Wash, MO Fair 2014

The Wash, MO Fair is one of our favorite events of the summer!  All of Adam's siblings were together for it this year so things were crazy fun!  I will let the pictures (lots of pictures!) tell the stories…

 We arrived Thursday afternoon and Papaw picked Cooper up in his Gator and they went to the fair!  Papaw has VIP access to the motorsports area so Cooper was in heaven.

 Then his cousins arrived!

 A closer look at those cute faces!  It was raining all day…hence Coop's rain boots.

I told you they got VIP access, across the field is the bleachers where everyone else sits.

While the boys were watching monster trucks, Laney was sweet talking Papaw into sugar :).  She hung with the boys all night.

lol

 Piper did lots of this during the fair, just along for the ride.

 Her first concert in the books!  Easton Corbin.  I can't believe how cool it was - usually we sweat buckets during the fair and this year I was worried about being cold!  It was just her and I with everyone that night as Adam had the big kids at motorsports.

 Aunt Tanya braided Laney's hair!  I really need to learn how because how cute is this...

Agriland!  Apparently Quincy Jane was not a fan :(.

 We had lots of fun in the family fun tent!

 Emily graciously took and paid for Laney to get a tattoo.    Laney wanted her face painted but it was close to nap time so thankfully she was just as happy with her glitter tattoo.

 She was over the moon excited for her 'neigh neigh' (unicorn) tattoo.

 At the bubble bus!

 I finally got to meet my newest nephew, Captain Adorable - otherwise known as Brody ;).  He's precious and perfect in every single way. 

It is always chaos when you get all the cousins together!  This time they were having fun with Mamaw and Papaw's fancy bed.

 Piper had rice for the first time and loved it!

 Piper stayed out with the adults one night.  She soundly slept in her stroller until a couple of unnamed uncles woke her up :).  I was trying to get a pic of her with Mamaw and Papaw but I had too many photo bombers!

 Best we got - thanks Uncle John!

 So sweet!

They are so quiet when they sleep ;)

 These two up way too late one night!

 We got to visit some of our favorite friends - the Alfermanns and Kluesners.  Nick and Maureen picked up donuts for the kids. 

 In the blink of an eye, we have 9 kids between the 3 of us!!!

Love!

 After visiting our friends we headed straight to the fair again.  The kids loved the messy play area.

 Laney really loved this part.

 He wanted his own glitter tattoo.

 Matching super hero tattoo cousins!

 The boys waited in a long line to walk thru the Army simulator.

 You can take the kid out of the fair but you can't take the fair out of the kid :).

 Just another Friday night!

It was another successful fair - we had so much fun with the family!

August Already???

Not only is it August - it's the middle of August!  What!?  How did this happen??  That means winter is  practically knocking on our door :(.  That's a total bummer but we do love August in this house for 2 main reasons…the big kids birthdays are this month!!!!!!!

 That sweet girl turns 3 in 10 days and that sweet boy turned 5 yesterday (more on that later!)!!!

All I can say, as it's the night before the first day of school for Blue Valley, is that I am so, so happy that we are not sending Cooper to Kindergarten this year!  Phew - I need the next year to get ready for that!  Surely I am not old enough to have a kindergartner, right??  This time next year is going to be tough!

Sprinkler Fun

One day last week naps weren't just happening for the big kids so I pulled out the Dora sprinkler.  (Thanks Aunt Tanya!)  It kept them entertained and busy for almost an hour, mission accomplished.

 No surprise, Laney was the first to run thru.

 It took a bit but he warmed up to the idea.

 Pretty soon they were chasing each other in circles.

He made sure that I took a picture of him standing so close to the water. ;)

Simple summer fun.

Drawings by Cooper

On the drive down to Texas, Coop had a little notebook that he was drawing in.  Out of the blue he asked how Jesus died on the cross and why.  Adam genuinely tried to explain but in the end - we ended with 'bad guys did it.'  That sure is a hard concept to explain to a 4 year old!  When we arrived at our hotel, he was anxious to show me what he drew…

 Yep, that's his interpretation of Jesus on the cross.  

I just love how he draws people right now!

San Antonio

Adam had meetings Tuesday and Wednesday so we were pool bound most of the day.  I didn't take as many pics as I usually do on vacation - prob because I had a baby on my hip most of the time.    I didn't even bring my big camera out of its bag!  

We came home from Sea World and the girls and I hung out in hotel room.  Somehow Dad and Cooper had enough energy to swim.  We all showered and headed out to Mexican for dinner with other Alcon families.

 A bottle of champagne in a margarita!  Yes please!  What a genius idea!  It was so, so delicious and much needed after the sweat fest at Sea World.

 This sweet baby was so good the whole trip!  She just rolled with whatever we were doing.

 This sweet girl was my bed mate.  Yep, we had 2 queen beds so the girls took one and the boys took the other.  Pippi had the pack n play in the closet.  

 On Tuesday the kids slept until almost 10!  We swam, ate lunch and came back to room to chill for a bit.  I said to the kids, "let's just rest for 20 minutes."  Within 5 minutes they were both asleep and slept for 2 hours!  This is what Laney's bed looks like on most days - she's a hoarder.   When we came back to the room we were so cold so we all changed into our pjs - apparently Laney wasn't cold enough for a shirt :).

 The kids and I were swimming on Tuesday night while Adam was at a dinner when we heard there was an animal show on the lawn.  We jumped out of the pool and went to see the the show. 

 We saw a kangaroo, boa constrictor, sloth, and a couple others I can't remember.

 Why is it nearly impossible for all 3 to look at me for just one second!??

We hung out on the man made beach the whole time.  It led into a shallow pool that turned into a lazy river.  We walked that lazy river over and over and over.  The kids played so well-they kept busy and were so happy.  Coop had little blisters on his feet Wednesday night from walking that lazy river so much!

 She was up around 6 in the mornings. I would feed her in the dark and she would fall back asleep with Laney and I until everyone else woke up.  I love cuddling with her!!!!!!!

 The hotel staff handed out bomb pops one afternoon so Pippi had her first popsicle!  She LOVED it!

 This was my view most of the trip.  Her and I in the shade on the beach hanging with the other moms watching the big kids play.  

 Naps on the go :)

 We skipped naps on Wednesday so she fell asleep on the way to dinner.  Adam carried her in and we put her in Piper's seat.  She stayed asleep and we woke her when the pizza came.

The Alcon kids (minus Piper).   We had such a good time with this group - those big kids were such a help with the littles.  

 5 nights in one hotel room and too many hours in the car together was making us a bit looney!!!!!!!

 The big kids ditched us after the family selfie so we took a selfie with our baby.

Sweet sleeping sisters.

We checked out on Thursday morning and hit the road at 8:30.  After the drive down, we were pretty sure the kids wouldn't make it straight thru so we planned on stopping somewhere to spend the night.  Well, the kids were really good.  Laney still had her moments but was much better-even took a 2 hour nap!!!!!!  So we drove straight thru and 13 hours later at 9:30 -we made it home.