I DID, however, tote the camera to the STATE FAIR! Yes, that's right, I convinced Zack to go! More like, I said I was going and he came along as our escort. That, and we got to enjoy Ian and Derica's company. Not the best picture of us, but this is BEFORE fair food.
AHH! Funnel cake. My main reason for going! Mara just licked the powdered sugar off the top.
Someone had given Ian/Derica some leftover ride tickets, and they graciously gave them to Mara. We hunted around to find the perfect ride, and this was it! A choo choo train! Now, we had to wait in line for a few minutes, and when we got to the front, Mommy didn't have enough tickets (since they charge to have an adult ride, too). Boo. Poor Mara was devastated that we didn't get on. I hopped to the back of the line and Zack, the hero Daddy that he is, purchased the required amount of tickets. Mara was so antsy waiting in line, pointing at the train, afraid I was going to duck out again. But when we FINALLY boarded, the kid was in heaven.
Yes, for this go-round, I was the only adult on the train. And here's the train, in all its glory.
She had her booty propped against the seat, and gripped that steering wheel super tight.
Even though it seemed like a long ride to me... when the train stopped and we had to disembark... this happened.
I had to pry her hands off the steering wheel. :( At least she loved her first fair ride!
We checked out the animals and got to see pigs and piglets, ducklings, chicks, all kinds of goats, cows, a Percheron, and a cow show, shown below. You can't see the cows, but Mara enjoyed watching them.
Mara loved seeing all the lights and hearing all the sounds of the fair. I got a hot dog for myself with ketchup and cheese... and had to get another one because someone hoovered my first. AHEM! It was a good thing Uncle Ian had placed a "Proud to be a Republican" sticker on Mara's stroller tray so that she had a "place mat" of sorts. It was covered in ketchup and cheese. Yum! She also enjoyed the petting zoo, and Derica let her feed the animals carrot slices that she'd purchased. I stayed on stroller watch, but Mara was apparently very dutiful in her carrot distribution (mostly to goats, although she saw camels and a zebra and some other animals, too.).
One of the last events of the evening was a ping pong toss into fish bowls, again, a treat from the Justices (we really need to take them with us more!! - j/k, we totally appreciate everything they did for Mo-bean.) I think Derica knew DEEP DOWN how opposed Zack was to having a fish. And what happened when Zack tossed some ping pong balls?
That's right. We won 2 fish. YAY!
Those fish got lots of oooo's and ahhhh's from Mara, like she could hardly believe they came home with us. She hasn't noticed, I don't think, that we are down to one. And I give Zack credit, he went out of his way one evening to go to the store and purchase fish food, and only fish food. (After our homemade fish food attempt didn't work (pieces of beef, according to the internet!)). I also dumped a swatted fly in the fish bowl... but I think Fish turned his nose up at it. Oh well. We're at day 4 and it's still alive! I'll report back next post on Fish's status... but I have a pretty good guess at what it will be.
The next day, we stopped by daycare for their fall festival. Ignore the fact Mara is wearing the same outfit. Let's just say getting her dressed is quite a challenge and I pick my battles. ANYWAY! Here she is, with some teacher I don't know, but who told us how incredibly smart Mara is. This is a cookie decorating station... but Mara neither decorated or ate the cookie. Point lost.
She did love running into this herd of wild, plastic, rocking animals. She can rock so hard that I'm convinced she's going over.
There were other games and wagon rides and you can see she did have a nice time! Goofball.
Cornhole boards? No, jumping practice!
And check out this giant mountain she scaled!
And last, but not least, I knew I was behind in taking her month photoshoot... so here was my quick attempt. I hand her the card. She does this.
I take some shots. She hands me the card and says "All done, Mommy. All done pictures."
I convince her to let me put the card next to her for a few more shots. I get this face.
Show me your smile face, Mara!
And then she really was all done.
A few noteworthy things: She'll occasionally say "thank you" without being prompted. For instance, I'll hand her a cup of milk and she says "Thank you Mommy." Tonight, before dinner, I was putting food on the table and she helped me put the napkins down. She knows that there is one for each of us and calls hers "Mayas." She then said "Pairs. Pairs." And I realized she was asking or telling us to say our prayers!! So we said grace, and she's great at saying AMEN!
She also likes drawing with sidewalk chalk ("Cuhyer" is the best way I can spell color so you know what it sounds like). She also giggles when we pass school buses for some reason. (ScooBus). She's making some of her own decisions... such as wanting to stay at the front desk at daycare this morning with Miss Nicole. (A huge change to our normal drop off schedule). She can also hear Zack talking about leaving to me (such as for golf), and she'll say "Bye bye, Daddy," understanding what's happening. She also has to see him first thing in the morning, and then tells him "Shower!" If he doesn't get up right away, I can get her to say "Up, Daddy! Up!" She will say "Cuh muh, Mommy, Cuh muh!" when she wants me to go somewhere.
We can't believe she's going to be TWO in a few months. She's growing by leaps and bounds, physically and mentally. We love her more than you could ever possibly describe, and we are thankful she still loves hugs and kisses. She gives the greatest, clingiest hugs.
