We kept busy today, from the moment Aut dragged us, unwillingly, out of bed at the crack of 6 a.m. "It's time Dad..." having replaced "Rise and shine!", which, she claims she doesn't say (must have been a momentary lapse into Kim!)...until right now, 1ish, when I dropped Brendon off at Janene's...
Janene cut my hair, working me into her busy Easter week schedule and we worked out some more details for the Kimmy's Kut-a-Thon event...
Got to help with Mrs. Schrantz' Easter egg hunt - which was a rush - watching 23 7 and 8 year olds, adrenaline pumping, as they made a mad scramble into what looked like a field in Ethiopia, to find over 100 eggs (thanks for filling them Lupe!)!
You can get a sense of the hardscrabble field that, somehow, Ms Belin and Sean managed to 'hide' over 100 Easter eggs on...this is unforgiving land - if you fall on this 'soil', you are going to bleed.
But, of course, the kids see none of this - they just knew, that there were a gagjillion Easter eggs out there, somewhere, and spread out in a flurry to gather them up! They had an absolute blast!!
Tonio is intent on filling his bag with Easter eggs!
Tonio helps Mrs. Schrantz retrieve an errant Easter egg that was somehow 'hidden' just outside of the fence...
As soon as we picked up Cody, we headed out to the Pima County Fair, to meet up with Janene, Brendon and Bryson...
Ever since I can remember, Kim and I loved to go to fairs, carnivals, amusement parks - for the food, the games (I always had to win her something!), the rides and the people watching. We would go to the Allentown Fair, at least once during it's run time. They had an ice cream place in there that made some great waffle sandwhiches. And Kim always liked to look at the animal exhibits, especially when they had a petting zoo! We'd spend hours there.
When we moved here, we made sure to attend the fair each year. Sometimes to see concerts, like Santana, and others just to walk around, enjoy the exhibits, and each other's company. Since Cody's birthday falls during fair time each year, he typically will take a couple of his buddies to the fair and go on all of the big, crazy, pacemaker killing rides. And we'd always eat roasted corn...
Janene told us to meet her in front of the Moscow Circus, and we arrived just in time to see her and Bryson come hurtling down a long, winding slide!
We all went on the ferris wheel, after having to cajole Autumn, by telling her I would hold her...
Across the desert, the Santa Rita mountains...
And, a birdseye view of the main ride section of the fair...
Bryson and Tonio were having a great time, but with the sun at their backs, it was hard to get a good picture (and hold Autumn).
As I said, Kim and I enjoyed the people watching at the fairs we went to...and today, we were not dissappointed - I told Janene, I'd like to take more pictures, but did not want to get my a...er, my butt kicked!
Janene made me take this photo of a lady 'wearing' two water bottles, one in each back pocket! We also saw a lady wearing the highest heeled boots that I've ever seen - she could not have been comfortable and I doubt she was allowed on most of the rides wearing them...
I think the log ride was everybody's favorite, although we had to wait a long time in line, as the ticket scanning devices were not cooperating - and our cell phones had some pretty poor reception, too, which made it a challenge to keep in contact with Brendon and Cody, who we set loose to go on the really big rides, while we took the little ones on the tamer, safer, rides, agreeing it was better for us, too!
The kids really enjoyed the several 'fun house' style rides that they had scattered throughout the fair - Autumn and Tonio survive the spinning wheel on this particular one...
And Bryson deftly slides through on this one, while Autumn awaits her turn...
Bryson, Autumn and Tonio are all smiles at the Pima County Fair!
Oops, thought I rotated this one...anyways, its Autumn getting ready to wreak havoc on the bumper cars... We finally got the kids to slow down long enough to eat something around 8 - Tonio, his signature corn dog...Bryson, two of the longest churros I've ever seen! And Autumn, Janene and I got the roasted corn, with all sorts of fixins, which was awesome.
By this time, the fair was unbelievably packed - and, as we waded through, trying to fight our way to the exit...Janene said, 'I could never be a carnie!' - best laugh I had all day!!
We also had a great, philosophical discussion regarding what people do with items this big that they win? Put it in corner, until it collects enough dust and then give it away?
When we went out back to say goodnight to Kimmy, Tonio told his Mama that I had taken them to the fair, and that he missed her being there...I told him that his Mama was there with him tonight, that's why he had such a great time!! He smiled at this thought, blew his kisses towards the sky and went inside to sleep...
Love,
Dave
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