OK, I'm here. I promised. Because of the terrible heat last week, I decided to drive to my parents' house in the early, early morning. I did not trust the truck to handle the heat for six hours on the highway. We departed at right on 4am, and the girls slept briefly while in the middle of downtown Chicago. By that time, the sun was high and we stopped for a brief break. Overall, the trip was a good one and we arrived after five hours.
After a day of recovery, where we played in the sprinklers and my brother Casey and his family arrived for an evening visit, we pursued a more active schedule of activities. On Thursday, we went to the St. Joseph (Indiana) County Fair, which was held only a few miles from my parents' farm. The heat wave broke that morning with a spate of thunderstorms, and the afternoon remained cooler and overcast.
Perhaps the weather kept people away, or maybe the fact that it was a Thursday afternoon. No matter the reason, the fair was relatively empty for those first few hours after our arrival. We bought wristbands for the girls and I so that they could ride on whatever they wanted all afternoon. This fair had a considerably larger selection of rides than the one here in Madison, so the wristbands were a worthwhile investment. We went on TONS. I think, in the end, I counted that the girls rode 19 rides. The lines were very short until the last hour or so.
Juliette, especially, made great strides in overcoming her fears. We went in bumblebees that flew in the air and on a little kid dragon roller-coaster. Ilsa, of course, loved it all, but Juliette's very positive reaction was a surprise. She was running on pure adrenaline when she insisted that she wanted to ride the big kid roller-coaster. While the thing only had a single hill and a fairly quick U-turn, it must have seemed gigantic to her. The carney slowed the ride after our first (of three) go-rounds to make sure that she was dealing well with the experience, which she was.
However, the very last ride of the night saw us on the smaller dragon coaster again. Whereas, earlier in the day, I had taken the girls with me one at a time (while mom watched the other), that last time we went on together. I sat with Ilsa and Juliette sat behind us by herself. At the last minute, the carney but another boy - about seven years old - in with Juliette. The boy FREAKED. He had apparently been on the thing before, but as it started up he was crying and asking when he could get out. I tried to calm him down from my vantage, taking his hand and talking to him, but he was very upset. Juliette vicariously decided that she needed to be upset too. She was a wreck when we finally got of the thing. The boy's mom came up to me afterwards to thank me, and I had to calm Juliette's tears. Oh well. We survived.
The entire time that went on, Ilsa was next to me cool as can be - her hands raised up as we went down every hill. Little stinker!!
On Friday, we... um... did stuff. I knew there was a reason why I blog things closer to when they actually took place. Oh, I remember - I left the girls with my parents and went to Barnes and Noble. Coffee drink. Quiet time. iPod. And I wrote 2,400 words in two hours flat. Yay!
On Saturday, Mom and I took the girls out shopping. We found a 60-70% off sale at Kohls where I stocked up on summer clothes for the girls. I even found five really adorable shirts for myself for only $6 each. Excellent! Afterwards, we went to Hacienda, a local Mexican chain, for lunch. I ordered churros for desert, and the girls had a blast dipping the long cinnamon-sugar donut thingies in chocolate sauce and caramel syrup. Fun times!
Saturday night, we went to my brother's house. They had invited us to visit for a BBQ and so the girls could share Lily's new birthday pool. Swimming and eating commenced. After the swimming, Lily invited the girls to watch The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, which scared Juliette a year ago when we tried it as a library rental. The grouches were just too much, apparently. So I thought - it's been a year. Surely they can't be scared of it still. But no - tears forced the cancellation of their evening movie entertainment.
Sunday, I mostly cleaned up our scattered personal items and stalled until Keven arrived at around 1:30pm. Yay! Husband! We hung out for a bit before packing everyone in the car. We arrived back in Madison around 7:30, and we even had strength enough to unpack most of our junk. Overall, a happy, event-filled visit.
After a day of recovery, where we played in the sprinklers and my brother Casey and his family arrived for an evening visit, we pursued a more active schedule of activities. On Thursday, we went to the St. Joseph (Indiana) County Fair, which was held only a few miles from my parents' farm. The heat wave broke that morning with a spate of thunderstorms, and the afternoon remained cooler and overcast.
Perhaps the weather kept people away, or maybe the fact that it was a Thursday afternoon. No matter the reason, the fair was relatively empty for those first few hours after our arrival. We bought wristbands for the girls and I so that they could ride on whatever they wanted all afternoon. This fair had a considerably larger selection of rides than the one here in Madison, so the wristbands were a worthwhile investment. We went on TONS. I think, in the end, I counted that the girls rode 19 rides. The lines were very short until the last hour or so.
Juliette, especially, made great strides in overcoming her fears. We went in bumblebees that flew in the air and on a little kid dragon roller-coaster. Ilsa, of course, loved it all, but Juliette's very positive reaction was a surprise. She was running on pure adrenaline when she insisted that she wanted to ride the big kid roller-coaster. While the thing only had a single hill and a fairly quick U-turn, it must have seemed gigantic to her. The carney slowed the ride after our first (of three) go-rounds to make sure that she was dealing well with the experience, which she was.
However, the very last ride of the night saw us on the smaller dragon coaster again. Whereas, earlier in the day, I had taken the girls with me one at a time (while mom watched the other), that last time we went on together. I sat with Ilsa and Juliette sat behind us by herself. At the last minute, the carney but another boy - about seven years old - in with Juliette. The boy FREAKED. He had apparently been on the thing before, but as it started up he was crying and asking when he could get out. I tried to calm him down from my vantage, taking his hand and talking to him, but he was very upset. Juliette vicariously decided that she needed to be upset too. She was a wreck when we finally got of the thing. The boy's mom came up to me afterwards to thank me, and I had to calm Juliette's tears. Oh well. We survived.
The entire time that went on, Ilsa was next to me cool as can be - her hands raised up as we went down every hill. Little stinker!!
On Friday, we... um... did stuff. I knew there was a reason why I blog things closer to when they actually took place. Oh, I remember - I left the girls with my parents and went to Barnes and Noble. Coffee drink. Quiet time. iPod. And I wrote 2,400 words in two hours flat. Yay!
On Saturday, Mom and I took the girls out shopping. We found a 60-70% off sale at Kohls where I stocked up on summer clothes for the girls. I even found five really adorable shirts for myself for only $6 each. Excellent! Afterwards, we went to Hacienda, a local Mexican chain, for lunch. I ordered churros for desert, and the girls had a blast dipping the long cinnamon-sugar donut thingies in chocolate sauce and caramel syrup. Fun times!Saturday night, we went to my brother's house. They had invited us to visit for a BBQ and so the girls could share Lily's new birthday pool. Swimming and eating commenced. After the swimming, Lily invited the girls to watch The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, which scared Juliette a year ago when we tried it as a library rental. The grouches were just too much, apparently. So I thought - it's been a year. Surely they can't be scared of it still. But no - tears forced the cancellation of their evening movie entertainment.
Sunday, I mostly cleaned up our scattered personal items and stalled until Keven arrived at around 1:30pm. Yay! Husband! We hung out for a bit before packing everyone in the car. We arrived back in Madison around 7:30, and we even had strength enough to unpack most of our junk. Overall, a happy, event-filled visit.
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