I think a month is the longest I’ve ever abandoned this blog since I started it 9ish years ago. I didn’t do it on purpose. I actually wrote a bunch of things that totally would have been blog posts in 2009 but ended up as Facebook posts because it’s 2017. We’re not even close to halfway through with this deployment and although we’ve found rhythm and a schedule that works, it’s exhausting being the only adult in charge of 4 small humans. Even when they have playdates or activities – and I am SO grateful for everyone who has helped – I play chauffer and social planner.

But it would be unfair to quit trying to document everything now, when I know E is looking forward to catching up on everything he missed as soon as he can. So onward and upward, once again.

Sunday:

All three, living their best lives

Mystic Seaport is our happy place

My eight year old beat me at bumper bowling

Monday:

We made slime every day for a week, then I got tired of scraping it off the floor

When both kids are awake and insist of being held at the bus stop

The CUTEST little soaps from The Rubber Ducky Soap Co

Tuesday:

Checking out the candy deals

Pretending he’s a big kid

Watching sissy do cheer

Wednesday:

I WON THE BUS WAR THEY MOVED IT HALF AN HOUR EARLIER

Trashing the car while waiting for Caroline outside ballet

Thursday:

I have a peach vampire in the house

OK, bye, just go be a big kid

Trampoline heaven

Friday:

The first of many, many vet appointments

HAPPY to go to school! YAY!

We put all those rocks in the kindness garden

Saturday:

Who can resist a selfie with a cow?

My little lambs

Another year at The Big E with friends

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.

There is a lot of my face in this post, which is weird. I am not a selfie person, but when all you do is hold or nurse a baby there isn’t that much else to take pictures of.

Sunday:

They will never get tired of swinging.

Even the litter in Mystic is classier than regular litter.

That bubble gun is identical to the one we bought the exact same weekend last year. It lasted exactly as long (10 minutes).

Monday:

I feel so naked in this photo because I took the case off my iPhone.

A+ for adorable sleeping

OMG I ACTUALLY PICKED UP MY NEEDLES

Tuesday:

School bus buddies

GTFO Big Lots

I’ll never get tired of how people react to this thing.

Wednesday:

Uniform on top, her own wacky fashion on the bottom

Mmmmmmmmm homework

Multitasking: feeding a baby, breaking in a woven wrap, transferring pictures, Facebooking and cuddling a cat. WHILE TAKING A PICTURE.

 Thursday:

Happy baby, happy octopus shirt, happy monkey diaper

More school bus fashion

Bathtime smiles

Friday:

I’m at the ATT store and smiling. CAN YOU GUESS WHY?

Sometimes your mom knits a newborn hat and then uses you unwillingly as a guinea pig

Sooooo…I have this new hobby. Habit. Obsession? #tryallthewraps

Saturday:

I swear that face is the reaction to the cow barn at The Big E, not the hat.

Clam fritters and Del’s – Rhode Island wins at food

Caroline does not look nearly terrified enough

I am already done with this week and it’s only Sunday night. I haven’t felt this tired since the night I didn’t get any sleep because I was giving birth. And even then my back didn’t hurt so much thanks to the epidural. I plan to be in bed by 8 as many times this week as I can.

From Wikipedia: The Big E, also known as The Eastern States Exposition, is billed as “New England’s Great State fair”. The Big E serves as the de facto state fair for all six of the New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Each of the New England states is prominently represented at the fair. The Big E is the sixth largest agricultural fair in the country, and the largest in New England.

From my experience: A huge ass fair where people lose their damn minds and stand in line for hours for a baked potato. Also, giant slurpies, beer, fried things, horses, crazy people, rides of questionable safety, good times.

We went on Friday, which was a Good Idea because although it was busy it wasn’t unable-to-move busy like it was last year on a Saturday. The weather was fantastic and the kids were 99% angels and even Mr. I Don’t Wanna Go There Are People There And I Hate People had a pretty good time.

Each state has a building showcasing the best stuff from their area. Maple things and seafood are in all of them.

What is this, a carousel for ANTS?

Best baby ever. We just fed her kettle corn the whole time and she barely made a peep.

No corndog no!!! Oh wait, that looks delicious. NOM NOM NOM.

I had the veggie platter for lunch and called it a healthy choice because it wasn't fried butter.

Duck Quack Quack

To make the day even more extra awesome, we met up with one of my long-time internet friends Leah (long time meaning since before I had any kids at all and her oldest kid was only a teeny weeny baby), who normally lives in Chicago but was visiting her family in Massachusetts. Little Evan immediately decided her son Calder was his new best friend, which meant he was allowed to borrow his dinosaur toy. Calder was too busy feeding popcorn to Caroline and sucking down the rest of my slurpie to care, so they got along GREAT.

Dinosaur RAWR

Driving buddies

This ride went WAY TOO FAST around the corners. Obviously Evan is terrified.

Choo choo train

Hey girl.

The boys practically mowed down the ticket taker carnie to be the first ones on and secure their spot in the engine. Calder then invited a cute little girl to sit with them. Mad skills for a 3 1/2 year old.

Hands up the whole time. This kid is fearless.

Isn't it nice when people you know online turn out to be awesome in real life too?

At one point, Leah had to go get some poutine (because, obviously) and I watched her sleeping baby and Calder. When he asked where his mom went I said “To get some food. You just stay here with the random person your mama met on the interet.” “Ok” said Calder. The people in line with us looked a little more concerned, but they must have thought I was joking. AHAHAHA jokes on them!

I love you Big E. See you next year!

So I was just linking to last year’s post about our trip and awwwwwwing over Baby Evan looking like a baby when I noticed I wore the same boots last time. I wonder if I came home and thought “Wow, those were a POOR CHOICE. Next year I’m wearing sneakers!” Because that’s what I thought this year. I win at forgetting things. Wait, what was I saying?

The whole POINT of going to the Eastern States Exposition (known as The Big E) was so I could get a picture of E standing next a sign that said “The Big E”. And although I took 114 pictures of various others things and people somehow I did not take that picture, despite spending 6 hours and a good portion of my sanity wandering around looking at cows and fried things and Fair People.

Fair People makes me think of Bill Engvall’s stand up bit about the fair. Which is why I took this picture:

Sorry, that’s probably only funny to E and me. We’re dorks. And maybe rednecks.

Even though I didn’t get a picture of E next to the sign, I did get a ton of other pictures. There was food…

That's the face of a child getting a major brain freeze from my strawberry-lemonade slurpie.

And animals…

That's one of the Budweiser Clydesdales getting a foot rub.

All that WOOL! I could knit so much stuff! And Baby Evan liked petting them too.

And plenty of things to buy and touch and look at…

That unicorn in the upper left is part of the Massachusetts building. Apparently they have unicorns there. Or maybe they USED to have unicorns, until the pilgrims ate them all at the first Thanksgiving and everyone got gay married. I was never very good at history.

That was some sort of crazy skateboarding themed fun house on the midway. I just like the picture because Baby Evan's wearing his rock'n'roll shirt.

Not pictured: Framed poster of the Jersey Shore cast dude in a tank top was carrying around. I guess that’s what counts as a “prize” from the ring toss game these days. Hand on my heart, that’s 10000% true.

It was a very fun, very busy, very long day. We planned to stay until about 1:30 and ended up hanging around until 4 to meet some friends. My feet were SCREAMING and my horrible pelvic pain threw my left hip out of joint. I ended up half limping, half waddling, clinging to the stroller and breathing like I just finished a marathon. It was dead sexy. And despite my huge pregnant belly, the people who had claimed the very few benches showed absolutely no interest in letting me sit down for even a minute.

So I took a little rest in the grass. At least SOMEONE got a seat.

And just so you know, I TOTALLY resisted having this done:

But it was really really hard.

Maybe I’m a little more redneck than I thought.