Arizona State Fair

Yesterday we took Sunny to the Arizona State Fair. As near as Dan and I can remember, we haven't been to the fair since 1998 or so. It was fun to see it through the eyes of a three-year-old, but other than that I don't care if we don't go for another 10+ years. It is much smaller than we remember. There are many less exhibits. We were very disappointed in the agriculture area. The costs (except for admission) are astronomical. OK, enough complaining...

We didn't know what to expect from Sunny. She can be timid in some situations. But, she had a great time! She rode two rides, enjoyed the petting area, the Native American dancers, the huge ice cream cone, and watching all of the rides. She got to pet sheep, goats, piggies, a llama, and a tiny kangaroo/wallaby (I'm not sure which). She saw tiny baby chicks and hear a turkey gobble. The cattle/horses were no longer there (or haven't got there yet), same with the swine. We couldn't find the pig races.

Dan and I decided if we take the grandkids again we'll have to have a lot more money than we took. Especially if they want to ride the rides!

Riding the teacups 

Mission accomplished!

Petting a goat

Riding the carousel

There's Always a First Time

Sometimes we forget that as we age we can still have "firsts". We may decide to take up a new hobby or sport. We may travel to new places. We might learn new skills. We most definitely in this day and age will learn new technologies. Seldom do we stop to acknowledge these "firsts".

 I did something for the first time in my life the other day. I ate a container of yogurt.

When the kids were little they ate yogurt frequently. I tasted it once in a while, but had no desire to eat it. Now that I'm watching my diet for so many reasons, I decided to give yogurt a second chance. It's tricky. I have an aversion to certain textures in my mouth, so I had to find a smooth yogurt. My choice was Yoplait Light Raspberry Cheesecake. It was smooth. It tasted very sweet, too sweet for me. The texture was thicker than I anticipated. But I ate the entire container.

Yippee for me! The next time I shopped, I bought another Yoplait Light. This time I'm going to try Very Vanilla. I hope it will be less sweet. I also bought some frozen yogurt because someone told me it's a good way to learn to eat yogurt. I'll just have to measure my serving to be sure it's 15 grams of carbs or less.

See... you can teach an old lady new tricks!

TUSAL

Time for this month's TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-a-long). This is the results of finishing Katie's stocking and taking up Gabe's stocking. I'm hoping to finish Gabe's stocking by next week and will have pictures to post tomorrow.

If you want to join in the TUSAL fun, click here to get all of the information.

Distinguished

I glanced down at Duke this morning and did a double-take when I saw he had grown a white mustache over night!

Happy 80th, Dad!

My dad turned 80 this past Friday. We started the celebrations last weekend with a birthday dinner at Tagliani's for Dad, Mom, Mark, Kelly, Dan, and me.

Yesterday we had a cake/ice cream party with the whole family. Even JD and Janel got to participate over Skype. That thrilled my folks to no end! We snacked on cupcakes - displayed in the shape of an 80 of course (we even managed to stick 80 candles on them) - and ice cream. We had a great time visiting and catching up with each other and celebrating the life of a very important man to all of us.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

This Week in Photos

I've had the grandkids a few extra days these past two weeks. Katie is in the process of changing jobs and has been in training. Extra days require extra fun so that none of us become grumpy. Here's a bit of what we've been doing.

Last Friday Gigi came to play!

On Monday we headed for the park:

A Day in the Life at Grammy's House

Yesterday was a great day at Grammy Daycare. Sunny is getting old enough that she can play by herself for long stretches of time. Thunder is enjoying the freedom of walking wherever he wants to go whenever the urge hits him. I just love to eavesdrop on Sunny's play time. She has an active imagination and she talks to and for all of her little animal and dolly friends.

She attended her first movie in the theatre this weekend. So yesterday a lot of her play centered on turning the lights off to have a show. Thunder's big thing is rocking in rocking chairs. He rocks a few times and then starts "singing" as he rocks. I haven't managed to snap a photo yet but I'm hoping to soon.

Is there anything that brings as much joy as grandkids?!

Sunny wore her headband today and thought Rascal would enjoy wearing it as well. Poor dog, he's still wearing the cone from his surgery a few weeks ago. He's such a good sport!

She wanted a picture with Summer. This is as close as Summer will allow her to get. 

This is one of those imaginative play times I love to listen to. She gathered all of her friends and lined them up for a "birthday show". I don't know where she gets her ideas from!