30 September 2010

Grandma's birthday at the fair

John, Lindsey, and their kids stayed an extra day during the Labor Day weekend so they could celebrate Jesse and John's mom's birthday. This year was the 40th anniversary of her 19th birthday and she decided that we should go to the fair to celebrate. (Apparently that's what all the cool people do.)
We started by going to the ride area only to find out that the rides wouldn't start for a few more hours. So we walked on and found a free kid play zone. The kids would have stayed there all day if we let them I bet!


Jesse and John playing basketball with their dad
Next we walked over to the petting zoo area. This is other area that I bet Rosalee would have stayed at all day if we let her. Last year the main area had all the goats running around and they kept nipping at the kids hoping to get some food. I guess this year they realized how annoying that was and all of the animals were in pens.





I love this little puppy because she looks like our old dog Roxie



The petting zoo at the Eastern Idaho State Fair is tricky. All of the animals that you see and pet are available for adoption. That way your kid can love on the dog and when they demand to take it home you can't say, "Oh but it belongs to the nice worker." One of the ways they earn money to pay for the food is to have a train ride for the kids.

Despite not being the biggest fan of rides Rosalee did get excited over riding the train at the petting zoo. Last year she was determined to ride in the pink piggy car and, with a great memory, she again picked the pig to ride in.


After riding the train we walked around and saw some of the livestock animals. The kids really loved seeing the horses. I thought they would be nervous around such large animals but it was quite the opposite.


While petting this horse a lady with a fancy video camera starting taking a video of Zeke.


After looking at the animals we decided to get the kids a snack. We all agreed that ice cream would make a great snack for the kids.

Yummy mint!

"Strawberry because it pink and it is tasty."

The kids with their ice cream

Happy kids = happy parents!

Zeke LOVED the turkey leg as big as his head! I swear he ate 1/3 of one by himself.

Apparently John is not a fan of boiled crawfish...

Nothing says HAPPY BIRTHDAY like a giant turkey leg for lunch

Zeke is becoming QUITE the ham! He was VERY VERY VERY happy to eat his tiger ear. (A tiger ear is what most people call an elephant ear only here they are sold by the Boy Scouts as a fundraiser. We thought if we bought several we could donate that money to the "Hire Jesse James fund". Hopefully soon we'll see if that panned out!)
After lunch we did what any smart parents do- we took the kids on rides!
Rosalee was excited about them until we bought the tickets and she saw the rides up close. Even if she could ride with Gavin, hold Daddy's hand, AND get a treat she wouldn't budge! We walked around and she picked the boat to ride on. She wasn't thrilled about it, but at least she wasn't screaming her head off.



Sadly Zeke was too tired to ride.

I guess there is something about the fair that wipes Zeke out! Remember last year? He's gotten so much bigger, but I guess somethings are still the same.
Rosalee was excited to ride the merry-go-round but only if all the cousins and her dad rode with her. Jesse let her pick out which horse she wanted and you can tell by the look on her face that she was truly happy.



Gavin and Rosalee laughing up a storm on the merry-go-round
After we ran out of tickets we found a place with some free toys for the kids to play with. We stayed here until it was time to go home. It was a great day because the kids loved it and we didn't have to spend a lot!



28 September 2010

Labor Day weekend

I am less than a month behind on my blog posts- WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Seriously, you should be proud of me. I have more videos than pictures from this weekend but blogger hates me today (and yesterday) and isn't allowing me to post any videos. Our family (the James side) REALLY is better animated so as soon as I can get things working, I'll be sure to post the videos!
The theme this year was "Back to the Fifties" and Grandma James planned a great weekend for everyone. Sadly not everyone could be there but we did have Great Grandpa and Grandma James (better known to our family as GG and Grandpa GG), Grandpa and Grandma James, Tia, John, Lindsey, Gavin, Maddie, Hudson, Kristi, Jared, Allie, Kaylee, Sydney, Jesse, Marie, Rosalee, Zeke, Uncle Russ and Lorrie, Dusty, Casie, Chris (Annie's then fiance... brave guy!), Aunt Kim and Russ, Erika, Adam, Daxton, and Drew.
When we arrived we had lunch and got everyone settled in. Rosalee had fun jumping from bed to bed trying to pick out the best one to sleep on. A few hours later we had our cupcake contest. Jesse made some raspberry mousse and pumpkin mousse cups that I thought were FANTASTIC! They ended up winning the Peoples' Choice so way to go Husband! Lindsey made these peanut butter cup cupcakes that I could have eaten until I got sick. I think everyone agreed because she won the Tastiest Treat award.

GG made cupcakes for all of the kids to decorate and eat. Everyone had a great time but I think Zeke had the best time...

Thank you Linz for this adorable picture!!!

For dinner we had hot dogs, root beer floats and milkshakes. Following dinner we had a sock hop. On the invitation GG wrote-
"All the kids and Mom and Pop
are invited to our big SOCK HOP.
Be creative and decorate those feet
then plan to come and dance and eat.
Maybe your socks will win a price
for holiest, prettiest, daintiest, strangest,
funniest, or largest size!"
*We are sorry to inform you but NO PRIZE
will be given to the smelliest!*
My husband was excited to win the holiest sock award and I don't mean he was wearing his Angel Moroni socks!
We spent the rest of the evening playing games. When I get my videos uploaded you'll understand why most of us spent the night laughing until we cried.
On Sunday we went to GG's sister's cabin and had a family church, lunch, and auction. During the church service we had a tribute to GG's father who would have been 100 this year. It was neat getting to see how many people can stem from one man and his wife. The Keller family set up a fish pond for the children to play and win prizes while we set up the auction. Rosalee was VERY VERY excited to win, what she calls, dress up toys. I didn't realize how excited/happy Rosalee would be to have dress up things until this day. She wore what she got, asked for more dress up things during the auction, and told me that we can play dress up "all the time".

Here she is fishing for her head dress

She is in LOVE with this and wears it almost daily!

Zekey fishing for a car

Rosalee took as many turns as she could get! She kept getting more dress up items and would squeal with delight at whatever she caught.

Baby Sydney taking a turn fishing

Maddie in the crown she won
During the auction we bought a hat (for Rosalee's dress up trunk), some hair things (for Rosalee and I to share), some antique toy cars (for Jesse), and some popcorn (for Zeke). We stayed well under budget and left with less than we donated so I consider it a very successful afternoon!

Rosalee proudly showing off her dress up rings and stickers