Day 24

Yesterday was the last day my friend Laura was in town visiting.
Derek's preschool class had a field trip to the fair, so we all tagged along.

We managed to get all 7 of us out the door and to the meeting point at the fair by 9am (ish). This was no small feat, since it only gave us about an hour to get everyone fed and dressed.

(Caveat-- While Derek is well-stocked w/ fall apparel, it appears that I did not have as much set aside for his sister. She has been wearing that polka dot outfit for the past 2 years. Ignore that. I need to do some shopping.)

Baby Kate was very tolerant of all the loving and petting she received from Alex.
Alex has not yet forgiven us for refusing to provide her with her very own baby girl.

And after spending a couple days trying to keep Kate from injuring herself in our non-baby-proofed house, I realized that I have no regrets about that decision. Instead, I will just enjoy my friends' babies, and then give them back!


This shot is just for Josh-- he used to give Drew a hard time about puttin' the moves on his baby girl.

One of the first things my kids said after their friends got into town was-- "Mom! Baby Reese can TALK now!" She is such a cutie-- but she's not a baby anymore.

Derek watching the stage show:

There were some Kenyan acrobats.

And a pig trained in classical dance.

And this:

Impressive? Yes. Audience appropriate? Perhaps not.
Derek was terrified that he was going to burn himself, and I'm sure there was a kid in the audience who was trying to figure out how to do that at home. 

Pig Races!

So here we are trying to get a group photo.
Only Drew wasn't a big fan of his sister standing right in front of him. 

So he put on his steely-eyed-death-glare, and gave her a push gentle nudge to the side.

And then turned on the charm.

Keep your eye on that boy, Laura! He's going to be trouble! ;)

Since I'm not willing to hand my camera over to the little people, this was the best we could do for a shot of the two of us. Taken in my van's window reflection.

The same van that is currently in the shop because it wouldn't stop pinging at me.
Like, literally wouldn't stop.
Not even when I turned the car off and ran screaming away from it.
Nope, still pinging.

When I walked in, the manager asked how he could help me and I told him that he could restore my sanity.
He agreed that the pinging was enough to make anyone go nuts.

And then he stuck me in a waiting room for an hour and 45 minutes with my children.

He obviously does not know the first thing about what makes people go nuts.

Laura, thanks for coming! It was so good to see you all :)