Texas State Fair, Take 2

The boys and Jacob returned to the Texas State Fair for a second time so that Jack and I could go. It was very large and also much more expensive than the Great Minnesota Get Together. The Auto Show at the TSF was incredible. The kids and I could probably have spent a good couple of hours there, looking at and getting into every car, truck and SUV. My favorite was the Texas addition Tahoe. LOVE it. Anywho, here are a few random pictures from our TSF outing. Enjoy!

giant tractor - Freddie is in the back wheel


little bears - my kids love taking pictures at these kind of things


fried beer - Jacob said it was good but awkward (?)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v709/sweetietooth/IMG_0827.jpg

only part of the Auto Show


Big Tex - for those non-Texan readers Big Tex greets you upon arrival at the fair


a view from the cable cars


And a couple cute ones that James took when he went to the fair with the boys opening weekend.

Freds in a low rider


And Farmer Sammy

Super Mario Bros. Super Show

COW

Jack has this little cow figure at the table. Sometimes it helps him stay calm as he is restrained in his booster seat. Sometimes he plays with it in his food. Other times he just plays with it. It's really adorable.

I caught him in the act. A rare quiet and content Jack moment.









And the food on the table? A mostly devoured fresh, made-in-store sugar and cinnamon tortilla from Kroger. *swoon*

Ba (aka Grandpa James)

One of Freddie's first preschool assignments was to create these paper dolls and decorate them to look like people who love Freddie. I did one of Jack (Jack adores his brothers and I thought he would be easy to identify) and Freddie told me I needed to make one to look like James, aka Ba, too.

So, here is my coloring of "Ba"


Pretty accurate, right? hehe

I have to send a giant thank you to my wonderful stepfather for loving my family so much. James, you are so great with the boys and they just love you to pieces. Thanks for coming down and go to the Texas State Fair with them last weekend. And a little belated, but a hardy thank you for building us a new garage door on our Minneapolis home! We love you!

Park times

Monday mornings are Freddie's free morning. This past Monday we still didn't really know anybody (stay-at-home mom-wise) so we went to a park thinking we'd run into some people. We were the only ones there! And it was a gorgeous day.

The kids had a good time, though.






And this coming Monday we have a play date planned with one of his new buddies from preschool, Max. Three cheers for finding a fantastic new preschool with nice kids (yay!), a carline (yay!) and other SAHMs (yay yay yay)! :D

sacked out

Having to wake up early every morning (before 7:00!) has been hard on the kids (and me, too!). Sadly, Jack has also become an early riser and can barely stay awake past 8:30am anymore.

This is what happens after we drop Freddie at preschool (at 9am)


I had to wake him up to go to Kroger.


But that afternoon he took a super duper nap from 12-3pm, so I guess the little 10 minute catnap didn't disturb his sleep cycle. That day.

Tot song

Sammy got out Freddie guitar after school and started strumming and singing a Tot song.

I can only remember the beginning:

"Tots are golden, tots have sauce,

Tots are yellow with little dots.

Jack loves tots.

Freddie wants to get dino tots every day,

but Mommy says no."

The messy still-moving in view from our bedroom.

The messy still-moving in side, originally uploaded by sweetietooth.

Do you remember the last time you moved? How long did it take for you to go through all the boxes and get everything organized?

Thankfully, we only have one box left in our room and it's hidden in the closet until there is time for a more thorough inspection. The garage, however, is another story...

First Days of School (again)

Sammy had his second first day of first grade yesterday.



We went in a little after classes started so I could enroll him, then walk him to class. He was such a big kid, going into a new classroom, with a new teacher and new kids, new nearly everything, and it nearly broke my heart to leave my little boy there all by himself. Somehow he (and I!) made it through the day and when I saw him get off the bus, running at me with this big smile and doing his happy dance I knew he was going to adjust just fine.

He met a boy that lives in the building next to us, and by the luck of it, this boy, Jeremiah, is in his same first grade class. Having a friend already helps, and he's already asked me if we can make his birthday party this year and boy-and-girl party because some of the girls in his class are cool, too. He can't remember any of their names yet, but he has a suggestion for his teacher that they should all wear name tags (lol, like he could read the names anyway!).

Sammy's class is small - maybe 18 kids? - big difference from his Minneapolis class last year at 30 and this year at 28. The teacher is young, originally from Minnetonka, MN (small world!), and loves to send emails. Plus she was sweet to my boy. I like her already :)

We loaded Sammy up onto the bus this morning at 7:06 (eeeek) and literally saw an armadillo cross the road right behind his bus. I'm going to assume that is a good omen here in Texas :)

Today (Tuesday) was Freddie's first day of preschool. I forgot to take a picture of him. I'll take one tomorrow. For now, here is a picture of him in the outfit he wore today. In his "Dude" shirt.

I walked him in this morning to make sure he got to his classroom okay, and to deliver paperwork to the office. He sat right down at one of the little tables and got to work on the play-doh. He just fell right into place. Like, "okay, this is preschool, I know what to do here." Then later he walked out to the car at the preschool's drive through pick-up (yeah, it's awesome and very well run!), sweaty, confident and happy as could be. He rattled off a bunch of stuff at once, lots of different topics - including several mentions of the fire drill they had and how they couldn't play on the monkey bars, and i would have never known this was a new school many miles away from home.

I can't get over my big boys. I thought they would cling to me and maybe even cry, nervous of all the change and newness. But I guess it's me who is heartbroken and unsure (for what we left behind and for how they will react to this life here), and they are the brave confident ones. I am constantly amazed by these little creatures in my life and so very grateful for them (even the moments when they are all such a handful!).

A tour around our new home

After Sammy returned home from school today the boys and I headed out on a walk (wagon ride for Jack) and to play. We stopped at the Clubhouse to see if we'd received any packages (we hadn't) and so Sammy could refill his water bottle. The boys love visiting the Clubhouse - it has two kitchens, a movie theater, a gym, two living spaces, and, their favorite, the office with the girls who work there. Taylor helped us lease our apartment and Sammy thinks of her as a friend. He and Freddie are constantly inviting her over to our apartment for the "Super Mario Bros. Super Show" in which they wear their Mario and Luigi Halloween costumes and jump around like Mario (or like total spazes) and sing inharmoniously.

After that we walked around to the mail boxes to check the mail. On the way back Freddie and I walked through a dip in a grassy area where the sprinklers must have been working overtime and we both ended up with soggy flip flops. He's wasn't too keen on wearing wet shoes.


We made it back to our building and it's backyard. Here is a shot of our building.

Our patios are the ones on the left, second floor. The big main patio we have decked out with chairs and drying towels; the other, which is covered by the tree leaves is smaller and leads off the boys' bedrooms. It's empty anyway and not very exciting.

Here is our new backyard.


Jack was crawling around, went to check out the pool, and got something stuck to his foot. He's showing me.


He's just precious (and I can remember that in these moments when he's not squealing...).


Why walk? Crawling is so much faster!


Here they are all piled into the wagon. There is no way I could pull this.

The big kids were very amused. Jack was not.

FYI I took a few pictures of Sammy but he was non-cooperative with the poses and I just couldn't post those pictures. He is such a silly BOY sometimes!! (love you, Sammy! obviously or I would have posted those super embarrassing weird-faced pictures of you!)

Arrival in Grapevine, Texas

Our moody brood made it to Texas. It was a long haul down here from Minneapolis, but we arrived late last Sunday and spent the night in our empty apartment.

The boys slept on sleeping bags in their room



Jack slept in a pack-n-play in his room, and Jacob and I crashed on the EZ Bed I stuffed into the trunk of the Swagger Wag thinking it'd save us in sanity and hotel fees if we could stay at the apartment rather than a hotel while we waited for our belongings to arrive on the North American truck.


We had these dressers, too, as I'd found them on craigslist about a month before we moved and Jacob and a co-worker went and bought them while the boys and I were still in Minneapolis. They are Harbor Town from Young America and in such great shape. HUGE score! :D


Jack, our first morning in Grapevine at the Waffle House. He'd just had a chocolate chip waffle and loved it.

I have fond memories of eating pecan waffles at Waffle House my very first morning in Texas, after my mom, Nan and I relocated from Baltimore to Southeast Texas when I was 11-years-old. I might have been trying to recreate that moment for my kids, and Jacob and boys were willing to go along with it, even though I'm not sure they'll remember it like I will.

Luckily, we were last on and first off the truck and we only had two nights roughing it without stuff. Side note: empty homes and three small children makes for a very loud residence!

Our stuff arrives in Texas!


Then we found the local Target. That's a must. Target is like lifeblood. While at the small Grapevine Target my eyes caught sight of a lone Missoni hand towel. Yay! I love it.


Inside the Grapevine Mall.


Jacob and the boys walked over to the mall via our apartment's hike and bike trail this morning while Jack napped. Then they walked around the mall. It's a big mall. Here there were by the end of their adventure:


Since the new job did not come with a car that was something Jacob needed to buy in Texas. While he was here without me and the kids he went and test drove cars. Ultimately he chose a Fiat. It's adorable. It's get outstanding gas mileage. And it could probably fit in the back of the Swagger Wag with the seats down. Here's the line-up:


So far we are doing okay. I am missing Minneapolis, our friends, the parks and the beautiful fall, but we are enjoying the apartment's amenities like basketball court, clubhouse, trails and swimming pools. The boys start school this week which is very exciting for all of us.

Naughty Jack

What happens to babies who cannot behave (read: not squeal at the top of his lungs) at the table while at a restaurant?

They are sacrificed at the feet of giant horse statues...

Our Texas-sized news!!

Jacob got a job offer in Dallas and we are moving back to Texas!

We are going to miss our Minneapolis "village" so much, and even Minneapolis three seasons of the year. Minneapolis, you are a wonderful, FUN, beautiful place to raise a family. Sadly, you are just too far away from our family, so it's with a heavy heart that the our family's time here must come to an end. But! You better believe we'll be back to visit. Especially around State Fair time!! We love you, Minneapolis and friends!

And some Texas sightings at the Minnesota State Fair, just for fun!







and this exhibit at the Fair called Texas on Tour:


And after 10 years away... Texas here we come!!!

The Great Minnesota Get-Together

Minnesota Sate Fair, 2011

Our family *loves* the State Fair. The past two years we've been twice. The first time this year we were lucky enough to take Grandpa James (aka "Ba") with us. Take two was on Labor Day, which is Kids' Day, so rides and games are at bargain rates. We eat lots of food: this year we tried Fried Pickles' fried pickles and giant pickles on a stick and Pronto Pups "Pail of Pups" along with the classic favorites like the bucket of Sweet Martha's cookies, Elvis sandwiches and giant A&W root beers. We ride the Sky Ride to Kid Way and the kids ride all kind of rides and go through all the Fun Houses. We check out the local radio and TV station's' booths. And we look at the new cars, tractors and sometimes the stinky animals. And don't forget the Giant Slide!!

Here are some pictures from our two 2011 visits:

Jack eating popcorn.

The first trip I forgot a bib, the second day we had him in a bib and loaded the pocket of his bib with eats and treats. At one point I was tossing cookies from my point on a wall into his pocket. Hilarious. By the end of the trip Jacob said Jack smelled like Dunkin' Dounuts. He did - he'd spilled my cup of coffee then crawled through it, and he'd eaten his way through the fair like a champ, too.

Tractor talk with James.


Leaving the tractors was hard to do!


Some guy won these huge Smurfs playing games at Midway and he was kind enough to let our boys take a picture with them.
Thanks, Random Dude!


A favorite ride


Jacob posing with the "Pail of Pups" from Pronto Pup and a giant pickle on a stick. I think you get the hat when get order a corn dog. Or a bucket of corn dogs.


Jack chowing down from the grub in his pocket.


Fried Pickles - one of our new favorite spots!


Sky Ride! one of the first things we do every time


About to leave - happy but exhausted, smelling like Dunkin' Dounuts and sticky