Lee County Fair 2011

We made our annual visit to the Lee County Fair last Tuesday night and had a ball!  Turner has been talking about going back to the fair since we drove out of the parking lot last fall, and she has specifically asked throughout spring and summer when she could ride the Ferris Wheel again.

We love to go back and look through pictures from our trips to the fair in years past  2010  2009  2008.  Each year we've learned something new - nostalgia is powerful, activities we loved in childhood aren't the same as an adult, the necessity of having more money than you planned at the fair, and the extreme value in wet wipes and germX at venues such as the restroom at the county fair grounds....I could go on and on!  This a family tradition from my childhood, and it makes my heart happy to have established this as something Mark, Turner, and I all look forward to each year.

Mark insists on getting a picture of me and Turner together on the Merry-Go-Round (to the non-rednecks I guess that would be Carousel?).  It is really fun to look back and see how we've both changed over the years!

The first roller coaster ride of the year!

Dancing to the music from Mommy's favorite ride from her teenage years...she danced so much she eventually tripped over a rock and landed hiney first in the dirt!  (She meaning Turner, not me.)

This ride makes us laugh because every time the car swings her around, she squeals the most high pitched little squeal!  You can see the anticipation on her face here...

...and how much she loves this ride here!

It's important to teach them the basics of gaming early in life you know?  In this game, you place your quarter on the color of the hole that you think the rat will run in when he's released from captivity!  Grown adults were losing big money on this game I tell you!

One of our favorite parts of the fair is the livestock show going on each night.  This year we went on the night they were showing sheep and we got to watch them shearing sheep up close.  As we were watching, this young man below approached us and in his most polite way asked if we'd like to come and look at his sheep.  We were thrilled and he led us to his pen where there were three sheep - Roly, Poly, and Oreo which was his sheep.  His name is Layne and his sweet little accent and his polite manner just made our night.  He was quite talkative and by the end of our visit (about 5 minutes) we knew where he was from, that they were going to kill Poly because she kicked someone, they were staying in a hotel for the week.  He was a doll!

Look at that little gentleman laying his hip into Roly to move him over so Turner could pet Oreo.  :)

Of course we had to ride the dragon roller coaster again - the one that we put Turner on when she was not yet 2 years old and I swore she'd have whiplash.  The one I thought DHR might have called us about.  She loves this ride!

Turner really wanted to play "games" this year, which is obviously the biggest money pit at the fair.

And of course we picked the purple dog as the prize.  She had several options, including an offer from the man "you can even have a character from South Park if your Mom will let you have it".  Seriously??

This year we felt like Turner was ready for the Glass House.  I took her through first with me, and then surprisingly she went through alone the second time around.  I was watching and ready to run in if needed if I saw panic...but then I got completely tickled when she got overconfident and sped through and ran face first into the glass right in front of us.  We're awful parents because we thought it was hilarious!  Even this week, she's still talking about how much she enjoyed this experience at the fair this year!

Pop - these are for you.  :)  In the 8 car.

One more turn on the dragon - ALONE!!

Check out those hands in the air!

One year I am going to ride this at the fair.  I'll probably regret it...but I have always wanted to try it just once!

One of her favorite things is the big slide.  Note that pink bunny and purple dog also got a ride on the slide!

Another fun fall evening at the fair!  Only 355 days until we can go back!

Turner in Andalusia - A weekend to relax

Several months back when football schedules were released, I told Mark that I thought I'd like to accompany him to Starkville to the Thursday night ESPN game vs. LSU.  I took half of the day off and we made the long journey to MSU, meeting Tootsie and Pop along the way to drop off Turner for a long weekend visit.  We visited with long time friends and enjoyed a loud and rowdy 4 quarters with Bulldog fans who packed the stadium for the big game.  I ended up not feeling well by the end of the game so we left the stadium even later than expected (around 10:45) and finally got on the road back to Auburn, arriving back on the Plains around 3:30am.  I've seen some late nights in my college and younger years, but I am way too old for a 4:00am bedtime...especially knowing I had to be at work for a 9:00 meeting!  I am glad we went despite the loss.  It was a late night, and probably viewed as a frivolous/slightly insane decision  by some...but I figured you only live once and sometimes spontaneity and a shift from normal can be quite refreshing!

My only picture...didn't even take my camera!

Meanwhile, Turner was having a complete blast in Andalusia.  Picking zennias when she arrived...

And it just so happened to be Homecoming weekend in our little small town.  This is an event that you almost need to experience to fully understand!  There are skits depicting classes of the past at the morning assembly, schools let out at the half day mark so that all can attend a Homecoming Day Parade in which members of the honored classes ride on the back of flatbed trucks and wave to the onlookers.  The Homecoming Queen and her court are paraded through town sitting atop the backs of the finest convertibles in town. It's a truly unique, small-town experience.  Turner being able to see it and enjoy it was a treat for me, and especially for my parents who are lifelong residents of Andalusia!

The band marches also and ends their route on the steps of the courthouse (located in the town square), leading the crowd in a big pre-game pep rally!  It's not Mayberry folks, but small town living has it's charm!

I received this picture via text from my mom while Mark and I dined at Hamilton's on Friday night...I guess there is something to be said about living in a small town.  The Homecoming Queen (not the one pictured below) is the daughter of my mom's former principal and now superintendent...as he escorted his daughter off the field he saw my sweet daughter and handed her the queen's bouquet!

You can imagine the fun that Turner had with Tootsie and Pop - everything in the world she wanted to eat, do, or experience at a moment's notice!

This picture is only humorous to those of us who have had the privilege of seeing Turner demonstrate her disdain for the Crimson Tide.  We taught her before she turned two years old that when anyone said, "Roll Tide" or "Alabama Crimson Tide" to grab her nose and say, "Pee-ew Stinky!"  The shirt is just too hilarious!

Turner apparently set up a preschool at my parents house and this was the snack area.  She was using her play vacuum cleaner once when I called to clean up the crumbs where the students had made a terrible mess eating their snack.  She was teaching them their daily lessons in the foyer I  believe...

 And at some point she decided that she wanted my Dad to build her a campfire.  In the yard.  So he did.

And somehow she convinced them to roast hot dogs (which I didn't know about until a couple of days after she returned home, and that she roasted the hot dogs on a stick) and marshmallows.  It was I believe around 87 degrees this particular weekend.  :)  Now she is quite obsessed with campfires and the concept of roasting marshmallows (on a wire stick you know). 

There were so many things that I didn't hear from my parents during the weekend, that Turner filled me in on after she returned to Auburn and in the coming week.  The fact that there wasn't any gum at the Tractor Supply store (a tradition for Turner and Pop on Saturday mornings when we visit) so she got some "chompy not chewy bones" instead.  She had to clarify that these were candy bones, akin to Runts....I wasn't sure what type bones she meant?!  Then they went on a mad search all over town to find a gum machine, finding one at the Dollar Tree (across town - Pop would not be outdone I tell you!) as well as several new items such as sunglasses and a new hula hoop.  The standard answer for "Where did that come from?" for a week after she returned was, "Tootsie got it for me at the Dollar Tree."

Turner didn't tell me about the trauma of the weekend, and that Tootsie was sitting on the chair part of my old high chair (which has been refinished years ago for Turner) and the chair gave way.  Tootsie apparently landed flat on her backside in the kitchen floor and I can only imagine the hysterical laughter that ensued from both Tootsie and Pop.  But Turner didn't tell me about this...Pop did several days later, so that I'd know that Turner totally freaked out screaming and crying that Tootsie, "broke her chair"!  When I finally asked her about it (explaining that it was in fact Tootsie's chair/my chair/BB's chair) she was super serious as she said, "But it upset me that Tootsie broke my chair!"

We had a fabulous and productive weekend while Turner was in Andalusia!  We cleaned out and rearranged closets, cleaned up the house, yard, cars, etc.  You know, all the "fun" things you do when you are adults/parents and have a weekend sans child!  We did enjoy a lovely dinner out Friday night and a trip to Chill for some after dinner yogurt, and seeing as how we had gotten in bed at 4:00am Thursday night we took the opportunity to sleep in on Saturday!

Thank you Tootsie and Pop for a weekend of fun for Turner and a weekend of rest and productivity for us!  Turner actually told me when she walked through the door, "But I wanted to stay with Tootsie and Pop forever!"  She was happy to see us and home, but she does love being with you in Andalusia!

"Mine and Mommy's team is gonna beat your team!"

That's what Turner said to Mark two days prior to this year's Auburn vs. Mississippi State football game.  Mark had constantly been asking her who she was cheering for, almost in a teasing kind of way, but when she spouted that out of her mouth I just couldn't let it go.  I had to explain to her that one time a year Mommy and Daddy cheer for different teams - and that because she loves both of those teams then she gets to cheer for both!  Mark and I don't "smack talk" so I am not sure where this came from!

It's hard enough having to navigate the "split household" waters with my spouse on this particular weekend.  But, living here in Auburn with a child who is inundated with Auburn year round (the fact that her Daddy works for AU complicates it even more) makes the navigation even more of a challenge.   

This game is NOT fun for me and Mark. 

Yes, he wears maroon and cheers for MSU against Auburn every single time.  I don't blame him a bit - it just makes experiences like this year's game particularly hard to swallow.  No one is ultimately happy, because even in my excitement I care that my husband is not happy with the outcome.

Thankfully, we loosened the choke-hold of football on our lives a long time ago!  And while we are avid football fans and enjoy the games tremendously, it doesn't rule our lives.  When the clock hits 00:00 a win and a loss are just a W or L at the end of the day. Marks on a paper. The gradual development of this attitude in both of us has made football in a split household (and football living in a college-town) much easier to enjoy!

Turner taking a short ride around the block before we left for breakfast.

Some of my favorite pictures from the day...

This picture makes me laugh...this is just pure Turner with all the animation and spirit in this pic.  She loves sports and understands sports, likely because her parents watch a lot of sports. Though this is pre-game cheering, Mom said she generated quite a few comments in their section because of her reactions to events on the field.  Apparently she yelled at someone for dropping a pass.  :)

War Eagle and Go Dawgs!