Utah State Fair

We went as a family to the Utah State Fair. We had so much fun and for it being Sophie's first time, she couldn't get enough of it. She would have been running around with her sister...if she knew how to run! Warning: LOTS of pictures!!!

I hope they never get rid of this fun Helping Hands on the Farm that the FFA do! It is so much fun and we haven't gotten tired of it yet! Here is our traditional height check!

Off to feed the cows!

And milk the cows! This is much easier than the real thing!

We went picking apples!

Sophie planting and harvesting her potatoes. Apparently she thinks both need to go right in her mouth!

Anne harvesting carrots!

Tractor rides!

Brushing the sheep and gathering eggs.

Then it was time to take all of our items to sell and then gather our money. The girls each got a "dollar" to use at the general store. Anne bought an apple and Sophie bought a thing of fruit loop cereal. The both enjoyed the "fruits" of their labor!

Then it was off to see the real live animals! Anne loved to pet the sheep. We tried to get her to pet a pig but it "oinked" at her and totally freaked her out!

They had this cute section for little kids to play in. Anne...our little outlaw!

Little Miss Sophie

Roping cattle and playing the drums!

Don't they look good in a saddle?

Does this surprise anyone that my little girls would get caught horseplaying? My girls know how to have fun!

The many faces of Anne!

We had a yummy dinner! Sophie just wanted to play with the straw!

Off to ride a few rides! Anne and mommy had so much fun on the Ferris Wheel! The highlight for Anne was when we stopped at the top while they let some other riders on. We had a blast!

Our little Anne was big enough to ride this ride all by herself! (Literally...she was the only one on the ride!) She loved it! She remembered it from last year.

I love how you can barely see her peeking out!

We just had so much fun but after only 3 hours with 2 little girls...we'd had our fill! Can't wait for next year!

Sophie is 11 months!

Little Sophie isn't so little any more! She is growing up too fast! Just like her older sister! She is exploring the world around her and that now includes standing up on things. She loves to get into everything!

She also loves to do whatever Anne is doing. Her new thing is to hand big sister the forks, spoons and knives each morning when Anne is putting them away. She and Anne have their own little language too. They like to make silly noises back and forth to each other. And my favorite is the fun they have together during bath time. Sophie loves to splash and splash!

We just love this little girl. We are so happy she is a part of our family!

Camping at Palisades with the Parks

After we picked up Anne from her first day of preschool, we were off to Palisades State Park for a little camping with our neighbors, the Park family! We first stopped in Springville for lunch at Dairy Queen and then to Walmart to pick up a few supplies.

After getting set up, the dads headed out to golf and the moms and kids decided to wander around the park. The kids LOVED the big trees that were growing sideways and HAD to climb on them!

Sophie was having too much fun eating the leaves and grass so we let her play around on this mat of Kathy's. It was a struggle to keep her on it!

Kathy decided to help Anne learn how to hit a ball! Anne loved it and didn't want to share turns with the boys! She did pretty well.

However, we need to work on her swing!

After a very yummy dinner, it was time to get ready for bed! Sophie wasn't very fond of this hat.

Poor little Joshua fell down after dinner and Anne was so upset that her buddy had been hurt. The new rule...no running! Anne later that night told me in private that she liked to run so I told her she could on the grass. She kept to the grass most of the time the rest of the camping trip!

After a long night of trying to get the kids to bed...the wind knocking down the tent (while the girls and I were in it), and also getting to see the moon really close using the telescope from the "neighbors" in the next campground over...we woke up to another beautiful day!

After a very yummy breakfast, Kathy and I decided to take the kids out on a paddle boat! The boys weren't too happy about the purple one...but they accomidated Anne's wish!

Sophie looking longingly at everyone on the boat. She LOVES the water. The plan was for me to take her with me, but she fell asleep before that happened. Oh well.

My turn on the boat. James was our captain and our ship mates in the back...Joshua and Anne. Both weren't too happy about having to ride in the back and not paddle. In a few years, kids! We went all the way around the lake and even had a visitor at one point...Nike! The Park's dog. All wet and yes, shook the instant he got on the boat all over me and James!

While we were boating, the guys were out golfing again! They had a great time!

After lunch and when the guys got back, I took the kids (minus Sophie) down to the water to swim around. It was a little cool but really perfect in my opinion. The boys ended up in the very shallow water trying to catch the baby fish while Anne and I swam around. After that, we picked up Sophie and headed back to the trees, went to the play ground to swing and even went on a little hike. We saw a bird with a fish in its claws, a lizard and I ran over a water snake with the stroller. Freaked me out a little but I tried to hide it from the kids. This allowed Patrick and Kathy time to go out on a canoe and fish and spend some quiet time together. And also time for Dan to nap. We then had yet another yummy dinner and then we had to leave so Dan could get ready to go back to work the following night!

Such a fun trip and we hope to make this an annual thing!