We're back!

Actually we've been back for a few days. It takes me a while to get back in the swing of things after a trip with the kids. We had a great time! It didn't rain which is always good but it was extremely hot especially for October.

We arrived in Elkins on Thursday afternoon and headed straight for the park. The first thing we did was go to the petting zoo. Lenny and I decided that we will never do that again at least not with a cup full of food for them. The animals swarmed us as soon as we got in there.

There were lots of other activities at the park to enjoy. There were pig races, magic shows, reptile shows, and lots of vendors. It was nice and shady in the park so it was much cooler than at the carnival.

Lenny made a new friend, Issy. She is very cute. Issy is the daughter of JB, a friend of dads. They already had plans to ride on the rides at the carnival that night. They hit it off great.

When we asked them where they were going, they said "We are going to the swings." Too bad they were heading in the wrong direction. JB directed them to the swings.

Nathan and Brooke decided to try out the swings as well. They loved it.

My sister and her kids arrived on Friday. Between the two of us we have six kids, four of them are age 3 and under. It gets kind of loud and crazy at times but it's fun. Here is a picture of Kristi with Lenny on her shoulders and our mom with Anthony-Glen on her shoulders.

Here's Papaw with Nathan. Dad did a lot of cooking for us for the Forest Festival. It's become a tradition that he makes a huge pot full of potato soup and another one full of chili. Yummy!

Later Friday we went to the carnival for some rides. Brooke and Nathan weren't able to ride the carousel because I didn't have shoes on them. I've never heard of that rule before. Here's Dominic and Lenny enjoying the ride.Mom got Lenny some cotton candy. He loved it. It was almost as big as him.
Wait a minute, is that Meemaw trying to sneak a bite from Lenny?
We ended the day with the Elkins Volunteer Fire Department Fireman's Parade. It didn't start until 8 p.m. so I knew that the babies would be asleep. Although I didn't think they would sleep for long since we were staying with dad and he lives on the parade route and the room we stayed in is on the street side. For anyone not familiar with a fireman's parade, just know it can get very loud. I'm not sure how many fire trucks there were but there had to have been at least 100. No joke. And every one of them blew their horn and sirens the entire time. It's very exciting but loud. Believe it or not, all three of the kids slept through the entire parade (about an hour). I don't know how they did it. Kristi said that Anthony-Glen fell asleep outside while watching it. I was able to watch from the window and enjoy it.

Saturday was another day of visiting the park and the carnival. The grand parade was at 1 p.m. Here is Brooke and Nathan waiting for the parade. Ok, maybe Nathan wasn't really waiting for the parade, he was very tired. It was so hot outside that I ended up taking Brooke, Nathan, and Lenny inside to watch the parade. Dominic and I took turns watching the parade outside and staying inside with the kids.
If you wonder what that mark on Brooke's nose is, she somehow bumped it and none of us know how it happened. We noticed it was red as can be and then it looked like a scrape. Poor thing. And, Lenny fell twice and scraped his knee while we were there. He limped along for a few days. :-(

Sunday morning Kristi, Aleah, Kiana, and Anthony-Glen watched Brooke and Nathan for me while Lenny and I went with mom and Ernie to get Buckwheat cakes and sausage. Yummy! It's a beautiful ride out to the Izaac Walton League to the Buckwheat and Sausage Feed. Yes, that's what it's called. I feel like cattle going to a Feed. :-) But it's definitely worth it.

Dominic got the fun job of packing up the van for the trip home.

Here's Aleah with Brooke.

And Kiana with Nathan.

And mom with both of them.

We had a great time and will be looking forward to going again next year!

From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

Lenny wanted to warn Aunt Kristi about the animals in the petting zoo. We were talking about it and he said that we will tell her not to go. I said, "That's right. They come after you when you walk in.". Lenny said, "Yes, and I carried one on my back." While we were in there, a goat was trying to get the food from Lenny. Lenny was walking away and the goat jumped up and put his feet on Lenny's back. He even had marks on his shirt to prove it.