the state fair...

we ventured out to the fair on sunday morning! it was a gorgeous day...sunny, in the mid 70's with a slight breeze...not your typical "august in indiana" weather. the kids were excited because we had been talking it up nonstop for a few days...as soon as we walked up to the fairgrounds, caitlin said, "what i smell like?" (translation=what do i smell?) daddy said, "the fair"...ain't that the truth?! they loved seeing all the animals up close. they got to ride on the merry-go-round and they rode on a ride all by themselves for the first time. it was called "convoy"...just a bunch of little "trucks" hooked together that they could "drive" around the track. it was sooooo cute to see and further evidence that they are indeed growing up waaaaaaay too fast! the highlight of the day was that they each got to ride a pony!!! austin went first and was a little bit afraid to get on, but he did and then he just grinned from ear to ear. caitlin hopped on right away and was all smiles too. austin's horse was named "rowdy" and caitlin rode "hank". too cute! they also had elephant rides but ryan vetoed that till they're older. darn!

earlier in the week we took them to the zoo to see the koalas....they loved them. austin also loved seeing the rhinos...caitlin declared them "stinky". they also got to pet the goats and ride the merry-go-round...always a favorite.

we have suffered the devasting loss of austin's favorite toy...his lawnmower!!! one broke last week and the other one broke yesterday. poor guy. we are going to find him a new one after vacation. in the meantime, he has been pushing his tractor around like a mad man!

yesterday ryan and i celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary!!! YAY! it's always nice to remember the day we promised to be together forever...marriage can be a bumpy road sometimes, but it is well worth the ride to be with the one you love with all your heart.

2 more days till the beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we are all sooooooo ready to just go and relax! so excited, in fact, that we bumped our departure time up by a day! ;) the last minute preparations are underway...hooray!!!

suppose i should go accomplish some of the aforementioned last minute preparations...more after our vacation...