Soccer, Crawling, and NC State Fair 2010

Soccer class has begun! Nicole LOVES this class and the teacher does a wonderful job. Nicole has a friend from church in the class too! Nicole was tired and thirsty after the class- a great sign of a wonderful time :-)

Because our lawn was reseeded and will take weeks to grow in, the kids play on the front porch for hours now. Jacob-no matter where he starts out-crawls to the door to peek out at the fun just beyond the glass.

On the way to the State Fair! The weather started out in the 50s, but got really warm later! I think if all we had done was the bus ride, the kids would have thought the entire outing worthwhile. I reminded Nicole that we used to ride buses and trains all the time in Chicago, but she doesn't remember it at all.

Michael was THRILLED to be on a "buth." Slightly nervous, but very excited.

Family picture just after Nicole recovered from falling over in a mound of hay. Of course the picture booth is situated so you are facing the sun completely.

One part of the fair is "Field of Dreams" where the kids get buckets and load them with sweet potatoes, apples, strawberries, and blueberries that they pick (the fruits and veggies are laid out for them). They take their buckets to the weighing station at the "farmers market" and are given fake dollars which they give to the "grocery store" that gives them a bag with an apple and some freebies. Jim and I loved the idea and how much the kids enjoyed it. Jim wants to be a farmer now. A little late for that one buddy. Of course, if we had a mini farm...

Nicole with her goods. She tried taking a whole ton of blueberries but we put them back.

Nicole entering the coloring contest.

Michael breaking crayons when tired of coloring. I don't think he will win the contest.

This monster truck was enormous! Nicole and Jim liked it the most. Michael just wanted to eat his apple in peace.

The produce prizes were amazing this year-I'm always surprised at how big the produce is. They have people assigned to guard the major prizes. For example, Nicole swung her feet over the other side of the bench and the lady scolded poor Nicole who had no intention of making a dash at the pumpkin and, I don't know, eating it? attacking it with her bare hands?

We were sad that Super Why or Curious George weren't scheduled to be there yet, but Nicole settled on giving Reader-Roo a hug.

The prize sweet potatoes! That fifteen pounder could serve a whole bunch of people! As another fair-goer said "where's the butter?

The watermelon this year was fifty pounds more than the one we saw two years ago. Over 200 lbs! I wish the state fair included a big feast with all this amazing food instead of pricey stuff everywhere.

But the pricey stuff was good :-) It's been too long since I had some southern bbq and hush puppies! Nicole had 2 hot dogs and Michael ate all the fries. All of it was delicous!

After this point, we spent a long time trying to fight the crowds to go see the pig races and the petting zoo, but we never made it. There were TONS of people and our double stroller was a nightmare! Next time we'll go on a weekday, but at least the morning was fine and we had a great time. Now Nicole and Jim are on a fishing adventure together and maybe we'll have some fish for dinner!

Here's a cute and distracted Nicole telling you all about the state fair.