Ga Nat'l Fair - part 2 (Tuesday)

After lunch, we headed to the rides. Nathan couldn't wait! The main thing he wanted to ride was the ferris wheel. So, I got a few tickets so that I could go on the big ferris wheel with him.


Right next to the ferris wheel was this big slide. Nathan was barely tall enough to ride it without an adult. He had a blast and rode it four or five times. He's the one in the middle coming down first.


Caroline REALLY wanted to go on the slide, but was too little. So, we set out to find the smaller rides. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to have as many for little bitty people as they did last year. She was big enough to ride some with an adult, but I didn't buy enough tickets for that. I convinced one of the ride operators to let her go on this ride with Nathan. Caroline LOVED it!


They both really enjoyed it. Caroline cried a TON when she had to get off. (The bars of rides don't lend to good focusing so I sharpened this close up for you.)


While Nathan went on some more rides, Caroline and I went in search of the playground. They always have this little area where somebody is trying to sell expensive wooden playsets. They let the kids play on them. This worked for her. She had a good time.


She also really enjoyed the Caroline-sized swing attached to the Caroline-sized playhouse.


After a little while, I traded out with Mema so I could get a few more pictures of Nathan (and Mema could rest). Nathan had a great time on the rides!


Here's another close-up so you can get a better idea of the expression on his face.

Ga Nat'l Fair - part 1 (Tuesday)

Last Tuesday (well, the 7th), the kids and I went to the Ga Nat'l Fair in Perry with Mema (my mom's mom). We spent the first part of the day checking out the animals. We saw tried to go to a miniature horse show, but it ended up being at a different time than was published.


Luckily, though, one nice owner brought her horse around to the side for some of the kids to see. Nathan and Caroline enjoyed checking out the little horse. She was about six years old and was about three months pregnant.


Caroline even got to sit on the horse. She was just the right size!


We also wondered around and looked at the cows and sheep. Afterwards, we headed to the petting zoo. Nathan really wanted to go feed the animals. He fed most of the animals there. I thought it was cute that he was trying to be fair and not let any one animal hog the food.


I wasn't sure if Caroline would want to feed the animals because she tends to be a little scared of animals...well, animals who get their faces too close anyway. She fed a couple before deciding that she didn't like it so much. Later, though, after watching Nathan feed more she decided to give it another try. She enjoyed it except for all the slobber that she got on her hand. :)

brushing teeth is fun!

trucks...and animals...are fun

One day last week while Nathan was at school, I walked by and saw Caroline playing with Nathan's big truck. I thought it was cute, so I grabbed my camera. When I returned to take a couple pictures, I realized that she was not just playing with the truck. And she knew that what she had done was wrong. Do you see that concerned look in the first picture? Yeah, that's the "oh, no, something's wrong" look. In this case, she had pulled all the foam animals off of Nathan's picture from church. She was having a good ol' time putting them in the truck and taking them out.

Soccer Game #6

Occasionally, Nathan will get in the mix and try to get the ball...


But most of the time he's following along a little behind the action...


Or watching the ball go by...


But he enjoys hanging out with his friends.

good help is easy to find

I've got good help!

Soccer Game #5

If you're seeing this and there are no videos, then I have probably forgotten to ask Matt to download them so I can put them on here.

first ponytail

On September 24th I tried to put Caroline's hair up in a ponytail. It stayed for a little while, but her hair is just too fine to stay up very well at the moment.

Soccer Game #4

September pictures - playground

September pictures - at home

things about Caroline

- she's talking lots, most recently she's started adding "s"'s to words to make them plural and also putting more than one word together on occasion

- she LOVES her big brother, she wants to do anything he does, when it's time to pick him up from school, she says "Nathan" excitedly and heads for the door

- she loves to help around the house, her favorite thing to help with is putting up groceries

- she's obsessed with bags, so we bought her a purse

- she's finally getting in her fourth molar, no sign of canines, though

- she is enjoying "reading" these days and likes for us to read to her, her favorite books are the smallest board books, she's also taken a liking to "Sam's Speedy Fire Truck" which used to be one of Nathan's favorites

- she likes to wear jewelry, so we bought her a little bracelet and necklace set

- she is making good progress on going potty, most of the time she gets something out, but I think the whole idea is just fun for her right now

- she loves to run in circles, big circles, little circles, it's funny to watch

- every time we pull up to church, she exclaims "soccer", lately she follows that with "kick"

funny question

Leaving church Wednesday night, Nathan pointed to the top of the sanctuary building and asked "Mommy, is that like the steeple where Mary and Joseph stayed?"

Soccer Game #3

On Saturday, Nathan and Matt had their third soccer game. Overall, it went better than the other two. I think everybody had fun. And that's really the most important thing at this point. Here is a video of the team being announced and running out at the beginning of the game:



I thought it was funny when I went back through the videos after the game. Every one of them has either the whole stands yelling "other way...other way..." to Nathan's team, the other team scoring, or kids falling down. It's really funny. Here, however, is one of the two goals that Nathan's team made. Oh yeah, they don't keep up with the score at this age.



Nathan spends most of the game running behind and around the group with the ball. He keeps up great like he's playing...but he isn't about to stick his foot in the middle to get the ball. :) In Upward, however, part of the plan is to make sure every kid gets to play equally and that they all get to touch the ball at some point. As a result, Nathan does a good bit of kicking the ball in when it goes out of bounds.



Caroline thinks she should be one of the group. After the game, the team and parents gather off the side of the fields and somebody from church talks about their relationship with God. Then, they have a snack/drink and get their stars (awards for playing good during the game - everyone gets one but there are different kinds). Caroline wants to be right in there. When she saw this picture today, she said "sit...soccer...Daddy". She loves to sit with the boys!

a family visit

Last Thursday, Jenn and Kaitlin came to visit. They were able to hang out at the house for quite a while. We also ate lunch with Mama and later that night went to sears to take some pictures of the kids together. Here are a few pictures from the day:

soccer game #2

Nathan's second soccer game went much better than the first. His team did a better job of getting in there and playing, and the other team wasn't so aggressive. He did a much better job of keeping up with the the ball. However, he didn't work too hard to get into the midst of the fray. Here he is running out at the beginning of the game.


Coach Daddy getting ready to start the play back and Nathan ready to kick in the ball.


Here's the kick.


I asked Nathan after the game what he was doing here. He said he was resting.


I guess his rest did him some good. Later, he got the ball and kicked it around a good bit before the other team got to it.


And...here he is "shaking hands" with the other team at the end of the game.