A few random things . ..

In between fairs, we've had a few other things going on. Lucy and Michael went to a Father/Daughter dance. I look at her and can't believe how fast she is growing up!! Her friend Claire was there and I think they had a great time.

We had spirit week at Calvary and the boys had a great time dressing up. They had an outfit for every day . . .except for twin day! They refused to participate in that one - they kept asking why anyone would want to have twin day. "Mommy, why do people want to do that?" I guess for them, twin day is every day! Here is their choice of ensemble for "America Day."

The boys also were invited to a birthday party at Chuckie Cheese. (For some reason, they keep calling it "Hucky Cheese" which I think is adorable!) They had so much fun and have now decided they want to come whenever they can!

Speaking of Chuckie Cheese, we also went back to celebrate Lucy's great job on her BOG reading test. A passing score is a 3 and Lucy scored a high 5! She has been having a great first nine weeks in 3rd grade and really seems to love the challenge of her AG classes. 

Dixie Classic Fair

Earlier this month, we went to the Dixie Classic Fair here in Winston-Salem. We had gotten free tickets and we always have fun at the fair. We decided to go one Sunday after church because the weather was so nice.

We stopped first for the pig races. It was fun, as always, but the pig that was representing our section never won.

After pig races, it was time for lunch. Of course, the boys were ready for chicken on a stick!

Lucy decided she wanted to try an Ostrich Burger. She said it didn't taste any different than a regular burger!

Michael and I were disappointed because we have always gotten pierogies from a stand that wasn't there this year. Maybe they moved their location, but it was so sad not to be able to have a fair favorite. I settled for a funnel cake and lemonade instead.

We went over to the fire house display. The kids got to do all kinds of exercises like "Stop, Drop, and Roll" and rolling up fire hoses. Then the kids got to drive a power wheel firetruck. Alex was up first and he was able to drive from point A to point B with no problem. Charlie and Lucy . . . . well, let's just say that I've already told Michael he's going to have to be in charge of teaching them to drive because I don't think I can handle that!

After driving the firetruck, you go to spray the fire hose to put out the fires in the house. Everyone loved getting to do that.

We went into the education building and saw the artwork from the different schools; Lucy always enjoys getting to see her friends' artwork displayed. Then we went into the butterfly tent where you can feed the butterflies. It was a much smaller display than last year, but Charlie and Lucy still enjoyed it. Alex decided he had no interest this year!

After the butterflies, we were going to go and ride a ride, but the fair had gotten incredibly crowded and so we promised the kids that we would ride extra rides when we went to the state fair later in the month. We went ahead and left around 3:30 and as we left, the line of people outside at the ticket counter was overwhelming! As much fun as the fair is, it definitely isn't that much fun when it is overcrowded! :)

Lucy's first day of school

Can you believe this girl started 3rd grade last week??? Where does the time go??? She was so excited to go back to school and it has seemed to live up to her expectations. Her friend, Lily is in her class and her homeroom so she is excited they are together. She seems to really like her teachers and comes home with new stories about school every day.

Here's to an awesome year!!!! Can't wait to see what all she learns!!

Lazy 5

This weekend, they had a teacher appreciation weekend at a local zoo attraction called Lazy 5. Teachers and their families got in for free with ID. I can't pass up a deal like that and I knew the kids would love it - a place where we could see everyone's favorite animals - pigs, giraffes, and sheep - all in one place!! We got there right as it opened so that we could beat the crowds. The weather was so pleasant and we walked right up and got on a wagon.

We got to feed all kinds of animals right off - goats, llamas, deer, pigs. . .  there were so many cute little baby pigs! I wish we had gotten a good picture of them, but all the ones I took turned out blurry. I think if Lucy could have gotten off the wagon, she would have grabbed one to take home with her!

When the wagon would drive off, you could watch some of the animals chase after you in hopes of more food!

We finally made it to the giraffes - what Charlie had been waiting for!! I got a couple of pictures when they were feeding them out of their bucket. I also held them out so that they could feed the little two year old giraffe named Patrick. They loved his long tongue! 

There were big ostriches along the way too. They would reach across and go for the food buckets if they were close enough. At first, Alex wanted to feed one. . .

But then, the ostrich decided he wasn't quite finished eating!! :)

After we got off the wagon, we headed over to go find the sheep!

This picture makes me laugh . . .Charlie back their, creeping in the background!

When we got over to the sheep and the goats, none of them were over at the fence. But then, as soon as they realized there were people with food, they just came running!!

After we ran out of food, we walked around a little more and saw the camels and the donkeys. Across from the donkeys, was a giraffe statue. Charlie had to have his picture taken with it.

We also saw a family of lemurs - there are two twins back there on the back of the parents. :)

After looking at all the animals, we took the kids over to play on the playground. While we were there, a sweet little cat came over. Lucy loved looking at it and since we were right by the hand washing station, we let her pet it for a bit.

We snapped a couple pictures by these pretty flowers before we left. How in the world did this little girl grow up so fast???

We drove up to Statesville and had lunch at Groucho's - a favorite of everone's! Aunt Cheryl told us about a new snowcone place so we stopped and had dessert well. We had a fun day to celebrate the official end of summer!