Meamaw and Grandpa Visit

Last weekend Meamaw and Grandpa visited from North Carolina.

They came late Friday night, after Bob got out of work, and were going to head straight for the ballet at SPAC so MiniM.E. and I decided to check out Family Night before the ballet.  We'd gone last year for a family night not attached to a performance and had a great time.  Unfortunately, we were expecting the same thing this year and allotted two hours to play before the ballet.  With only free ice cream, balloon animals and some instruments to see, we were done with Family Night by 6:30.  MiniM.E. was a good sport and we walked around a lot with her new giraffe buddy and waited patiently for Meamaw and Grandpa to arrive with Daddy.

Meamaw and Grandpa arrived shortly before the ballet and we joined them for a tasty snack and stayed for the first 45 minutes.  MiniM.E. was really into the ballerinas (though she insisted she wanted to see REAL ballerinas... like in tutus and wondered when it was her turn to go up and dance on stage with them).

Even though she had to dance from our lawn seats, she did a great job mimicking what was going on on stage.

Saturday we went to Big Trucks Day.  It was just as it sounds.  A lot of BIG trucks.  We realized almost immediately we should have brought ear muffs for the honking horns, but other than having to work with a tricky pair we were given that were a wee bit to big for little ears, it was a good time.

After big trucks we took a stroll downtown to visit the ducks at the park, go on the carousel and have lunch.

Sunday we spent a quiet morning around the house.  MiniM.E. and I went out in the afternoon while Meamaw and Grandpa and Daddy went to the racetrack and then we met up for dinner at the Circus Cafe.  The best part of the evening was the giant plate of cotton candy!

After dinner we took another stroll downtown and Meamaw and Grandpa watched another carousel ride and said goodbye to the ducks before they had to leave Monday.

See you next time Meamaw and Grandpa!

Just the End of July

I absolutely cannot believe it is August.  I really don't know where the summer went.  Here's our last week of July...

End of Week Visitors

At the end of last week (Thursday-Sunday) we had C. & H. stay with us from NH.  As you probably remember from many of my other posts, H. and MiniM.E. are almost the same age and C. and I were middle school/ high school friends who reconnected when we found out we were both due in the fall of 2011.

We met up at Malta Family Night, which promised pony rides, face painting, bounce houses and free food.  All of which were there, but unfortunately "free" meant hundreds of people and with one face painter, two ponies, two bounce houses, and one grill, EVERYTHING had a line at least half an hour long.  We started with a 45 minute wait for the pony ride, finally suiting up as it was almost our turn:

MiniM.E. was dragged out of the car from a much needed nap which was fantastic as she was really docile while waiting in line for almost an hour, but didn't add up to a very happy kid on a pony:

Can't pass up a good bath time photo:

Friday we went to Moreau Lake for the day:

And finished off the afternoon with some backyard play time:

 Saturday it was off to the sprayground:

And downtown:

Followed by another round of backyard play:

Sunday we just hung around the house and played as C. & H. packed up to leave.  We had a great time with a live in playmate (though by day 4 the kids were at each other's throats!).  Thanks for coming C. & H.!

Yay Kay!

Our first visitor for the summer was Kay from Austin.  She and I worked together at my last teaching job.  She visited two summers ago when MiniM.E. was only 9 months old.  The agenda was roughly the same though-- lots of playing, some strolling downtown...  This trip we were able to add in a few meals out (at two of the few places MiniM.E. will sit and eat at) and a trip to the Saratoga County Fair.

MiniM.E. didn't really remember Kay's first visit, but she was still so excited that she was coming that she asked if we could go pick her up at the train station a week early!! Needless to say, she was beyond excited Monday morning.  Of course though, in typical toddler-style, as soon as Kay stepped off the train, she turned on the shy and wouldn't even look at her.  It didn't last long and by the end of the day MiniM.E. was her usual talkative self.

On the way home from the train station, we stopped out for lunch and then rode the carousel:

Day two we spent most of the day back downtown, seeing the sights and doing some shopping.  Kay was nice enough to bring MiniM.E. and Baby#2 a present: big sister/ little sister t-shirts.  MiniM.E. loved hers so much she insisted on wearing it as soon as she woke up.

Of course, as soon as we arrived downtown, MiniM.E. decided she wanted to spend the morning watching cars... on the curb... in the sun...

We finally convinced her to come shopping with us.  And no visit to downtown is complete without a visit to our favorite dog statues:

We finished off our morning out with lunch at the Iron Roost-- best waffles in the Saratoga area!

That evening we went to the Saratoga County State Fair.  It was hot, but we all had a great time.  Pig racing, rides, a grizzly bear, funnel cake and deep fried avocado... Doesn't get better than that!

MiniM.E. decked out in pigtails and headband (thanks to Kay!)

we saw the pig races

MiniM.E., Kay and Bob (but not pregnant me) rode the giant ferris wheel

Poor Daddy had to squeeze onto the dragon ride

MiniM.E.'s favorite ride was the swings

and we saw the grizzly bear show

 Wednesday morning Kay had to be at the train station early (much to MiniM.E.'s dismay), but we squeezed in an early morning trip to the track for breakfast and to watch the horses warm up.

I hardly recognized my kid all decked out in the headband from Kay and "a tutu that looks pretty with the headband".

MiniM.E. had a great time with Kay and can't wait for her to come back and visit.  I don't blame her, she spoiled MiniM.E. just like a grandmother would!-- She's MiniM.E.'s Texas Grandma!  Thanks for visiting Kay!!