our wonderfully busy weekend

Well, I wrote about how I was planning a fun weekend... and I wasn't kidding. We aren't very good at relaxing, but exploring? We've got that part down.

On Saturday, we met up with some friends at the local fair, called Rabbit Fest, here in town. It was 92 degrees, which is about average for May here in central Texas, but a storm was brewing, so it was humid- the air was literally heavy with moisture. If it weren't for the breeze, I think we all would have melted, especially the little ones and my two pregnant friends.

Elliot especially LOVED the petting zoo. His favorites were the miniature pigs (cutest round bellied little fuzzy creatures I've ever seen) and some of the more "spunky" goats, who were tied to the gate (I think because they might have knocked over the tots in pursuit of food if they'd been allowed to roam free). Elliot delighted in the fact that they gulped down the feed he offered them, whereas the goats that were free bored him. I guess a sleeping baby goat, no matter how soft or adorable, is just plain boring in the eyes of a two-year-old. I was sure to get a few snuggles in, though!

Something about carnival rides just screams photograph me! Some of my favorite childhood memories are at fairs, like the Swiss Alpenfest in Gaylord, Michigan. Carousels, ferris wheels, bumper cars... they all take me back. The fact that my boys might someday look back at days like these made me feel like I should try to capture every moment on camera.



The food stands in particular really caught my eye. I can remember being slightly appalled last year, at our first Texas carnival exploration, when we learned that in Texas, they deep fry almost anything and everything, and even the standard carnival foods come in "Texas size". You know that saying, "everything's bigger in Texas?" Well, it's definitely true about their food. Last year, I ordered a "Texas sized corndog" and was handed a 13" giant corndog- for only $1 more than a standard corndog! This year, I'm proud to say that we stuck to our diet- I didn't eat anything at all while we were there, and Aaron had a simple smoked turkey leg.

It occurred to me, while we were walking around, that this was the last Rabbit Fest we'd probably attend. In fact, it could very well be our last fair in the states! It was a bit of a bittersweet revelation. Even more of a reason to go a little snap happy, right?

hot, tired baby. He still had fun, though. :)

You'd think after a long day of walking around in the heat, we'd want to stay home and relax on Sunday, right? Wrong! After a somewhat tumultuous morning {my husband's PTSD was to blame for that}, we decided to drive out to Waco to the children's museum.

Elliot playing on the giant piano at the museum.

The boys had a blast! There were trains (oh, the trains) and a water table where you could make a maze to send rubber duckies through for Elliot, and a whole play town (complete with house, garden, grocery store, fire department, and gas station) that Emmett enjoyed destroying playing in. Elliot's heart was pretty much broken when we had to leave. Aaron literally had to pick him up and carry him kicking and screaming out of the museum because he absolutely did not want to leave the model train tracks.

I didn't get very many pictures in the museum because the lighting was less than ideal and besides, we were having way too much fun! Don't worry, though, because I made up for it later that afternoon. In order to cheer Elliot up, we stopped on the way home in Temple, TX to visit his beloved train station and Whistle Stop playground.

Elliot was pointing and saying, "Oooh, a choo train! BLACK choo train! BIG BLACK choo train!"