Essex County Fair

One of our summer highlights as kids was going to the county fair in Westport. This year I found out we would be arriving for our week vacation on the afternoon of the last day it was in town, so we drove straight to the fairgrounds... and I am SO glad we did. I think Emily had the most fun 3 hours of her life. We saw a miniature horse show, spent awhile petting goats, turtles, llamas, a camel (the bear cubs were safely out of reach), cows, sheep, etc. We ate maple ice cream. All the rides were free with admission, so Emily tried all of the kiddie rides, and a few not-so kiddie ones. After the merry-go-round and the car-go-round, Alasdair insisted on taking her down the giant slide (which I thought would scare her, and she loved) and then my mom suggested they take her on the scrambler (which I thought would terrify her, but she was perfectly happy). Lots more pictures if you click here. I cant wait to take her again next year.

The rest of our week at the lake passed without pictures... but was lovely and relaxing, and included a 24 hour getaway to a local B&B while Emily stayed with my parents. So nice.

Funny things

I keep meaning to start a list of funny things Emily says, and haven't. I'll at least try to get some on here.

A couple days ago we had dinner at my grandparents house. Emily was sitting at the table eating her supper and said, "I'm a daughter."

Alasdair, "That's right Emi. Whose daughter are you?"

Emily, "Daddy's"

Alasdair, "Right, and who else?"

Emily, "umm... Tom Brady."

What?!

3 Weekends in 1

Last week we did a four day trip with stops in 3 states. Exhausting, but very fun. (And efficient!:)

Wednesday night - drove from home to the Larsen's cabin in western MA for 36 hours of relaxation with good friends from Philly. We packed in all our "traditions" in this 2nd annual trip - amazing fondue for dinner after the kids go to sleep, the guys wiffle ball game, and lots of relaxing in & by the water. So much fun to see how all the kiddos have grown since last summer, and so nice to have some quality time to catch up.

Friday morning we headed out to Philly and spent the day swimming at the local pool (thanks to Uncle Alden the lifeguard) and visiting with Granny, Aunt Eowyn & Ben. It was very hot. Granny had surgery on a broken ankle a month ago, and is now in a boot. We stressed to Emily that she needed to be very gentle... which meant that every time she noticed the boot (~100 times/day), she said with great concern "Are you ok, Granny?"

Saturday morning we left Emily in their capable hands and drove down to DC to meet up with parents. We had a yummy Mexican lunch, visited the Spy Museum (very cool, very crowded) and then Becky joined us for the Barcelona vs. Man U game at FedEx Field. We had great seats and it is just incredible to see those guys up close. Despite some pretty wretched officiating, we had a great time.

Sunday we swung back through Philly to pick up Emily and celebrate Becky's birthday with cheesesteaks (my mother in law makes the best ones I've had) and amazing cupcakes made by Becky's former roommate. Mmm.

Lots of thanks to Eowyn for dealing with a very sad 2 year old during most of Saturday night!!! (No photographs were taken.)