Goodbye Summer!

And good riddance!  There's a lot I haven't blogged about this summer, but for many reasons, it's been one of the hardest of my life and I'm so glad to put it behind me!  The heat is only part of it because it has seemed to kill everything around our house including the air conditioner (who knew a $7-8 part would cost almost $200 to fix on a Sunday?), our car batteries and the grass.  Also, Jack's pet fish died while we were on vacation in May and this little event has remained unknown to Jack.  We quickly replaced him with another "Bill" and apparently, the fact that the new Bill is a different color has also gone unnoticed by Jack.  Actually, the hard part started in late April when Travis lost his job with AutoTrader.com.  We immediately switched roles - I went back to work as many hours as my part time status would allow and he stayed home with the boys while looking for a new job.  Now that he has that new job, I look back on this time and see it as a blessing.  It was a time to regroup as a family.  I think he truly appreciates the difficulty of my role as the primary caregiver for the boys and I now understand why Daddy needs a few minutes after work each day before jumping in and helping out.  That being said, once Travis started his new job in July, the next challenge began.  After one week in the office, he went on the road for 8 weeks of training.  Yes, I was home alone with the little darlings Sunday-Friday for 8 weeks!  Actually, that isn't true.  We went to Paris for 1 1/2 weeks for Emily's wedding, so I was actually only home alone for 6 1/2 weeks, but trust me, it felt like much longer!  Again, I am much stronger for it, but I am also much happier now that his training is over and he's back home with us.  So to celebrate the first Sunday Daddy hasn't left us in 2 months (with the exception of Labor Day weekend when he left on a Monday), we loaded up the kids and headed to the Delta Fair.

2 armbands that were a big waste of money because Jack was more interested in the treats than standing in the long lines = $40

Entry into the fair for 2 adults = $18 (thank goodness the kids are still young enough to be free!)

Parking = $5

A giant lemonade shared by all = $4

The look on Jack's face when he spotted the ferris wheel from the road, when we told him we were taking him to the carnival and when Travis saw the leg coming out of the head of the 6 legged cow = PRICELESS

We spent a boatload of money for Jack to ride 4 rides and Travis to ride 2 with him.  The place was a freak show.  I'm used to small town USA fairs with demolition derbies, cattle shows (with only 4 legs) and truck and tractor pulls.  There was plenty of that too, but in addition there was 29 inch tall "Little Linda", the 6 legged cow and even a monkey show.  Jack loved it and I'm sure we'll return next year.  I better start saving now.

That's Travis waving from the ferris wheel.  You can barely see Jack's head through the cracks.

I know this image is blurry.  I took it with my phone, but I still thought it was a pretty cute pic.

Sitting on Daddy's shoulders during the monkey show.

This little guy was cheap!  He was satisfied with just the lemonade.