The State Fair

Every year since Gene and I started dating {13 years ago!} we have gone to the state fair. We have continued the tradition through the years, and it is so fun to take the boys now!

We started out eating lunch at the same place we always have. The corndogs and fries were so delicious!

After lunch we headed to the petting zoo {followed by a vigorous hand washing}.

Ben was delighted by all the animals and we literally had to drag him away.

The boys also took a ride on the carousel with their grandmothers.

McLeans was thrilled....

but Ben seemed a little unsure {at least from the ground}

Despite the chilly weather, we had a great time and cannot wait until next year!

The Great Pumpkin

We made our yearly trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend. The fall weather was perfect for our search to find the great pumpkin.

I love that they have this sign so we can see how much they grow each year...last year they couldn't even stand!

No farm would be complete without an array of animals. The boys love to make animal sounds and did a pretty good job of matching the right sound with the corresponding animal. When in doubt they called it a dog and barked at it {there were quite a few "woof woof's" and we got a few chuckles from the crowd} M's aren't their strongest letter, so they said "boo" to the baby cow.

We searched all over to find the great pumpkin....

And in the end the boys {with our help} chose two small pumpkins that were just right!

As long as we're on the subject of pumpkins....If you are lucky enough to have The Fresh Market in your town, you must stop by and pick up a loaf of their pumpkin chocolate chip pound cake and some pumpkin spice coffee. They are super yummy. In fact, my mouth is burned because I am too impatient to wait for my coffee to cool {it is that good!}.