have a good time.

They had a large candy exhibit that the kids loved. It went through the history of candy and had fun interactive displays.

 The General went to jail.

 Kissing for the camera isn't my thing, but I couldn't pass up the chance to do it in a giant Sweethearts box. Plus it had the added bonus of grossing out the Lizard.

The Chief always gets excited when there's a treat he can eat.

What is that dad?!!! It's called Poutine and there was a food vendor from Canada serving it up. Hubby used to have it on his mission in Canada and loved it. French fries with gravy and cheese.

Very cool building.

Every fair I've ever been to has had a dairy exhibit.

Impromptu Hospital Stay

Hubby had been out of town for four days and had just gotten back when The Chief was having a hard time breathing. He had been diagnosed with asthma (come to find out there are a lot of doctors out there that say you can't diagnose asthma in younger kids...but I digress), and on occasion would take albuterol with a nebulizer. Not the funnest thing to do with a two year old, but worth it when it helps. Well, long story short, I took him to the doctor, he wasn't responding to breathing treatments and ended up going to the emergency room. From there he was transferred to a children's hospital and was there until he stabilized. Luckily he bounced back pretty quick and was only hospitalized for 48 hours...though that is a long time for a little one. 

Upside down bunny nose.

We kept getting asked how he got the wound on his head. That's a rug burn from wresting with Little Bird on the carpet.

Can I just say that I hope none of you will ever have to hold down your kid while a nurse sticks an IV in them and draws blood for ten minutes. For some reason they don't like it!! :(

I let him take some selfies to distract him so he wouldn't pull off the mask.

 Checking out his stethoscope. They let him take it home, which he thought was really cool.

Taking a ride in the wagon. He didn't stay in it for very long. In fact, he got out and started pulling it around.

On the main floor there was a model train set up and The Chief could push a button and make the train move. We spent a lot of time looking at the trains.

The General Turns One

The General turned one on August 1st. He is so fun to have around and we love having him in our family. He's only in the 3rd percentile in size, but he's a determined little guy and walks all over the place. He's broken a few things, thrown stuff into the toilet and empties out cupboards constantly. Like all my kids he would rather be outside than in and is always on the go. However, he is my first to cuddle and will on occasion even fall asleep on me. That's a first for my kids. Love this boy!!

Lizard's birthday was just five days earlier, so instead of cake we had peach cobbler. He loves peaches.

The General got help opening and playing with his presents. Grandma gave the favorites, an electric guitar and a remote controlled car.

 I just threw these two in because I thought they were cute. On the left we had just finished swimming and on the right he had just woken up from a nap and had awesome hair.

The Chief Takes a Walk on the Wild Side

Our city's recreational department had some fun classes available this summer. Little Bird took a weekly tumbling class and Lizard enrolled in a week long animation course. I like signing the kids up through the city because it's affordable and allows the kids to try something out to see if they like it without a long term commitment. The Chief wasn't eligible for most courses, but I was able to sign him up for a Critter class.

The lady running the class took sick animals into her home. The Beaver came from Louisiana after the hurricane, and because it wasn't out in the wild while it was young it never developed water repellent fur. Without it, it gets too heavy when it's wet and will drown.

Trying to brush a bunny

Petting a Chicken...he was scared of it at first.

The armadillo was a wild thing. When petted, it would jump straight up and its bedding would fly all over the place. One little boy got covered in the stuff and was pretty upset.

He tried feeding it lettuce but it wasn't interested.

 The beaver spent the entire 45 minutes pushing his cage all over the room. It reminded me of The General. He would stand up on two legs and use his cage as a walker just like a little kid learning to walk. I couldn't get a clear shot of it walking because it would go too fast.

Lizard's Twelfth Birthday

My little girl is going into Young Women's and can babysit...yes!!! I can't believe were are already at this point. It's crazy and fun all at the same time. 

For her friend party this year she decided she wanted a pool party...at night...sorta. It started at 5:30pm and the last girl left at 8:30pm. She has cute friends and it was a lot of fun.

Relay races with the beach balls.

The girl at the bottom of the picture didn't weigh enough and had a hard time keeping her ball in the water. :)

Pool Party Twister...that's because I'm a cool mom. ;) 

They were doing okay in these pictures but there eventually was a winner. Lizard was knocked down early by one of her friends falling on her.

Our pool lights change colors. It got dark just in time for the girls to see them.

The pool party was before our Utah trip and we celebrated with family on her birthday after we got back. Lizard always requests a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting, but this year she went for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Bummer that's she's blurry!

The day after her birthday she had her Junior High orientation. It was fun for her and expensive for me...they have you buy all kinds of stuff.

I wanted to get a picture of Lizard in front of all the hearts, but the Beehives from our church whisked her away before I could get one. They "attacked" her and took her to her very first Young Women's activity. Fun!