{Our Trip to the Fair}

It's that time of year...when the fair comes to town!

We have a huge, fun fair here, just a few miles away.

John & I have always loved going to it every summer...

and now it's even more fun with kids!

John took an afternoon off of work and we headed over to Del Mar.

It was a perfect day and we were all so excited...

until the off site parking lot was full & we had to park (&pay) on site!

Then the traffic was awful and it added an additional 45 minutes to our getting there...

then Brudder started screaming...

and had a long walk to the gate...

But, we finally made it and had a blast!

We bought the smallest package of tickets at a "bargain price" and let Chase go to town.

This was priceless.  To see the joy on her face as she ran from one ride to the next...

The funny thing is, we noticed a trend.  She was so darn serious on the rides, nary a smile to be found.

Until the next to last ride, which was little dune buggies that bounced around a track.

She smiled and laughed through the entire ride!

We were totally cracking up that she was so serious...see if you notice!

This "ride" was awesome.  She saw it and kept pointing at it saying she wanted to go on the playground.  When we realized what she wanted, we weren't sure if we should let her go all alone.

This sweet little girl on there all alone with all these big kids, climbing a net, stairs, crossing a swinging bridge.

But, we let her and she was DELIGHTED!!

We just watched her and kept saying to each other, is this safe???

Finally she made it down with a great big smile!!

We pretty much thought she rocked!!

After all the tickets were spent, we had dinner. 

Chase wanted a hot dog on a stick and ice cream with sprinkles.

But she did walk around saying, I want an apple on a stick, cotton candy, ice cream, etc.

It was pretty funny.

And there are plenty of healthy options of fair food.  John & I had something from a chicken booth.  He had the biggest grilled chicken sandwich we'd ever seen and I had kabobs.  It was delicious and guilt free!

Then it was pretty much time to go home.

We had spent our small fortune for the year...

time to save back up for next year!!

::When the Cousins Came to Town::

Oh what joy we felt when our sweet Cousins came back to town!

We even had to sneak over and surprise them with a hello as soon as they arrived.

Unfortunately we don't have a house large enough to hold everyone, but thankfully friends do, so they stayed quite close to us.

This was the first day, mere minutes after arriving...

Best Friends Ever reunited!!

(**all photography is thanks to Aunt Anna)

In case you don't know, this symbol is Best Friends Ever!!!

::There were many moments of Cousins holding new cousin Becker::

I guess Toby didn't get in on this action???

Oh, he must have been too busy on his skateboard!!

:Uncle John was quite impressed with his skateboarding ability:

:Worshiping together as a family again at NCPC:

(I bought these African made dresses several years ago for E, A & W and now they've been passed down to A, W & CJ!!  I think they were done with photos!!)

:Fun at the Beach:

:Just hanging at the pool at Barrieland:

Thanks for coming back to San Diego for 2 weeks of fun!

The highlight was when we got to stay together at Barrieland for 3 whole days.

It was bliss!  Who'd ever think bliss and 7 kids would be in the same sentence?

It was soooo blissful, that we are going to Seattle in August to continue the fun!

We can hardly wait!  See you soon!!

{Becker's Baptism}

This event feels like ancient history!!

One of the cool things that happened when the Hitchcocks came to town,

is that Uncle Nate was able to baptize sweet Beck.

He baptized Chase also back in January of 2009.

So, once again, we brought our child to the Lord, trusting Him and what He has for Beck's future.

Nate had the privilege to baptize his namesake as well, Nathan C.
These are sweet friends that just moved to New Hampshire and had been a part of our church family for almost as long as I have been.  We were sad to see them go.

What a special morning!


...and we stupidly forgot to take a family picture that morning.
But, a week later we did, so that counts, right?

(WOW!  How those kids have changed!!)

And I will include what Nate said that morning in a bit.

Going to the Dentist

I knew it had been almost a year since Chase last went to the dentist.

So one morning I called and they just happened to have a cancellation that same day for the afternoon.

I think it was best for both of us that we had short notice!

Last year the dentist just looked in her mouth in an office, not having to get in a big dental chair.

So, much to my surprise, it was the real deal this time!!

She was absolutely terrified.  Once I finally convinced her to climb in the chair, I about died at how cute this little girl looked in such a huge chair.

The hygienist was super nice and explained what each instrument was going to do.  

And she was quick!

Of course, catering to children, there is a tv on the ceiling playing movies the whole time.

Afterwards, all had gone so smoothly that we walked around a mall that we were by & that we never go to.

Dinner this night was "Hot Dog on a Stick".

It was quick and easy while juggling the 2 kids!

Then Chase declared she'd like ice cream.

I didn't deny her as it was my favorite frozen yogurt, Pinkberry.

It was a good day.  All went better than expected.

Until the very end when we made it back to the parking garage and Chase informed me that she had to go potty...great!  And brudder started screaming.  Double great! 

I thought if we started driving she would forget...she remembered after about 5 minutes and told me she'd wet in her carseat.  So, I pulled over and ran into a store that I'd been in before.

And brudder just screamed the whole way home.

All 25 minutes of it.

LOVELY!!