RIP Fishy

Poor Bear...she's been wandering around our home saying, "I'm still sad that Fishy is gone."

Who is Fishy? Fishy is the little silver fish that Bear won from the County Fair throwing a fortuitous ping pong ball into a bowl of colored water. You should have seen Bear's face when the little plastic tank was handed over to her...she was so proud.



These days, however, I have to explain to her why Fishy had to "go away."

I figured the fish wouldn't last long, but four days?

Well, considering the circumstances surrounding Fishy's death (found him keeled over surrounded by an excessive amount of fish flakes), let's just say Bear learned her first lesson in pet care: Being generous to your pet doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good thing.

Poor Bear. Hopefully she'll have better luck with pets later on.

A Fair Moment

There was a series in August that ran on The Kitchn about street fair food. As I read recipe after recipe on foods like funnel cake and frozen lemonade, it reminded me that our county fair was soon approaching.

Today we finally got to go.

Of course, some people go for the food.



As often as I tell myself that I'd like to try something new when we go to the fair, I never do. That deep-fried cheesecake on a stick will have to wait for another time. Although you can tell what the new "it" fair food is by the number of vendors selling it. These signs were everywhere:



Our kids were thrilled by anything furry.



A crew of baby goats came running when Bear came to see them. They were clamoring for her loving pats.



Anytime Chipmunk saw anything remotely animal, he'd scream and point.



There was a neat robotic dinosaur exhibit that we visited.



Chipmunk wasn't much into the display. Instead he spent his time brushing for fossils.



Other than that, Bear rode her first ferris wheel and loved it so much she wanted to go again. Chipmunk had to stick with his acrophobic mom and enjoyed amusements that were much lower to the ground like the train (or as Chipmunk likes to say "Choo Choo!").

Anyway, if you'd like to see more of how we spent our time at the fair, you can see them here.

Until the next fair moment.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Bear's first day of preschool (sniff!).



No tears for this little social butterfly. She sauntered into her classroom and only told me one thing, "Don't forget to pick me up, okay?"

When we did pick her up, she was beaming with smiles and bursting with all kinds of stories from her day.

She mentioned painting, a story about a frog, learning a new song and playing with her new friends...which she mentioned were all boys...Really?

I guess preschool is a hit for Bear.

Funny Faces

How our kids entertain themselves on long car rides...



Silly kids.

Increasing Decibels

I've been telling myself for months now that once Chipmunk starts to "get it," things will be much better on the parenting front. I don't know why, but I imagined with Chipmunk understanding more of what's going on, parenting two kids would go smoother.

Nope. Definitely not the case.

Granted his communication has been better, but what I didn't account for was that Chipmunk and Bear would understand each other better as well. Now in most circumstances that's a good thing, but when they start playing together, they have this kind of rapport where they feed off of one another and...boom...chaos ensues.

My mom used to tell me that when all three of us (me, my sis, my bro) were together in the same room, the noise level in our home increased enormously. Something about having all of us there...we would have livelier conversations, laugh more, bicker more...the decibels would increase dramatically.

I see what she means.

I can't complain. Bear and Chipmunk play really well together, but they're crazy sometimes. They egg each other on to do things that neither of them would do on their own. If I step out of the room for a minute or two, I start to feel a sense of dread at what I might find upon returning.

They chase each other screaming at the top of their lungs. They dismantle the couch and then repeatedly jump off of it into the pile of cushions. They manage to dislodge every toy from every possible place onto the floor. They wrestle each other (Really, I've witnessed Chipmunk body slam Bear to the floor). They argue. They fight. They yell at each other and throw things around. Chaos.

Oh, and they somehow think that by acting together they can get away with things...like coloring the tiles on our kitchen floor with crayons and colored pencils, or attempting to climb up onto the dining room table to sneak snacks. Really. It's like they plan their attacks together while I'm not looking.

So it's nice that they get along so well, but goodness, I may have to invest in a pair of earplugs.