BIG TEX & A CORNEY DOG!

TEXAS STATE FAIR - 2008

We took two trips to the fair this year.

Jacob had been craving a corney dog for about a month now.

And I LOVE the fair.

So we went on Opening Day.

The crowds weren't bad at all, and the food,

well...it was good! Good and FRIED!

Of course we had a Fletcher's corney dog.

But for the new foods this year? Well...

We enjoyed a fried Oreo Cookie & a fried chocolate truffel.

The oreo cookie was way better.

I was on the hunt for the fried grilled cheese with tomato soup dressing, but never found it.
The contest winner was the Chicken Fried Bacon.

Which none of us could bring ourselves to eating.

We went back on Dylan's Fair Day, and took the kids.

This was Dakota's first year to go!

Dylan asks about it all year.

"Can we go to that place that has all the games"

He's not a fan of the rides like sis is, he enjoys the games.

The fair did change that up this year though. It is kinda set up like Dave and Busters.

You load a card with money ($10 being the cheapest amount, by the way)

and then use that as credits towards the games. The rides still took tickets, though.

Confussing and not user friendly!

What's the fair without the farm!
Animals, and tractors! BIG tractors!

Oh, don't forget about the new cars!
We found two that were our fav's.
The new Jeep - Look Familar? Kinda looks like mine!
And the new Challenger!
And then there's the midway.
GAMES!
Mom & Dakota against, Dad & Desiree, and Dylan.
Mom & Dakota Won!
Desiree won at the fishing game, and Dylan won at Darts.
Everyone went home with something. =o)
Mom wasn't leaving without riding something, so she conveinced dad to ride with her.
This one was kinda like the scrambler on steriods! A little rough for them.
Like dad said, "So this is what's its like to be old"!
Jacob took me on the big farris wheel. I can't believe I've never been on it, and we probably won't ride again for awhile.

12 tickets a person for 2 times around. Well, one time to load, and then once around.

Yeah, not worth it. We did get some decent photos though.

The weather was good, the food was good, and the kids were pretty good.
Yeah, we'll do it again next year!

DESIREE TURNS 5!

September 12th, 2008
Desiree achieved 5 year old status!
An official big girl.

Time for cake. 1, 2, 3, make a wish and blow'em out!

At age 5 Desiree, has asked for clothes for her birthday. Not much else. A baby doll or two, but lots of clothes! I'm not surprised this is the child that was in love with shoes before she was a year old.

A new outfit.

And a couple of dolls.Desiree missed Kindergarden by a few days this year, but has already showed that she is ready to start school, so she is in the kindergarden class at day care. She is doing so well! She has taken on her big sister task smashingly well. Dakota adores her. She does everything her big sister does. Can't wait to see what she does next.

Love you Sis.

A WEEK OF FIRSTS!

First for all!

First Day of School.

Dylan started 3rd Grade!!

He walked in to find himself with 3 other girls. He was the first boy.

Katie and Robert looked to make sure he was okay, and Katie swore he was holding his breath. A little nervous to say the least. He nodded his head to say he was fine, and so they left.

His teacher, who he says he likes, had him pinned from day one, with his seat right up front next to her desk.

Desiree started the Kidergarden class at DayCare!

She is advanced! (Just like her momma)

They have advanced her to the Kidergarden class, instead of Pre-K, to keep her from getting bored. She seems to love it, and was especially excited about bringing home homework for the first time!

Dakota Grace started Big Girl class!

She has moved into the todler class.

Doing well. A social butterfly, just like her big sister!

First day of Dove Season!

Dad, Matthew, and Dylan line up for their 3 generation, annual hunting photo.

On their first outing, they walked about 3 miles for 5 birds. Needless to say not thier best catch, but still fun all in all. They will be out several times over the month, I'm sure.

First day of Fall Soccer Season!

Dylan, joining a new soccer team this fall, started the season off right with a big Win! Getting to play several post, forward to goal, they all had fun getting used to the GIANT field. This year they get to play on the regular soccer field, making the run a little farther.

Go Tigers!

Soon to come, The first day of Fall, and the first day of the State Fair!!

We hope you all are enjoying the weather after Hurricane Ike.

See ya' soon.

THE CIRCUS!!

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!

We spent Saturday evening at the Circus. I hadn't been in years, and I thought it would be a great birthday present for Dakota, plus the kids got to come a long too.

They started the Pre-show with fun and a lot of clowning aroundHere are the kids trying out their Clown Skills!

Yeah, I tried to get the nose on Kota...but that wasn't happening.

Mom sporting her skills too! Let the show begin! Tigers! The ring was filled in the dark so when the lights came back on there they were. The shots below are 5 of them rolling over, and then the second is to show all of them... He had 10 tigers in there with him. 3 of which were white/Albino. So pretty.

Elephants....

Tigers...

and Shooting Cannons, Oh My!

All in all we had a good time. The kids stayed awake and had big smiles at the end.

Maybe they'll remember it....

A SUNDAY DRIVE....

FISHING WITH PAPA JOE....

Sunday, Dad, Papa, Jacob, myself & our new friend William took a drive out on the lake. We drove down to the dam to start to troll, when Dad & Papa saw the birds start to dive.

Off we went straight towards them...us and about every other boat on the lake at the same time!

There was about 20 of us by the time we started casting.

Dad won the prize for the first catch of the day, plus second and third... All seemed to be Hybrids.

Papa won the prize for the exciting catch of the day. He hung himself a HUGE one, or so we thought. Enjoy the video below to see how it all played out.

Photos of his BIG catch!

I loved this photo. I had never seen a Carp this up close before, so the lips through the net were just too funny not to get a photo of. And yes... we let him go.