KSF Review

I couldn't help myself....

This was last year's post about going to the fair. The video is from the previous year, when Dev was about 16 months old.

In 2009 she was 39" tall, this year 43"!

According to my notes, she also chose a white unicorn last year. Weird.

http://devin4fun.blogspot.com/2009/08/kentucky-state-fair-2009.html

Life's Not All Rainbows and Unicorns

Except when it is!! Today was Kentucky State Fair day!

(Devin chose this interesting rainbow unicorn on our way out)

Renting this wagon was a bargain at any price. We had a lot of ground to cover. Notice her pale skin, earlier this morning.

Is there anything better than cotton candy and lemonade for a mid-morning snack?

At the KSF, you can see many (many) things you might not see anywhere else on the planet.

And, certainly not all in one place.

Take for instance, this giant 2-story balloon octopus.

Or, dancing bears.

There's always the Ugly Lamp Contest.

I think this was Cleopatra.

There was a long line for a Donut Burger. Not that I would have tried one anyway...gross.

Notice it's getting hotter....

We saved Dev's favorite part for last, the rides!

I love stuffed animal prizes! Dev was happy when she won a little Nemo animal:)

By the time our $25.00 in tickets was exhausted...so was Dev. The sun felt like it was baking us, even with sunscreen. Little miss bow, wouldn't hear of a hat:(

She said, "It was the funnest day ever."

We beat the heat on our way out with the Make Your Own Slush booth. She chose Lime/Orange. Matt added grape to ours. Very yummy, not too sweet.

Busy, Busy Busy

Yesterday:

• 5:45 am-Up with Dev early (again). She's adjusting to the school routine I guess.

• 8:45 am-Drove Dev to school. Forgot beloved backpack...crisis averted when I McGuyvered a solution. My tennis bag served as her backpack. *sigh of relief* (Noted Dev said her "ear hurt")

• Worked until 11:30 am, just enough time to pick her up and get home for lunch.

• Dev's still complaining about her ear-she's never had an infection & I thought I could see some wax or something. Called Dr.

• 4:00 pm arrived at the Dr. She found one ear so clogged with wax, she couldn't see the eardrum. By 4:30 we had all the wax out and a report of perfect ear...another crisis solved!

• Devin insists on going to tennis with Matt & I, even though she's super tired. We have a great time until she falls off the chair and does a face plant. Cue bloody nose.

• She's out like a light at 7:45

• 2:15 am-Really loud crashing sound from Devin's room. I race upstairs to find her lying sideways in bed, with her lower half completely on her side table. Her long legs knocked the lamp to the floor...and she slept through it all:)

A Walk in the Park

After days and weeks of 90-100 degree weather, it seems the worst of the summer heat has finally departed. (It was the hottest summer on record in Kentucky) The ultra-hot weather made for a perfect summer at the the pool...we rarely used our swim towels, as 100+ degrees meant we dried off in a few minutes of walking around! It also made doing anything else outside miserable, if not impossible.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. Perfect for a walk in the park!

She insisted on wearing a headband AND a bow.

4 Day Fours-Day One

Yesterday was Dev's 1st day back to preschool. She was excited and happy....quite a change from the past. School is Tuesday-Friday 8:45-12 noon. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around having her gone so much.

Her class has 10 kids and she knows 5 of them from last year.

It's Miss Karen (her new teacher)!

The only issue was her sleeping last night. After bath time, she fell asleep in about 30 seconds and slept soundly until 4:15 am. She said she had a bad dream and has been up ever since.

It's going to be a looooooong day.

It's Gonna Be Like Fajitas....

After a few seconds of camera shyness....Cooking With Devin is a go!

I'm not sure if "Cake Soup" will have the broad appeal most cooking shows are looking for.

(Can you tell we watch a lot of cooking shows around here?)

The Catch Up

Yesterday, I remembered to switch the "Yo Gabba Gabba" 2010 calendar to August. It was weird to realize the summer has come and gone in the blink of an eye. We still have August, but Dev starts back to her 4 morning preschool on the 17th....so our dog days are numbered.

My poor camera is still in the shop. I'm lost without it and completely unmotivated to blog. But, I'm not giving up my project to document our journey raising Devin!

So...At 4 years and 4 months, Devin is growing and changing in such interesting ways. Changes are more subtle now, but they're there. Today she said, "Mama. I want to tell you about riding a bike. You pedal fast with your legs like this....then you stop your legs and rest....that's called toasting."

Yesterday, before 8:00 am I answered no less than 25 questions.

"What is gravity?"

"Do bees have eyes?"

"Where do bees sleep?"

One accomplishment for the summer was attending "camp" at her preschool with absolutely NO transition issues. She actually seemed much for relaxed and happy with the change. She took her first class field trip to the U of L Planetarium on a "real" school bus.

We also took her on a "Date Night." She's always wanted to go with us on one of our Date Night's...to a "fancy" restaurant. So we dressed her up and took her to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Luckily, RC is perched atop a relatively tall building and you ride up a glass elevator...Charlie and Chocolate Factory anyone? She was welcomed with open arms by the manager, who seated us in a comfortable booth. She. Loved. It. We ate and talked and walked on the balcony. We ordered dessert (which screwed my weight loss for that week) and she was thrilled. In the car home, she asked if we "could go back tomorrow?"

Also, we joined my tennis club's pool and signed Dev up for private swimming lessons. She hasn't spent any time in the pool until this summer and LOVES the water. However, not being able to swim (at all) makes us all nervous and she really wants to know how to go underwater. I'm actually impressed with her determination around swimming. We tried explaining how to blow bubbles, hold your breath etc....but she always ended up with water up her nose or even in her lungs. She damn near drown in front of my face, she's so unsure of what to do in the water.

As luck would have it, the captain of my tennis team's daughter is one of the swim instructors and perfect for Devin:) She's patient and fun...and good at calming Dev's nerves. We're working together to help Dev conquer this challenge. I'm 100% against forcing the issue and letting her scream, struggle and cry for 30 minutes. Apparently, plenty of parents are fine with that as I witnessed today. It breaks my heart to hear a child begging for help and struggling to breath...the Mom thought it was funny:(

When I was pregnant with Devin, I gained nearly 50 lbs overall. After breastfeeding/pumping, I lost 10 lbs maybe? When she was about 18 months, I joined Weight Watchers On-Line and lost 32 lbs! The past winter was cold and dreary...I gained almost 15 back. My ongoing obsession with tennis helps me stay active and I found my new motivation....winning at 4.5. It's the highest level played in our city and I've never won a match. Most of the women at 4.5 played in college (or could have) and are in great shape. SO, I set a goal to lose those 15 lbs by Labor Day and 10 more after that. Maybe then, I can start hanging in those tough 4.5 singles matches!

So, far I've lost 11.6 lbs with 4 weeks until Labor Day!