Graysen's First Trip To The Fair

Our county fair is this week and lucky for us, it's only 12 miles from our house! Graysen and I met Marit and John along with Jodie and her four kids. Tim joined us later. Tim and I are going again tomorrow afternoon with Graysen so I'll put those pictures up tomorrow night hopefully. 

We have lots of animals at our fair and it was so fun to take Graysen through the barns. I did step in what was basically a mixture of liquid poop and sawdust because there was no other way around it, but it was all worth it to see him enthralled with the animals. He studied them, smiled at them and even got to touch them! The animals were my favorite part of the fair as a child (I hated rides then and still do) so it was great to see him enjoy them too! We also have many friends' children and students that show animals at the fair so we like to go support them. Tomorrow the Midway will be open. It wasn't open this morning when we went. It was just opening as we were leaving. Here are some highlights from the day. 

Graysen doesn't look to excited to see the chickens!

John LOVED the chickens! 

CHICKENS! 

Graysen was more thrilled to see the goats! 

He just watched them intently! 

Cows! It was Dairy Day at the fair so the kids were showing their Dairy Cows. 

Steers that will be shown tomorrow! 

Aubrey got to pet the sheep. 

Jodie and her kids! 

Classic Aubrey! All she's missing is the Mocha Frappe that she talked about ALL MORNING!  

Grant loved the pigs! He also loved "driving" the stroller and honking the horn at everyone! 

This pig was snorting at us and got snot all over us. Graysen thought it was funny! 

The fair is tiring. Notice Aubrey in the background patiently waiting for her Mocha Frappe that she talked about wanting ALL MORNING! She was hungry, but just Mocha Frappe hungry! 

Grant had to check on Graysen.  

These horses wanted to sniff Graysen. So cute! 

Graysen was enthralled with the horses!  

This horse wanted to either kiss or nibble on Marit! 

Graysen needs a pony, Daddy!

The gang!

In the stroller: Grant, then Aubrey and Kyle
In the back from left to right: Marit with John, Jodie with Quentin, and me with Graysen 

Graysen's First Camping Trip

This week, we took Graysen camping for the first time up north and stayed at Tim's cousin's camper. We spent Saturday night in a Hotel in Brainerd, MN and then went to the camper on Sunday. We came home late Wednesday night. Here are some highlights from the trip.

It takes a lot of "STUFF" to go camping with a baby!

Very strategic packing on my part...

Graysen is going for his first walk around the campground. Good thing we invested in a bug canopy for his car seat carrier. The mosquitoes were HORRIBLE since they had had so much rain lately. We got this canopy at Target for around $20. It's a Brica. 

Our "home away from home" for the 4 days. Thanks to Tim's cousin and his wife for letting us use it!

Later that day, we decided to go mini golfing at Pirate's Cove. Graysen looks thrilled to be there. It was hot, but once we got outside, there was a good breeze. Notice how greasy he is from all the sunscreen...

First hole! I went first and got a hole-in-one. Not sure what's so hard about mini golfing! 

Showing Tim how it's done!

Tim's turn. 

We were both oh-so-close!

Too bad Graysen slept the whole time because he missed the Pirate Ship...

and multiple water falls, which they tint blue so they are really pretty. 

I think he was in the middle of a stretch, but he looks goofy!

After 17 holes and 4 holes-in-one by me...2 by Tim, we were finally on the last hole. You had to pick a hole up here and your ball dropped down to the level below where there was another hole that took your ball back to the clubhouse. I went first, since I was in the lead, and just hit it in the middle of both holes. I didn't care which hole it went it. It went down the left one, to the bottom and rolled right into the hole! HOLE-IN-ONE AGAIN! Tim went in the same hole...

but his came out and stayed there! 

Final score - MB: 5 under & Tim: Par. I ended with 5 hole-in-ones and Tim had 2. I'd like to say it was skill, but I'm pretty sure it was just luck. I don't putt that good in real golf!

This was the wheel you got to spin afterwards and if it landed on a hole that you had a hole-in-one on, you got a free game...we lost!

Mini golfing is tiring. Graysen is cooling off on the floor of the camper. 

The next day, we went down to the lake. The water was really up because of all the rain. It's usually 75 feet or so farther out, which made the beach area small, but it was still nice. The water was about 75*. I just wish Graysen was a little older so we could have actually gone out in it more. 

Another lifesaver on the trip was our portable bassinet. Graysen slept in this the whole trip. This is also from Target and is also made by Brica. He liked sitting in the breeze under the sport umbrella. (Never mind the camera strap...)

Enjoying the lake air!

The first day, was very breezy on the lake and the wind kept wanting to take the umbrella. Notice Tim holding it down on the next day until we were sure it wasn't going to blow away. It was a calmer day this day and we stuck it in the wet sand down closer to the water which helped. Graysen was napping away in the fresh air. 

Toes in the sand...

Seashells!

Graysen loved hanging out with Daddy by the water. 

Now that he is starting to hold himself up, it was fun putting him in the water. At first, he wasn't so sure and didn't really like his feet in the sand. Once he stood on Tim's feet and let the water rush over them, he enjoyed it more. Eventually, he really liked standing in the sand and letting the little waves crash over him. 

It was a spectacular vacation with many awesome memories made. The first night that we spent at the hotel went great. I thought he wouldn't sleep because he slept in the car all day on the way up. He slept wonderfully! He made up for it the next night. The first night in the camper was rough and all that sleep caught up with him. It got better though. We decided to leave at 7pm on Wednesday though to come home so that he slept in the car during his 'normal' sleep hours. I can't wait to do more things as a family, especially when he gets to be a little older and really starts to enjoy the lake and outdoor fun! 

MB