Fair fun

We have been on the go a good bit this summer, so we enjoyed a much slower pace this past weekend. It was nice because it was just us - no plans with anyone else, just Menke family time (not that we don't love our time with friends and family too!). We decided to go the Kent County Youth Fair in Lowell, which is the next town to the west of us. We weren't sure what to expect, but we thought we'd check it out.

It had rained a good bit the day before, so when we arrived, we found a pretty muddy parking lot, but thankfully we found a less muddy aisle to park in as I don't know if my little blue car could have got through some of the "roads". Alyssa's first comment when we got out of the car was "It stinks here" (that's my city girl!), but it was just the smell of the mud. We headed off toward the fair, and the fun began.

There was a tent with animals to pet, which Alyssa just loved. Lauren liked to look at the animals, but she wasn't convinced that they couldn't get her through the fence. She was a little skittish to say the least.

There was a special on rides until 6, so that was our first stop. Alyssa immediately chose to ride the roller coaster, and she absolutely loved it. She climbed on herself and sat right down next to another little girl. She tried to raise her hands, and you could hear her screeching and saying "whee" throughout the ride. So fun to watch her!

She chose a spinny ride next. She started out smiling, but by the end she was either bored or a little dizzy. Her smile wasn't nearly as big, and I said I think we should avoid any more of those (you know, she does get car sick after all!).

Poor Lauren wasn't big enough to go on either of these rides even though they were meant for kids. So we thought we'd all check out the Ferris Wheel. But even accompanied by a parent, she was too short to go on. She and I headed over to the carousel and the trucks while Daddy and Alyssa waited in line and rode the ferris wheel.

I laughed because I was holding Lauren in line for the trucks, so I just carried her over and buckled her in. Well, when the ride operator unbuckled her, I think she thought she couldn't walk or that she was only like a year old because he carried her back over to me. Something similar happened on the next ride too. The greatest surprise might have been though that she let these "strangers" carry her! Maybe someday she'll hit a growth spurt and look her age!

The girls chose to drive the space ships together...

and then Alyssa wanted to go down the fun slides. She was too small to go by herself, so I was chosen to go down with her. In all honesty, I think this might have been my first time down a slide like this. Together we climbed up the steps, got into our burlap sack, and wooshed down the slide. We both laughed and screeched, and I'm pretty sure we "caught air" going over the last bump. I was thankful that I went down with Alyssa as she might have been bounced right out of her lane!

By then it was time to make the night's big decision - what delicious fair delicacy to have for dinner. Lauren chose a hot dog and Alyssa a corn dog. They both chowed down and were ready to check out some animals. Both of the girls talked to the animals, but Alyssa was brave and pet any and all of them that she could.

There was a family fun show after this that we went to watch. It was an audience (read kid) participation show, and Alyssa was excited to get on stage. She was chosen to be a monkey, and she went up and practiced with the others and then headed back stage to wardrobe. Lauren, Daddy and I waited anxiously for her to come back out. When it was time, all the monkeys came back out but one - our Alyssa was missing. Just a few moments later, she came running out from the side of the tent, crying to us. We aren't sure what happened (whether they didn't have enough costumes or whether she just got stage fright), but that was the end of Alyssa' stage debut.

A local country band, The Scott Thompson Band, was playing that night as well, so we headed over to that tent to check them out. They were really good. They played mostly covers of other artist's songs, but they also had a few originals. The girls took to the open space in front of the stage and showed off their moves; they even got a shout out from the lead singer. During the break between sets, they were able to get some free bracelets, so they may have become groupies of their first band. We would definitely go see them again. 

All in all, it was a fun night. The weather was perfect, the size of the fair manageable, and the crowds not too big. We had a great time at the fair and both girls were talking about it the next day - Alyssa about her roller coaster ride and Lauren about the "hos" (aka horses).

I think Lauren might have been inspired by the clothes of many of the other fair goers as this was her dress up outfit the next day (isn't she adorable!). Alyssa, on the other hand, still preferred to be a princess!

Snip Snip

Just about a year ago we took Alyssa for her first hair cut; she was 33 months, and she loved it. You can revisit the moment here. Here we are a year later and her hair is long and blonde. It looks nice when it's down and when it's back in braids or a pony tail. Her biggest concern is that her bangs not get in her eyes, so she's been telling me that she needs to get them trimmed.

In the meantime, Lauren's hair has begun to grow too. It's amazing that she hadn't run into more things with the way her bangs were always in her eyes, so it was time for her to visit the hair salon as well - at 26 months. I remember being a little apprehensive about Alyssa's first cut, wondering how she'd respond, but my nervousness then was nothing like my fears about taking Lauren. Those of you who know her know why - she's a little unpredictable. And she doesn't particularly like you combing or messing with her hair.

So off we went yesterday afternoon to the hair salon. My hair stylist at Heidi Christine's is bubbly and friendly, and she interacts with the girls, always telling them what she's going to do. They have little red wagons for the kids to sit in and a DVD player for them to watch a movie while their hair is being cut.

Alyssa was up first, and she had picked out a short little bob for her new do. Here are the before shots:

And when she was done, she had grown up on me. I keep telling her that she looks like a 4-year old now. Thank heavens she reminds that she's only 3!

And then it was time for Lauren. She had been busy since we arrived at the salon, in and out of the wagon, checking out the candy machine, etc. This is what she looked like when she got there.

When it came time for her to sit, she of course wouldn't. So the stylist pulled out a chair, and I sat and held her. She was pretty excited with her gown - she liked the piggy and horse. But then the stylist began to comb Lauren's hair, and she didn't like that. I turned so she could see the movie, and between that and my conversation with her, she was distracted for a bit - until the stylist began to wet her hair. She wasn't too happy about that either, but then she was allowed to hold the spray bottle and could spray everyone else! That definitely brought a smile to her face.

The rest of the cut was filled with water spraying everywhere; everyone and everything was a little damper than when we arrived.

But at least she was happy and she got her hair cut! Here are the after shots.

Alyssa is just tickled with her new style. Lauren could really care less but it's so nice to be able to see her beautiful blue eyes and all of their many expressions. I made them stand still this morning for some quick photos. They're not the best, but they do show off their new dos!

A Minnesota Road Trip

To fly or drive? That's often the question for us when it comes to making trips with long drives. The trip to Pennsylvani (6.5 hours driving time) is about the girl's limit, so when it came to making a trip to Minnesota this summer, we didn't know what to do. Now that Lauren is two, we would have to buy her a ticket and even with spending a night in a hotel and the ever-increasing gas prices, it's still cheaper to drive, so we loaded up the Traverse and headed out early on a Sunday morning.

We decided to break the trip up on the way to Minnesota. Our first stop was downtown Chicago where we enjoyed breakfast at Grand Lux Cafe and then spent some time at Navy Pier. While we were there, we saw lots of boats and the girls got to crawl on some play coral and dance outside the Children's Museum (we didn't actually got to the museum). One of the highlights was going up in the Ferris Wheel and seeing all the skyscrapers (we even got Lauren to say skycraper!).

 

 From there we headed up to just north of Madison for the night. After dinner, we headed to the pool where the girls loved swimming and splashing around. The next morning we got on the road and our first stop was in Wisconsin Dells for a duck tour. The girls were very excited to get on a boat and we saw lots of trees, some cool rock formations, and even got a little bit of a splash as we headed into Lake Delton.

From there our next stop was Minnesota (after a lunch break at McDonalds which Alyssa calls "Old MacDonalds" and Lauren calls "Donals, french fries".) It was great to finally be at Grammy and Papa's house and run through the sprinkler and swing on the swings.

We stayed at Auntie Stacy's house this time. Alyssa loved sleeping in the BIG bed with Stacy, and both of them loved all the toys Stacy had borrowed and/or bought. They were spoiled so much while they were there - lots of yummy food and all sorts of fun activities. We all went to Edinborough Park and played in Adventure Peak. It took the girls a while to get brave enough to climb up high but once they got going it was hard to keep track of them. I don't have any pictures of them playing, but in my defense I was busy crawling around with them in the jungle gym! I'm sure Auntie Stacy and Grammy have some though :) They also got to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America and ride some rides and meet Dora and Boots. This was a dream come true for Alyssa...Lauren wasn't quite as sure. They ate at the Rainforest Cafe where Alyssa talked about it thundering and lightening but it not raining on her food.

We spent an afternoon at Como Park with a friend, an evening playing with friends at their house, swimming with family and friends, and a night with friends at Canterbury. The girls loved seeing the horses, Lauren clapped her hands and would cheer "Go horse". Alyssa picked #3 to win every race (because you know, she's three years old) and even won a couple of those bets with Stacy. But what they (and we) enjoyed most was being with our friends and family.

The road trip home was much less eventful, aside from pit stops we just spent the night at a hotel in Beloit with a swimming pool. The girls enjoyed watching a few movies and trying to get the truckers to honk their horn. We all do the motion and yell "toot toot" together - Alyssa was pretty excited when three trucks in a row honked at us one day. Aaron and I often laugh as we do this because we know the truck drivers can only see me, so we wonder what they must be thinking.

We enjoyed every minute of our trip and are so thankful that the girls get to know our Minnesota friends and family. Alyssa is starting to understand that this is where they were both born and that no matter where we are Minnesota will always have a special place in our hearts.