Since my last post... several events have taken place.
The weekend after our Aunt Monica visit we took Charlie to Carthage to spend SIX long nights with my parents. Long for Josh and I - no one else apparently. Charlie had a wonderful time, lots of swimming with grandma and wrestling with grandpa. He ate well and slept even better so they were happy to help us out for the week (since we are still on our summer break from PDO). Josh and I enjoyed our weekend with friends at the lake - then we took advantage of our free nights watching movies and catching up on things around the house. It was a wonderful break - but we were ready for the little man to be home on Thursday!!!
After a few nights at home with Charlie, we packed up the car on Saturday morning and headed to Sedalia to celebrate mom's 60th bday at the State Fair. We had a wonderful family filled weekend with lots of cousin fun. I of course came home with no less than 300 pictures to go through - I think I picked the best.
Grandma and Charlie looking at the mules
Charlie and the Lego Ninja
Little Fair Goer.
One of our favorite stops - the Children's Barn
the chicks seemed to be his favorite of the day.
The donkey - mom's favorite
Piggys
Brace yourself for LOTS of darling pics of Charlie's first pony ride.
He loved it - so much we had to do it again!
Henry looking on - waiting till next year when he can join in on the fun!
Charlie's first cotton candy experience - Thanks J.R.
Sharing with Baba
The family fun center was the highlight of the whole fair for us. There were several stations with different activities for the kids - and it was air conditioned!! Charlie had a wonderful time tooling around and checking everything out.
Some of my fondest memories of my Grandpa Jack happened on the Missouri State Fair grounds. When I would visit my grandparents we would always go for ice cream and then drive through to look at the baby deer in the conservation area. A few years ago they added these benches to the grounds and my uncle Jim had one dedicated to my Grandpa Jack from his 5 granddaughters. He was a wonderful family man and I know he was smiling down as we gathered his 4 great grandchildren for a picture on his bench that day!
Ava, Henry, Jack and Charlie
On to the tractors... Charlie climbed right up and took the wheel!
One last peek at the mules with Grandpa
Cooling off in a shady spot with dad.
We headed back to the Shoemaker's to rehydrate and cool off. The kiddos had a rest and we were back at it celebrating my Mom's and Aunt Lisa's join birthdays at the country club. We had a wonderful dinner in a rather empty room, thank goodness - Charlie isn't real restaurant friendly these days. Then we headed home for cake and ice cream compliments of my sweet cousin Whitney.
What a fun fun weekend we had! Thanks girls for giving us a reason to get together and celebrate! Best part about it - the whole group + Aggie and Lulu will be back together for Grandma's 90th in September!
