It's the......WEEKEND!!

"It's the weekend!" said in a shouting voice, every Friday evening after daycare kids leave. The minis thought it would be a boring weekend at home (minus a trip to my aunt and uncle's house), but Saturday night we surprised the minis with a trip to the Iowa State Fair!

I wasn't totally on board with going this year (5 of us=A LOT of money spent in one night), but who can resist extremely disgusting fried food for a night? Sunday we spent eating salads and exercising (no joke) and all of us had tummy aches, which I blame on the fried Oreo's....or the bucket of cookies.

We had a 'going off to college' party for my cousin Natalie. It was great to catch up briefly with family while my kids went crazy playing on the stairs.

Sliding down stairs can sure wear kids out! They took long naps (lasting well into the evening) and we rewarded their long naps with a visit to the Iowa State Fair. As I said above, with five of us going, a trip to the fair costs us $150+ just to eat horribly delicious fried food, smell cow poop, and deal with crowds of people. Overall, the kids had fun and we made a point to see things we don't usually take the time to see. 

Elizabeth's first corn dog ever!

A giant bucket of cookies! Elizabeth tried taking a bite of a cookie as I set the bucket down. The stroller sure came in handy for carrying our crap because most of the time Elizabeth didn't even ride in it.

I really wanted to get a picture of the kids on top of the suitcase, but it was too crowded to get a photo. The minis enjoyed climbing and asking questions: "who are these giants???"

We finally got to see the ice sculptures and butter cow. In the last 6 years, we haven't stopped in this building once.....mostly because of mini's breaking down. Kinda like Elizabeth did in front of the ice sculptures because the line wasn't moving fast enough and I told her she had to stay in her stroller.

A butter Field of Dreams and the butter cow.

The mini's favorite thing was the houses in the art building.

Always attempting the family selfie.

The minis loved posing in the cut outs.

And playing with all of the old phones! There were some interesting conversations happening!

Elizabeth wanted to "take purple duck home." I fail to see the purple duckling she says she saw and wanted.

The boys petted the calf while Elizabeth stood back mooing at it.

A ride on the ponies (I failed to get a picture of the other two minis on their ponies).

Elizabeth devoured the chocolate ice cream and pineapple whip. The pineapple whip is one of our favorite things to get at the fair.

Five minutes before this selfie was taken, I asked the kids if anyone needed to pee. They all said no. I asked them two more times just to be sure. As soon as we got to a spot with no bathrooms around (keep in mind, five minutes later), Harrison yells that he really needs to pee and HAS to go right now! I made Matt take him and we took selfies. Pretty sure I got the better end of the deal considering they walked for 15 minutes before finding a bathroom.

Saturday wound up being a much later night than expected. Matt, Elizabeth, and I slept in past 9:00 a.m. while the boys were up at their usual 7:30. I'm not ashamed to admit that Netflix kept them busy for two hours while Matt slept on the couch (I happily shut our bedroom door to drown out any noise from their shows).

After we got up and moving, I did some writing (which proved to be more than difficult), did the grocery shopping (by myself!), and the bounce house/mud playing for the minis.

This is what happens when I do the errands myself: a fully completed grocery list, new toys, happy shoppers who didn't have to deal with my kids, and a much happier mama!

But I came home to them torturing the cat with Tinker Toys. They were waving the sticks around the cat, but the cat surprised them when he grabbed one with his paw. The minis were shocked and I couldn't stop laughing.

I spent nap time in the kitchen making Tiger cupcakes for daycare's Daniel Tiger Day, spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and strawberry pancakes.

While I was busy in the kitchen, the hubs thought it would be soooo funny to put a dead cicada on my phone. Needless to say, I freaked and didn't find it soooo funny. I had a few choice words for him.

Backyard swimming and mud playing. Our backyard was ruined early in the summer by the slip n' slide.

I can't quite believe that school is starting this week for the oldest mini, Max. Part of me is excited for him because he's so excited. The other part of me wants the summer to never end. I quite like the playing all day, night, and weekends, having no particular schedule to follow or commitments to see out. Summer is all fun. That being said, I'm going into this school year a bit differently than last year's. We have yet to take our summer vacation and are finally going to be taking a few days away to go to Minneapolis Labor Day weekend, which means our days of playing aren't over quite yet.

Next weekend I plan on a lazy Saturday--I have a feeling those first few full days back at school will wear out the oldest mini, plus I'll need to catch up on laundry after our super busy week. Sunday will be another small road trip to Adair, Iowa to visit the Freedom Rock. Seasons may change, schedules be reinforced, but we will always play on the weekends!