We're going to the faaaiiiirrrr....

the Alachua County faaaiiirrrr (inside joke). The fair was just okay... in no way does it compare to the Prince William County fair that I grew up going to (largest in the state of Virginia) but we still had fun of course.

The animals were probably the best part. Olivia loved the cows. She was brave enough to sit on a brahma bull although she appears to be clinging to his hump. Here she is petting a grand champion...Don ran into a guy he used to play rugby with at UF. He owns a farm and shows his animals at the fair. This is his bull.
Grant wanted no part of cows - sitting or petting. He preferred the rabbits - the caged rabbits...Olivia's ride of choice was the swings.She made me a bit nervous...But this is the ride she really wanted to ride. She made a pleading case to ride it but... um, no, I don't think so...Grant gave the race cars a thumbs up...Olivia joined in the fun...The turns caught Olivia off guard and we caught her reaction on camera...

Ew, Gross!

I had to work at the Museum's ButterflyFest last weekend so Don and the kids came to visit me and tour the Grossology exhibit.Her Grossness gave us an introduction. Olivia was mesmerized by her. Grant ran away.Olivia scaled the skin wall. In this picture she is holding onto skin tags and stepping on a scab or bruise, I can't recall.They climbed into the esophagus and came tumbling out of the stomach. Apparently the duodenum is quite steep as Grant came out of it head over heels.The intestinal obstacle course ended with passage through the rectum, much to their delight.We toured the nose and learned why we have nose hairs and why we snore (or at least some of us, Don).We also learned a lot about snot...At the ButterflyFest, Olivia ran into one of the kindergarten teachers from her school who was volunteering as a roving butterfly. She would ask kids questions and if they answered correctly, they would receive a gem to put on a necklace.One of the highlights of the Butterflyfest is the release of tagged monarch butterflies so scientists can track their flight distances.You can see the butterfly flying away, just below the white tent...

Which housewife are you?

My friend Angela passed this quiz on so I took it... and it says I'm Gabrielle! What in the world?! And I took the quiz 5 different times (yes, 5) and turned up Gabby all five times (yes, 5)!! I can't figure it out? I'm guessing it is because I'm not good with money. Thankfully Don is! Darn pop culture quizzes...

Hiking and Biking and Biking and Hiking

We have been doing a lot of both lately and EVERY time we come across something we haven't seen before. Hiking in particular is one of the most fun, educational and enjoyable things we have found to do. Not to mention the easiest - you just WALK and all kinds of interesting things pop up around you.

Some recent highlights:

Seed pod...Blue-tailed skink...Field of flowers...Hay bale fun...Apparently Don thought he'd catch me making a fool of myself but I got up on the first try.

Strong man...


The most exciting find of late were the Dung beetles on a horse trail. I was surprised at how many there were. It was very cool watching them pushing the dung back to their burrows. YUM!Darn we'll have to put those dung beetles back...

Bath time artistry

Somewhere along the way, the kids received an excellent gift - crayons for the bath tub. Dara/Scott, was it you? It came with a book of ideas as well, some of which inspired these artistic dabbling's.I particularly like the "BIG" on Grant's bicep and Olivia's hairy armpits.

The Great Pumpkin

Our continued return trip home was sidetracked again when we stopped at a pumpkin patch.Pumpkin picking lessons...Corn anyone?Lots of little gourds. The kids each picked their own.The Great Pumpkin...It turns out we were a day early. The patch wasn't officially opening until the next day - we missed that on the sign when we pulled in. We sat on the hay ride anyway.A few pumpkin patch visits from past years...

2007 in Manassas, VaHauling the load...With Grandma and Grandpa...
20062004

How 'bout dem apples?

Upon leaving Camp Tekoa, we were told about an apple orchard nearby. The weather was absolutely perfect and we couldn't resist the allure of a day in an orchard with freshly picked apples. They had a huge varietal selection (Jonagold, Red Delicious, Granny, Gala, Cortland, McIntosh, Fuji, Early Macs, Honey Crisp (out), Golden Delicious, Ginger Gold (out), Idareds... and more I'm sure).Jonagolds were a top fave for us...
For some reason we all had visions of a quaint, mom and pop joint. Not quite. This place was huge and slammed! Luckily, the vast acreage allowed us to escape the crowds and pick (and eat!) apples in peace.The Appalachian mountains made for a beautiful backdrop.Who wouldn't take an apple from this kid?Or this one?Or this one?Or two from this one?While not my favorite apple, I thought the Red Delicious tree was beautiful...They each had their favorite...
We picked our fill and since we have made two apple pies. We'll tackle applesauce next.