September

In September we took the kids to the Santa Fe Children's Museum and had a blast putting on puppet shows, making big bubbles, exploring new areas, and making artwork!

Then Josh and I headed to Las Vegas to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary!

While we were there, the kids stayed with Megan and Sean and had a blast, including continuing our yearly tradition of going to the State Fair.

The activities in September make me so excited because it signals the beginning of Fall, my favorite season!

State Fair 2010

Last weekend we went to the New Mexico State Fair.  We love going to the fair every year and it kicks off the Fall season which is always full of fun activities!  Megan went with us as usual, since Daddy is not big on the fair and crowds of people.  This was the first year that Alex was big enough for us to go without a stroller, which was a great milestone!

We got there a little early, so we hung around waiting for things to open.  This is one of my favorite pictures of me and the kids.

Alex had a great time people watching...

We decided to ride the ponies first before the lines got too long.  Alex was so excited!  It was a big change from the first year we tried this.  His pony's name was Katie.

 

Aurora's pony was Jill.

The we went to the petting zoo to feed and pet all of the farm animals!  Alex was not so keen on feeding them and letting them slobber on his hand but he liked talking to them and petting them.  Aurora is just like her great-grandma and loves feeding and petting all animals!

Then we went over to McDonald's farm to learn how to run a farm!  They picked apples and pecans from the orchard and checked out the grain silo.

 

They rode on the tractors...

 

Milked a cow...

 

Roped some bulls....

 

Went through a corn field...

 

Visited with some characters and had yummy fair food!!

 

State Fair!

Today we went to the New Mexico State Fair!  This always marks the start of the Fall season for me, which I love.  We have the same routine every year - we go to the petting zoo and feed and pet the goats, cows, ponies and the occasional rare animal (this year was a yak - last year was a baby zebra).  Then we do the pony ride.  Last year Alex cried when we put him on a horse, but this year he was all about it!  He loved riding the pony! 

Then they have and Old McDonald's farm where they go through the motions of working on a farm - picking apples, riding the tractor, gathering eggs, milking the cow, harvesting vegetables, etc.   Then they get a bag of sliced apples for all their hard work!

After that we visit the 4H area to see all of the babies - chicks, ducklings, piglets, puppies, kittens, etc.  We also visit the stables to pet the horses.  Then we enjoy some good, greasy, fair food - pizza, indian fry bread, funnel cake, etc!  Sometimes we go through the convention center to see all of the homemade goodies, but this time we were too tired by then!  Here are pictures of our day:

State Fair!

Megan and I took the kids to the state fair yesterday and they had a blast! We went to the petting zoo, to ride the ponies, and to the kids play area. And of course the best part of the fair is the FOOD! I finally got Alex to try some funnel cake and he and Aurora went to town on one! Alex was not too sure about the petting zoo and ponies - I think it has to do with all of the animals being much bigger than him! He would hold the food cup out as far as he could to the goats so he didn't have to get close to them, and he made me pick him up! You can see from some of the pictures below from the look on his face he just wasn't sure about them. They did have a baby buffalo which I though was cool. We also tried to put Alex on a pony...he was okay for about 30 seconds and then started crying lol! Aurora is an old pro and loved riding the ponies. She keeps asking to ride a horse, I'll have to look into that. Anyway we all had a great time, I love this time of year! Stay tuned for the International Balloon Fiesta in 2 weeks!