Ahhhh, the Fair

In Montana there are fairs all summer long.  Just where we lived there was the Missoula fair, the Kalispell fair and the Plains fair.  In Alaska........there is 1.  But it's a doozy!  The last several years we haven't had a lot of money to spend at the fair so it was usually a pretty subdued experience, but this year we were a little more flush so we had A LOT more fun. 

We started out walking by all the vendors, ooohhing and ahhhing over hot tubs (me), snowmobiles and 4-wheelers (Austin and Connor), mini back massagers (Dustin) and construction equipment (Noah).  Then we hit the food trail.  Oh how we reveled.  We paid so much for food we probably could have fed a small African country for a week.  There were tamales, cheese curds, pizza and tacos followed by cotton candy, ice cream, a rootbeer float and a carmel apple.  No one walked away hungry or unsugared.

Of course rides had to be ridden.....and for your enjoyment I have included pictures :) 

No one puked! Although I came dangerously close on the carousel as it was whipping around at 0.2 miles per hour. 

Finally we toured the barns.  The kids were not impressed with the quilts or the artwork, but had a blast checking out all the animals.  They had fun petting lambs, goats, cows and bunnies.  They got to see baby chicks hatching and turkeys gobbling.  I believe Noah summed up the day best when he told a rooster who had just cock-a-doodle-doo'd, "Chicken, that was AMAZING!!"

Stinky Baby Sasquatch

I suppose its inevitable that my boys will eventually mature into men.....And for some reason I've decided that the easily observable physical signs are the hardest for me to accept.  The boys however seem quite delighted with each new thing that makes them "more like dad." 

Upon their return from Montana this year Austin announced that his legs were becoming quite hairy and that he was turning into a baby Sasquatch.  I found this very funny and told him so.  I also suggested he spend more time roaming the woods around our house just to see if his "true parents" were out there somewhere.  He didn't find that very funny at all.

A few days ago Connor passed by me and caused me to wonder if I had forgotten to put my deoderant on that morning.  So I casually sniffed and was relieved to discover that I hadn't forgetten, which meant......it was time to buy deoderant for the boys (which they used to refer to as "boyoderant" and loved to apply whenever Dustin was caught putting his on).  I was pretty surprised that I had a hard time convincing them they needed it and even went so far as to make them smell their own armpits.  The looks on their faces reminded me of someone who had to suck on a lemon knowing there will be no shot of tequila to follow.  Total bummer dude. 

Last of all, they will soon surpass my own hobbit-like stature and I will become the midget in my house.  At only 9 years of age they are already at my shoulder so I'm forcasting another year or so before they're looking me directly in the eyes.  And should they think that my vertically challenged condition equals weakness, I shall remind them that a lower center of gravity equals a much better tackle :)

Feel the Noise

Today is going to be one of THOSE days.  The kids woke up fighting.  The dogs woke up whining and I think I woke up with this headache.  No wait, I did not have this headache before the kids got up.  And of course we have things to do, places to go and people to see, so locking myself in my bedroom is probably not an option. 

I saw the best cartoon the other day, it showed this furry little monster with huge eyeballs.  The caption read, "I put redbull in my coffee pot this morning instead of water.  Now I can SEE noises!"  An accurate description of how this morning feels I must say.

Therefore I will resort to my stress-reliever of choice, my imagination.  Perhaps if I imagine places that are more noisy and chaotic than my home, I will feel better about being trapped stuck here. Here is a top 10 list:

10. New York City.
 9.  A NASCAR race.
 8.  The tarmac of O'Hare International Airport.
 7.  Bike week in Daytona.
 6.  A professional football game.
 5.  A Southern Baptist revival camp.
 4.  A California freeway at rush hour.
 3.  The state fair on "Kids Get In Free Day"
 2.  Mardi Gras.

And of course, lets not forget.....
1.  All you can eat crab legs at Hooters on a Friday night.

Yup, I feel a little better.  Peace out my friends :)