A September to Remember

We started off our September this year by going to the State Fair.  I don't consider my summer complete without attending at least one rodeo, thus our real purpose for going.  We ended up finding a lot of other great things to do, such as wander around Sample Paradise (also know as the Utah's Own event).  Jason was, of course, thrilled by it and considered it a free meal for the family (we were quite full afterwards, actually) and Addie was pleased as punch to have her own peach and reusable shopping bag.  Then we took the kids through the Utah State Agriculture farm exhibit, where they got to be farmers for about an hour:

They milked a plastic cow...

 Picked apples...

 Planted and harvested vegetables (they both went with potatoes)...

Rode tractors...

And sheared fake sheep.  Throughout the exhibit they gathered items in their baskets (i.e. a milk bottle, an apple, a potato, some wool..) and then sold their items at the little general store and got a pretend dollar to spend on a real snack of their choice.  Both kids picked a little container of Froot Loops.

We still had some time to kill before the rodeo, so Addie and Jason decided to try out this ultimate slide.  Jason liked it, Addie didn't.  We then went to the rodeo, which was pretty entertaining.  Jack had a hard time sitting still, and Addie's favorite part was the barrel racing (as it has been for three years now).

Here's Addie, the future Buckin' Bronco Rider!  She's got the face down already.

Oh, and we also went through a cool little NASA trailer and learned about astronauts and space.  Did you know astronauts wear diapers?  Yeah, they do.

 We also checked out the animals, which concluded our State Fair visit.  Wahoo!  Now for some miscellanea:

Addie attempted to make herself some "fairy legs" using some leaves and water. 

 We harvested these magic beans from our garden.  These are called Scarlet Runner Beans, and this was our first year growing them.  They are unbelievably big and pretty!  We will definitely grow them next year.  Jack also learned the word, "purple" from shelling these beans with us.

We bought a new-used car, although we actually bought it in July and I forgot to mention it.  It's a Mercury Mountaineer, and it's so nice to have the extra room, especially for trips!  It seats 7, although we usually leave the third row down.   I kind of wish it was purple with orange and yellow flames just for the sake of being able to find it in parking lots more easily.  As it turns out, pretty much everyone drives a white vehicle.

Here's Addie and Jack with their block creation.  It's a pretty exciting accomplishment in the life of an 16-month old kid.  These two sure have fun together!  Addie must've been so bored before Jack came along. 

Up next: Jason's hunting trip.