Monday, July 04, 2011

Lately

Happy 4th, peeps!

I hope your weekend has been filled with watermelon, fireworks and fun. 

Beach pics......it's full fledged summer in California.  Everyone is at the beach.

Blake sat drooling over this group.  He is dying for that tent and the all terrain wagon with cooler caddy.  All in good time, hun.


I love this picture.  I hope we're lucky enough to live here when Carter is a teenager and can ride his bike to the beach to lifeguard.

Love those legs, too.


Daddy found a heart shaped rock for his sweetheart.


Caroline arrived on Sunday.  Few things make me happier than seeing her.

Same for the punks.


Yall, she looks so good.  Healthy and happy and strong!  She has been picking up both Jack and Lainey.  Lainey's a shrimp, but Jack is not!


As always.....a stop for lollipops.  Caroline is awesome at creating memories for our kids.  So grateful to have her.  Simple little consistent things.......that the punks will always remember.

We came home to unpack a bit and then later that night, headed to the San Diego County Fair.  Our first visit.....super fun!

We are State Fair of Texas snobs......so it was going to take a lot to live up to our expectations.

Happy to report that it did!

Some advantages.......by the ocean, so it's cool and breezy.  Smaller in size.....but the same types of attractions.

And, of course, chocolate covered pickles.  If I wasn't watching every damn calorie right now, I would have indulged.

They had all sorts of kooky stuff that I had not seen before.

*fried koolaid
*chocolate covered bacon
*deep fried Krispie Kreme chicken sandwich (in between 2 doughnuts)
*chocolate covered corn dogs (with sprinkles)

Etc, etc.

Of course, my yahoos wanted chocolate ice cream....no different than a Frosty from Wendy's......but 4 times the price.

Pay no attention to the grump on the left.  He ate his and Lainey's, too.

Kiddos checked out a few rides.  The bumper cars were a hoot.

We are on a tight budget with all the travel we have planned ahead......so we only allowed a few rides.  When Blake saw the sheer joy this one provided to Laine, he considered holding up the ticket booth so she could ride again and again and again.

These bumpers were for little bitties......so none of them knew what they hell they were doing, including how to drive the cars.  Just before the ride ended, Jack finally made his way over to Lainey and showed great effort in trying to give her whiplash.

I can't tell you how many people we saw lugging around goldfish.

If you are dumb enough to play this game, I assume you're dumb enough to enjoy walking the fair with a goldfish.

This just in:  Jack rode the train.


And, Blake insisted all 3 punks go through the mirrored fun house.  Why?  Because he hasn't stopped laughing at Carter walking into the glass at age 3 in Texas.

It doesn't take much to amuse him, folks.

Yes, they all did it.


Punkin Laine loved the slide down.


Caroline loved the caramel apples.  Can you tell?

Another fun house/slide combo was next.  Little Laine was too small.  Sweet girl teared up, but cheered the boys on and waved to them during the ride.

Proud of my girl.



She got to ride the next one on her own since she missed the previous attraction.

Yall, I know she's mine and of course I'm going to think she's beautiful, but sometimes it's just too much.  Love this kid.


Nice one, Aunt Caroline.


They never miss an opportunity.




Notice who is missing.  Jack-a-roo.

"No fanks.  Dose are stupid."


Pink's from Hollywood!



OK, so I'm not a fan of heights.....but this just looked so cool.....and it provided a great way to see the entire fairgrounds.  Which, are at the Del Mar racetrack.......same one where the OC housewives go to see the horses race.......lots of awesome things to see.

Kids loved it.  I cried 2/3 of the way.

Caroline wisely put me with Jack and Lainey and I was a nervous wreck the entire time.


Awesome experience if you take the fear factor out.

I adore this picture for so many reasons.  I think yall know that Caroline has made leaps and bounds health wise.  I couldn't be more proud.

My two Carolines.

Ended the evening with Orange Julius.  Not bad.

Caroline and I stayed in today while Blake met up with the Davidge family on the beach at Camp Pendleton.  I can only imagine what an awesome 4th of July celebration they have over there. 

We are packed up and ready to tackle the crowds to see the fireworks in the San Diego Bay.  4 barges stocked on the water with all sorts of luminous delights.  We're going early to grab a spot and hopefully beat the 850,000 people expected to attend. 

The official deets:

The 11th annual awe-inspiring fireworks show starts at 9 p.m. Fireworks will launch into the air around the San Diego’s beautiful bay off Shelter Island, Harbor Island, North Embarcadero, Seaport Village and Chula Vista. The choreographed and musical display will last about 17 minutes and more than 850,000 are expected to come.


Easy peasy.

Off we go!


12 comments:

Kristen said...

Caroline looks beyond amazing... wow. Super awesome.

And perhaps Lainey should never be allowed to drive a real car, on roads with other humans... her face in that one pic is intense!!!! I'm guessing she'll be like Hann if she ever drives a real car. Full of road rage... in a fabulous way of course.

Now I want to go to the fair. And eat fair food until I puke....

Kim said...

Looks like a great time! Your family is non-stop action, I love it!

Heather said...

okay.... I could not even look at the rest of the pictures... I just had to scroll down to comment. I tend to look at the pics before I read your commentary....
OHHHHH MY GRACIOUS.... CAROLINE LOOKS AMAZING!!! She looks so good and healthy! So happy for her! precious precious! Praise the Lord!

Glad you are getting to spend some time with her!

And Lainey's dress is adorable too!
Now I'll go back and read the rest!

Pam Bowers said...

I love it when you post about Caroline coming to visit. You both are very lucky to have each other as sisters.

I went to the fair on Wed. It was hot but I had fun. It was my very first visit despite growing up here. I had fried Oreo's!

Dee Stephens said...

Caroline does look GREat! So happy for her and you guys.
The fair looks fun! Not sure if I could get Brad out there in the crowd but you know I love it! Looks like a great weekend!

Jodee said...

Hooray for Caroline! She looks fabulous!

It looks like you had loads of fun at the fair!

Can't wait for the 4th of July scoop!

The Lenzers said...

caroline looks so great!!! So happy she is out for a visit. I think I would puke on the chocolate covered pickle....nasty! the things they are making at fairs now a days, yuck

The Rand's said...

Caroline looks amazing and so strong!!! So wonderful! Know y'all are having so much fun being together!
Miss you! Xoxo

Merry Mack said...

Caroline does look amazing! Yeah for her and you. I love how thoughtful she is with her connection to your kids. This make me wish I wasn't an only child for the 2nd time in my life.

Fair=Fun
Good times.

I love pickles but I am not sure about chocolate covered pickles.

I can't wait to hear about beach fireworks.

Coco said...

Caroline looks awesome!! SO healthy.
Orange Julius? Yummy. I didn't know those were still around.

donatelli98 said...

Love your little grump and his no thanks - dose r stoopid!! Your two Carolines are beautiful! Looks like everyone is having a great visit!!

Miss Sweet Tea said...

I love the fair! I think I'm going to go to the OC one this year. I've driven by the SD one, looks fun! Have you actually had a chocolate dipped pickle? I am adventurous, but that sounds pretty bad...