Can we PLEASE go to the fair?

This is the question we heard every day, several times a day, for 10 days. Unfortunately, the Orange County Fair sets up camp about 2 miles from our neighborhood every year and we have to ride by it more than once a day. I don't want to offend anyone who may love fairs, but I hate them for many reasons. Now, I can appreciate a good country fair with pie baking contests, pig races, and horse shows, etc. This is not one of those. This is one that comes through town like a tornado...takes tiny boxes off a truck and turns them into towering ferris wheels and roller coasters in mintues, and has a few animals that are by no means prize-winning that are carted from fair to fair. Last year Jay and I were able to avoid taking the kids somehow. This year we weren't so lucky. With both Elle and Brooks chiming in together daily from the backseat, we finally caved and said we would go walk around. While it did meet most of my low expectations, it was worth it to see the look on Elle's face. She was in heaven. As I mentioned earlier, I have serious concerns about getting on these rides that days earlier fit in the back of a truck. But, once again Elle's blue eyes won and we bought some tickets. I knew we were in trouble when we stepped on our first roller coaster. Elle and I climbed in and strapped on our seatbelt that didn't fit. I couldn't help but notice the rust on the tracks. Elle was giddy. The last words the attendant said before giving us a push start (he literally pushed the roller coaster to get it going!) was "you might want to hold onto her" as he pointed to Elle. I thought we were going to die! We didn't. Elle wanted to ride it again, but I conviced her to do something a little closer to the ground. Brooks was not a fan of the rides (smart boy!) and chose to play games instead. He had a great time eating cotton candy with Jay and fishing for sharks. Here are some pictures of our night at the fair. Only 11 more months until it comes again...

SC Visit

I had a wonderful visit to South Carolina last week to check on Dad. Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers...he is doing amazingly well! They have had an outpouring of support from friends and family. I was fortunate enough to partake in several of the meals that were provided for them during my visit! In addition to spending some quality time with Dad, I also got some much needed time with my nephew Easton. He is so much fun and is 16 months old now. Thought I'd share a cute picture of him now as well as one with Dad. I was sad not to take Elle and Brooks this trip, but Dad needed his rest and would have been too tempted to try and entertain them. Now that he's doing much better we are going to make a quick trip to see them again next weekend while I have time off of school. Elle wants to compare notes with Pops on IVs and bloodwork, etc. since she feels like a pro now from her own recent hospital stay!

What a month!

Well, some of you regulars may be wondering where I've been since my last post on Easter. The answer is - all over the place!!

The weekend after Elle came home from the hospial I had a pre-planned trip to New York City with some girlfriends. Elle was much better and I was able to go and had a great time. It was primarily a shopping trip with two of my good friends from here. We didn't do any shows this time, just shopped...ate...and shopped some more. It was fabulous! Unfortunately, I came home with the flu and was completely out of commission for a week. Thus the lack of posts!

I was barely recovered from the flu and the very next weekend we had a trip planned to Charleston for the Cooper River Bridge Run. It is a huge 10K (40,000 runners) that Jay and I were excited to do for the first time. We met our good friends Andy, Lindsey and Jack Harman at Kiawah for the weekend. Andy and Jay still ran, but the flu had taken any energy I had for the week, so I didn't run. We had a great weekend and the kids had a blast at the beach. If you ever get a chance to participate in the Cooper River Bridge Run weekend festivities it's a great time! Maybe one day I'll get to run it!

We came home from Charleston to a busy week at school and work and were excited about a calm weekend at home this past weekend. But, as some of you may know, my Dad had a heart attack on Sunday. The Lord truly protected him with perfect timing in arrival to the hospital and a fast acting team of nurses and doctors. He gave everyone quite a scare, but is going to be OK. He moved out of ICU into a regular hospital room today and is doing much better. Thank you for all of the prayers and please continue to pray for his recovery as he has a long road ahead. It has been torture for me to be so many miles away. I am tying up loose ends at home and school this week and look forward to going to be with them this weekend.

So, I hope to be back to my regular blogging self soon! Thanks for staying tuned!