Ah... the smell of Corney dogs and fried food and barnyard animals. Wow.... it's amazing that we love the fair and continue to go back, but we do. Kyra had a great time.
The "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit was so much fun. In this area she gets to plant, and collect fruit from the trees, and eggs from the hens, and milk from the cows, and drive a tractor, and then 'sell' it all back to get a treat at the end. It's geared toward kids ages 3-6, but even being young she caught on to the tasks pretty well and loved every minute.
The petting zoo was a riot to watch. Had she been able, she would have taken all 50 goats home with her. She had little fear of any of the animals. She fed the bison, and petted the sheep, and the pigs, and kangaroos, but by far her favorite were the goats.
She gave them hugs and talked to them and petted and fed and followed her favorites around the pen. She was so stinkin' cute!
On the way through the fairgrounds Kyra found a water fountain. We could have spent all day at the water fountain. I have to take a moment here to thank Jen (my sister-in-law) for the good advice early-on to always have an extra outfit in the diper bag. It came in handy this day. And I'm so glad I could let her run without worrying what the devil she was going to wear when she was done.
She spent a good half an hour in the water, and when I say in the water I mean in the middle of the fountain, she is no bench sitter. If you can be more wet than drenched that's what she was, but look at the joy on her face. You can't buy that.
After our fun in the fountain we headed over to the butterfly exhibit. Kyra loves butterflies, but found that the poster of a butterfly that she could put her hands all over was much more fun to play with and look at than those elusive fluttery things in the air.
She calls the orange and black butterflies "Monicas."
Bye...
Kyra and Jon have a funny face game they play. Dad pulls a funny face and then Kyra pulls a funny face. Actually I should say that Kyra pulls a silly face. Anytime you call Kyra "funny" she says "No, I'n not funny, I'n silly... Dad's funny."
Ah... the smell of Corney dogs and fried food and barnyard animals. Wow.... it's amazing that we love the fair and continue to go back, but we do. Kyra had a great time.
The "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit was so much fun. In this area she gets to plant, and collect fruit from the trees, and eggs from the hens, and milk from the cows, and drive a tractor, and then 'sell' it all back to get a treat at the end. It's geared toward kids ages 3-6, but even being young she caught on to the tasks pretty well and loved every minute.
The petting zoo was a riot to watch. Had she been able, she would have taken all 50 goats home with her. She had little fear of any of the animals. She fed the bison, and petted the sheep, and the pigs, and kangaroos, but by far her favorite were the goats. 
She gave them hugs and talked to them and petted and fed and followed her favorites around the pen. She was so stinkin' cute!
On the way through the fairgrounds Kyra found a water fountain. We could have spent all day at the water fountain. I have to take a moment here to thank Jen (my sister-in-law) for the good advice early-on to always have an extra outfit in the diper bag. It came in handy this day. And I'm so glad I could let her run without worrying what the devil she was going to wear when she was done. 
She spent a good half an hour in the water, and when I say in the water I mean in the middle of the fountain, she is no bench sitter. If you can be more wet than drenched that's what she was, but look at the joy on her face. You can't buy that.
After our fun in the fountain we headed over to the butterfly exhibit. Kyra loves butterflies, but found that the poster of a butterfly that she could put her hands all over was much more fun to play with and look at than those elusive fluttery things in the air. 
She calls the orange and black butterflies "Monicas."
After putting up all the shelving in the living room and in Jon's office we had quite a few flat boxes left over... so Jon and Kyra put them to use. 
Kyra loves her little castle, and Jon loves building it for her (again and again ... it is still standing 3 weeks later despite being re-located a number of times). The house also has a number of stickers, and crayon decor that add to its fabulousness (if that's a word).
This is a bike parking garage. The bikes were so packed in I don't know how people got thier bikes (or selves) in or out.
And another of us in front of one of the many, beautiful, canals. The history of Amsterdam is fascinating (I spent 90% of my time in museums while Jon was working... boring to many, I know, but it's what I love). By the by, in pictures it looks like Jon and I spent all our time together, the reality is I had a few days in each city pretty much to myself, we just only took pictures with the two of us.
We did take a canal tour together, and here are a few pics. Our favorite is the brick house boat. You don't see that every day (or really consider it to be a good idea -- but it seems to have worked out just fine). 
