Posts Tagged ‘fair’

Best Weekend Of The Year 2018

Monday, October 1st, 2018

Previous years: 2017, 2016, 2015 part 1 and part 2, 2014, 2013, 2012

I really love the best weekend of the year. It kicks off the season of How Many Different Seasonal Activities Can We Fit Into Just Two Days? I love being able to walk to two different food festivals from my front door. I love taking the same photo of the kids at the fair every year. I love running into people I don’t get to see very often but then our kids are instantly best friends again. I love not cooking all weekend and saying yes to everything.

And I love looking back at the other Best Weekends and seeing how our family has grown.

In order: Greek Food Festival, Ledyard Fair, Taste of Italy, Mystic Eats

 

My Week(358) in iPhone Photos

Tuesday, September 26th, 2017

After a whoooole bunch of stress with our afternoon bus schedule, we’ve finally worked everything out and we’re just plain busy instead of super stressful busy. It’s good. We’re better at holding things together when we don’t have too much time to sit on the couch.

Sunday:

I love this umbrella

Living his best life

It’s important to practice before Halloween

Tuesday:

Everyone is at school or asleep and I am RELAXING

The cat is obsessed with our heated floors

Wednesday:

Enormous baby measured as enormous at his check up

Thursday:

We got the last one of these stupid things

This outfit makes me happy

It makes Finn happy too

Friday:

Cookie time

I hope this are the memories they have of their childhoods

Saturday:

Very fancy facepaint

Pizza is his favorite

That’s her “I GOT A NEW BOW” face

I bought Wonder Woman yesterday, so we can watch it at home and in the car and alllll the time, because I would much rather memorize Wonder Woman than all the episodes of Paw Patrol on this stupid pirate adventure DVD. Once you can name all the dogs on Paw Patrol you lose part of your soul forever.

The Big E 2017

Tuesday, September 19th, 2017

Previously: The Big E 2010, The Big E 2011

The Big E is what they call the Eastern States Exposition up in Springfield, MA. It’s like the state fair for all of New England – there are buildings for Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Each state has at least one “thing” that is very very popular. Some of them are obvious (Vermont has lots of maple things) and some are less obvious (Maine baked potatoes are a BIG DEAL and I don’t understand). This year Connecticut had lots of craft beer and wine, so obviously we picked the right New England state.

This is the second time we went to The Big E with these particular friends and I could not have done it without them. Two extra adults means we can actually have fun instead of having one long, sustained meltdown that snowballs from Lincoln to all the kids to me crying next to the fried cannoli stand because I can’t take it anymore. But that did not happen! We had fun! And I only lost Lincoln once!

(I did in fact lose Lincoln, but Lincoln was never lost. He just decided to go back to where everyone else was waiting while I stood in the Maine building freaking out. At least I know his sense of direction is really good?)

I did not take many photos (by my standards) because 4 kids is still a lot of kids even when I have help. But I did better than our visit in 2014, which I never got up on the blog at all! I don’t have a single picture of Finnegan, because he was either chilling in his stroller or on me the whole day.

Fake eating fake lamb pops in the “you should eat more lamb it’s delicious” booth located next to the adorable lambs.

A very nice 11-year-old girl named Clara let us pet her sheep. She won a bunch of ribbons. I can barely keep a houseplant alive.

This is a singing refrigerator.

No one wanted to eat here.

Evan recently learned what a “photo bomb” is.

Baby lobsters at the Maine building.

Lincoln loves rides.

And that’s the end of fair season! Next up: FALL FUN SEASON. Time for corn mazes, pumpkin patch, and cider mills.

Brooklyn Fair 2017

Wednesday, August 30th, 2017

The very best part of the year in Connecticut has just started. The weather is gorgeous. There are so many fun things to do we can’t possibly do them all. We’re just two weekends away from The Best Weekend Of The Year. We can be out of the house 12 hours a day easily, so when we get home all the children are exhausted and go right to bed.

On the one hand, this is perfect. The United States Navy called in their claim on my husband, and we won’t be seeing him for a while. Operation Keep Them Busy is my only hope to avoid sad, crying children every day. It’s lucky that this drastic family change happened during a time of year full of activity and changes. It’s easier to adjust when you’re already adjusting to new classes, new teachers, new schools, new routines and plenty of fun.

On the other hand, participating in all that fun without a second set of adult hands is taxing mentally and physically. There’s no one to go with the kids on rides the babies can’t ride. There’s no one to watch the stroller while I run to the bathroom. There’s no one to help carry plates at a food festival. There’s no one to wear an exhausted toddler when I’m wearing a nursing baby. There’s no one else to drive when I’m super tired. There’s just no one else. We’re going to miss some of the annual events we “always” go to because my sanity is more important than doing everything.

To kick off the best part of the year, we went to the Brooklyn Fair and it was wildly successful. I basically said yes to everything, including throwing a ton of money at stupid carnival games because my kids love those cheap, gross, horrible, trash stuffed animals so much. We were there for almost 5 hours and I think I only threatened to abandon them once. Maybe twice for Lincoln. But they had a super good time and said I was the best mommy and I got to eat the cotton candy they forgot we bought so it was a good day.

 

My Week(306) in iPhone Photos

Sunday, September 11th, 2016

Now that I spend 80% of my day sitting on the couch nursing a baby, the bad news my week in iPhone photos is going to be a little repetitive. The good news is it’s almost all pictures of a tiny squishy baby, so it’s not the worst thing in the world.

Sunday:

sunday1

First time being worn!! In our very most special wrap.

sunday2

Super windy lake, but at least we made it ONE more time

sunday3

First baby of mine to ever take a pacifier

Monday:

monday1

THAT’S RIGHT

monday2

Poor yellow baby (now he’s a blue baby)

monday3

When you turn on the jets in the bath you get a LOT of bubbles

Tuesday:

tuesday1

Ready for school!

tuesday2

How he feels about the hospital

tuesday3

Baby’s Second Hanna Jams (lobsters were first)

Wednesday:

wednesday1

Friends don’t let friends have a baby without bringing them their favorite wine

wednesday2

Pretending he’s still a baby too

wednesday3

Working on his thigh rolls

Thursday:

thursday1

My life is now this…

thursday2

…and this…

thursday3

And three times a week this (chasing a toddler during soccer).

Friday:

friday1

Helping me make the bed

friday2

He looks so pleased with his noodle and his juice

friday3

FAAAAACE

Saturday:

saturday2

Living their best lives

saturday1

Bzzzzzzzz

saturday3

Presents from Gymboree as part of a campaign! I’ll have the post up tomorrow!

I’m all caught up! Now I just have to edit a bazillion photos of our weekend so I can get THOSE up before the end of the week and then I might just spend the rest of the week napping instead of blogging. I’m sure you understand.