Annual fair post.

We will probably look back on this fair year and say, Remember that year it was actually chilly? We wore sweatshirts! Or, maybe, the year we went before the food review came out in the Variety section, so we had no idea what to eat, and also I couldn't eat anything anyway so I didn't care. Only time will tell. Either way, we had a blast, as always.

The kiddos were super excited, as always.First rule of The State Fair: first stop is for coffee and mini-donuts.

Or, zucchini-oat muffins brought from home for Mama and Fish. Messy baby.

Definitely climb in the storage sheds for sale. Next time I have $1500 just sitting around, babe, I'll buy you one to turn into a playhouse in the backyard.

The animals were smelly and cute as always. Oh, except cows are not all that cute. Mainly just smelly. Impressive, though. Sorry but all the cows were turned around so this is the view we got.

We were partial to the horses. Goodness they are magnificent creatures, immense, graceful, peaceful, gentle.

Is this inappropriate? Daddy and Fish went on the GIANT slide, so I snapped this of Alla while we waited. ((Insert Giant Slide video here, at some point.))

She does not like Giant Slides, nor does she like Giant Ferris Wheels.

We were there! While we waited for our friends to ride, we demolished a 32 ounce carton of french fries. Yes! There is fair food I can eat, and feed to my son! Nothing like a french fry in a sea of Pronto Pups, I tell you.

She does like the ducky game, however, and is now the proud owner of yet another stuffed ducky.

She is also a huge fan of the fair's carousel, and I think has gone on it every year. Look at her all big now, riding next to Canton instead of Mama (sniff sniff).

Ah, well, little man got his first carousel ride this year, and needed his mama to hold him steady on the horsies. Check out Alla's first ride.

Those three, like Musketeers with their maps trying to lead us to the Kidway.

Fisher digs Canton, aka Can-Can.

At the Kidway Alla got to pick any ride she wanted, so she picked the Fun Slide, little sister to the Giant Slide, I think, and much more fun for her.

Oh she just loved it!

All she wanted was cotton candy. Ask and you shall receive, my dear. Here she's telling me it's cold! Cold!

We arrived at 7:45 and made it to 1:30. Fisher was a TROOPER. Did not nap there, made it all the way home without so much as a yawn, courtesy of the Signing Time theme song on repeat, and then took a 2 hour nap at home.

The stroller was a lifesaver, mostly for Alla, because she could ride out versus throwing a fit about walking (we had no major meltdowns that day, from any of the four kids, amazing!), but it also meant Mama carrying Fisher to the car. Craig saved my arms for a few blocks, since Ron was pushing Alla, til Fisher realized Mama was taking pictures instead of carrying him, how dare I.

What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday with friends.

Wednesday ten.

Really, it's one of those weeks, there's not a lot going on, or at least nothing out of the ordinary. So I thought I'd highlight the ordinary, since the ordinary is the stuff our regular days, and I wouldn't want to forget.

1. Alla and I went to the dentist this morning. They tried again to x-ray her but no joy. She is, however, part of the cavity-free club:)

2. Fisher did not like Mama being gone that whole hour and Daddy said he cried for at least half of it. That makes Mama a bit uneasy about ECFE classes starting in a few weeks, as he'll be apart from me for the last half of the class - yikes.

3. Because of the early morning dentist appointments, I missed my morning cup of coffee, and even though I was able to make one real quick before lunch, I must have waited too long and am now suffering a giant caffeine-withdrawal headache.

4. Mid-morning we met up with Mom friends and went for a walk/bike ride around Sucker Lake, then played on the playground after.

5. We rushed home so as not to risk Fisher falling asleep in the car.

6. UPS brought some shea butter from Mountain Rose. Lovely.

7. We eat lunch early now, around 11:45ish, so Fisher can get down for his nap shortly after. Fingers crossed for another good nap day.

8. Alla and I had chocolate chip cookies after she watched Clifford. Must make more of those.

9. I have a meal almost ready to be delivered to a fellow Mom who just had her second baby: Mustard Roasted Chicken, salad full of farmer's market goodness, and a Busy-Day Cake with Broiled Coconut Topping. Yum.

10. Alla is seriously looking forward to the weekend - it's State Fair time!

One park, a million pictures.

I do not know why going to a new park caused me to bring my camera. Furthermore, I don't know why it caused me to snap a bazillion shots. Good light that morning, I think. Yes, that's it. This park is nothing special, lemme tell ya. But it does have an old merry-go-round, which I believe was the kids' favorite. Fisher picked up rocks and tossed them on, Alla did a little dance while she streamed rocks onto it. Neither really spun, but Fisher tried to push it.

Then they discovered the slide.

Slides are definitely meant to be walked up, and then slid down backward, while your baby brother then clobbers you.

It's great when Big Sis goes off to find something else and leaves you to walk up the slide and then fall down it all on your own.

There is an adjacent baseball field, with dugouts and everything. Of course I imagined the kiddos sitting back there for a cute shot, but when we got over there, I slowly backed up after seeing all the peanut shells on the floor. So out we ran to the field and my future Hall-of-Famers ran around.

The cool shade made me want to replicate a similar shot of her at age two, with little brother in the mix. Little brother was not having it.

Last but not least, this is my absolute favorite shot of the day. I hope you can click to make it larger (blogger sometimes is selective on which photos you can do that with), because it is truly better bigger. Oh! Love you, sweetie-pea.

My little snik-snacks.

They have decided that the ultimate snack is half a muffin and half a nectarine (sliced, of course). So be it.

Seventeen months.

Oh, sigh, seventeen months already? Eighteen is huge, I remember.

And just as I remember from Alla's early toddler days, we are in this amazing golden time where everything is new and new things happen every single day. Like Fisher telling me "ucky" and "Funky Monkey" today.

Some things about Fisher on his seventeen-month birthday...

Still hasn't got much hair.

The baseball cap seems to be his signature style.

As a matter of fact, when we went out to get the mail this afternoon, he reminded me, hat.

He counts like this: un, twooooooooooo, free, foh, sik, NINE!!!, TEN! (9 way more exciting than 10, apparently)

He loves to see Gay-pee over the back fence. The sweet little girl is really named Gracie, but we'll take it.

Still obsessed with airplanes, helicopters, the vacuum, my keys, cell phones.

Less than a week into one nap only. Still goes to bed around 6:45 and wakes up between 6:30-7.

Painted his first picture yesterday.

Climbs in my lap with a book to read.

Riding around on Alla's old tricycle (bihk), thank goodness for the push bar for mamas.

Has a serious temper. Pulls hair, bites, the works.

Loves music. Wants the theme song for Signing Time on repeat.

Starting to want to watch Signing Time!

His skin is clear. Halleluiah!

Loves marshmallows and pancakes.

We love you, Fisher.

Buh-bye, Dada.

This is where he parks himself in the morning to watch Daddy go. And yells out the open window, Buh-Bye! about a million times and loud enough that Ron says he can still hear him when he's reached the corner, four houses down. He purposely leaves his windows down just for that, of course, wouldn't you?

I have usually drug myself into the comfy chair in the corner and am laying there, eyes half-open watching this sweetness. Today, though, thought I better grab the camera, cause I knew I had a similar shot of his big sister. I absolutely love comparison shots. It's one of the greatest things about having two kids!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. I finally finished Crossing to Safety. Good, slow, but rich. Similar to East of Eden. I then got sucked into Twilight, have now finished it, and am eagerly awaiting the next book to be ready for me at the library. I don't know what the appeal is of vampires.

2. It's Tuesday, which to me means Ten on Tuesday and Farmer's Market, but to Fisher means kah-kuk day! Trash truck day!

3. My kids can tear up a rotisserie chicken. And a bag of Snappea Crisps.

4. Have I mentioned lately that I love home? Here's a little corner I love for reading, adding journaling to the photos in those photo albums, reading to Alla before dinner, watching the rain. And apparently it's a good spot for using your laptop, too, but I wouldn't know anything about that.

5. The coffee table project was completed about three weeks ago and we are now thoroughly enjoying it's supreme functionality. If you visited us at our apartment in the parking lot of a mortuary in Ohio, then you may remember this coffee table. Catie and I sealed my wedding invitation envelopes on them. The Clarks, Cobbs, soon-to-be Derenzos, and soon-to-be Killinses all rang in the New Year 2002 around it while playing Catch Phrase. See, it had history, we had to keep it.

6. Target doesn't seem to be selling Guittard's chocolate anymore. Ugh. This is putting a damper in my chocolate chip eating habit. Ghirardelli is not as good.

7. Fisher loves the wagon (wah-wo or ag-in), but more than he loves actually being transported in it, he loves the buckles. It used to be that he would say "I did it!" when he actually did do it, get those buckles together, that is. Now it's also being used as a verb, so that when he's getting frustrated he'll tell you, I did it! I did it!, in a tone that sounds more like helpmedothisrightnowmommmmeeeee!!!

8. So far with our zucchini, we have made muffins, added it to quinoa, sauteed it, and roasted it. But today was just the best ever. Zucchini cake with vanilla frosting. Oh, yum. There doesn't need to be a reason to make a cake, right? Just a typical Monday.

9. The kids love the garden. Alla will be in the backyard and then run screaming out to me, shouting, Mama there are red ripe tomatoes! Fisher will then be drawn to the garden and immediately start looking for kee-bees, also known as the aforementioned zucchini. And he does not understand when they are not quite ready for the pickin'. He just keeps pointing and crouching and walking around to the other side, all the while saying kee-bee and hoping I will understand that Mama there are zucchini there please pick them so I can carry them inside.

10. Alla is on day four of listening to Knock Three Times by Tony Orlando and Dawn on repeat during her quiet time. Yes, that same song for two hours. Just like me, she was born in the wrong decade.

New days around here.

The littlest one is no longer taking a morning nap. We're on day three of that. It is going oh-kay. First day, bad. Yesterday, good. Today, good until now when he's woken up short of two hours even. It shall be a long afternoon.

Partly I'm glad that there's one less piece of a schedule to worry about. Partly I'm sad that I don't have that one on one time with Alla in the morning. Though we did whip up a zucchini cake and vanilla frosting when he went down this afternoon, before her quiet time.

Partly I'm glad that we have the whole morning, the three of us, to do all sorts of fun things!

Partly I'm like, what are we going to do all morning??

While we were gone.

Tomatoes finally reddened. It was a cool July, the garden was expecting much warmer temperatures. Alla found more peas ready to pick. They never make it into the house before being eaten. We planted these from seed!

More zucchini waiting to be turned into muffins and our now-favorite zucchini-oat pancakes.

And, wonder of wonders, the sunflowers opened! A key summer ingredient.

Flower girl and ringbearer.

We've just returned from our whirlwind trip to New Jersey for Aunt Ronna's wedding, where Fisher and Alla were the cutest Ringbearer and Flower Girl you ever did see.

The night before we left I agonized over taking my camera, and in the end decided not to. So, I wish I had better pictures of the cuties, but the reality was I was holding Fisher on my hip the whole time, so there was absolutely no chance of me snapping pictures with anything that couldn't be held with one hand. Thank goodness for the point-and-shoot!The day of the wedding we got both kids to nap for two hours in the afternoon.And then started getting them ready. You can kind of see my handsome husband back there.

Aren't they smashing?

And sweet.

He was just the most dapper thing you've ever seen.

I think this is the closest thing to a full-lenth shot of me that there was. Like I said, I pretty much held Fisher the whole evening.

Me and my little guy before the festivities. Alla snapped this one!Whenever he saw the camera he said Cheese!
She was just gorgeous.

The only one I caught of the three of them. This was after the wedding. You can see that by this time, Fisher was D-O-N-E.
The whole evening he pretty much held tight to that lovey. If for one moment he became interested in something else, then as soon as that moment was over he'd become distressed and start asking about it again, Wuhvie? Oh, wuhbie? And, it seems, when he's super worried about it, it becomes Buhbie? At this point Alla was done, too, but we got her in one quick shot with Ronna and Dexter. I really can't be sure Fisher didn't cry through the whole picture, but hopefully the prints will prove me wrong. So much for the two hour naps.
The best parts of the weekend for Alla: holding Aunt Ronna's hand as she approached the aisle (what a special role, she'll understand its gravity someday), getting a new kitty to sleep with (Minnies), sharing a bed with Mama, swimming like a crazy fish in the hotel pool, catching up with Samantha, and - her most favorite part -seeing Grandma; she wanted to be by Grandma's side whenever she could.