Alaska State Fair 2011

At the fair this year we saw:

1200 lb pumpkin

128 lb cabbage

 2 heifers ready to birth

Lots of frisky animals looking for food at the petting zoo

One happy boy on fair rides

Pig races

Corn dogs with sweet potato fries (yum!)

 Our first (and last) funnel cake

First things first--we made our way to the petting zoo so we could get there while the animals were still hungry enough to eat out of David's hand. Last year they were all asleep by the time we showed up. This year they wanted to feast! David had an absolute ball petting, chasing, and feeding the animals.

He kept saying that they were biting his hand, and that it tickled.

Only half of that was true--they weren't biting, they were licking his hands.

This guy needed a haircut--but he had a lot of personality.

Love that little laugh whenever David is trying something new.

David's delight for life is one of the reason we love to expose him to new experiences.

We chose a couple of rides for David to go on, and he had a blast!

He was on top of the world while he was driving this little postal truck.

Oh, and it had a horn. The teenager running the ride was cute to make sure all the kids knew how to make the sound buttons work on their vehicle before the ride began.

This little boy is more interested in pushing the stroller than riding in it. We still bring it along, because his legs are a bit slow for our pace sometimes. And putting him in the stroller keeps us focused on getting to the next place. Sometimes we take it at David's pace, and sometimes we take it at our pace.

Next up was the zoo train. David chose the lion car.

Love that excitement!

We stuck around to see the pig races while we ate our corn dogs. 

It was a slapstick show that was kind of silly--but hey, we tried.

This is what David looked like by the time we pulled out of the fair parking lot.

Dear Nana,

 Just in case you wanted to see David's animation while he tells you stories over the phone.

 

 

These are a little blurry indeed, but they really capture the essence of his expressions.

Unless, of course, he knows he's on camera.

Sunny Summer Days in the yard

 At Christmas time, David received a remote control car from his Pappy. It is a bulky one, perfect for toddler hands, and when it hits a barrier, it flips over and reverses the other direction. With all of these tricks, it has a tendency to leave marks on the wall, so we pulled it out when we could finally use it on our lawn. The grass was a little too long for the car to consistently go, so David discovered that the bare garden plot made a good race track.

 David was a big fan of the strawberry plants, and so was I. But alas, they turned into a racetrack--so while the plants made it through the play days, the berry harvest came to an abrupt stop. For the sake of letting my little boy maximize his sunny outdoor play time, I turned my head to the strawberry plants and let the good times roll!

 The sparse greenery on the "bare" side is actually our attempt at cilantro. Because of the remote control car's four-wheeling abilities, they never got very tall--but apparently it tasted good. David often came in with his breath smelling like cilantro. In fact, I bought some in the store last night and David immediately recognized it, "Mommy, are we going to put this in the garden?" Poor boy is a little confused about how we plant seeds and harvest plants, not reverse.

We've had hours of play come out of this little car! I love to see David independently playing in the carefree days of sunshine.

Father and Son Outing

I know they don't call it that any more, but David got to go with Daddy to the ward priesthood campout. An hour before Daddy got home from work, David was packed and ready to go. We put his backpack on him, he took one step forward, then fell backwards. I tried to help him up, but he said, "I'll sit here, Mommy, then Daddy can pick me up when he comes home." Apparently he didn't want to remove the backpack, even if it was too big for him to move around.

Sam wanted to make the camping experience as simple of an experience as possible. He wanted just a sleeping bag and tent for the two of them, then planned to eat dinner before he left and the ward was providing breakfast. In the end, we talked him in to taking some food for the Daddy David duo--simply because if other people were eating around the campfire, David doesn't quite have the social skills to leave them alone while they eat and he doesn't. Thankfully, Sam conceded to take enough food, and neither of them were too hungry by the time they returned at 2:30 on Saturday. Many kudos to Daddy for taking a 2-year old camping!

I heard glowing reports of the campout--apparently David slept soundly through the night, and didn't stir until a decent morning hour. Another brother told me that David woke up refreshed, and had the world on a string.

Family Night Acrobatics

For special talent at a recent family night, David showed off his somersault.

 He can work on his tuck and roll form, but he had great balance---keeping his center point aligned through the roll.

Each of us got a turn to try out a somersault--and it was all smiles for David to see his parents repeat his tricks. (thankfully, no pictures of Sam and I)

From there we moved on to wheel barrow races.

Oh, how we love family night! We love the opportunity to turn off electronics, ignore the phone, and be just our little family together. If you ever call on Monday night, you can feel better knowing that we don't have caller ID--all  of our calls are being screened, because we just might be indisposed and in the middle of wheel barrow races or somersaults.