Instead of throwing a hand grenade

(Yeh, this is going to be a long entry, but there are lots of pictures, so that makes it OK, right? Right.)

I need a weekend from my weekend--it was non-stop. I was joking with Tony about how it seems like different events and things-to-do all pile on at once, and next weekend, we'll probably be bored out of our minds with nothing to do.

Friday night was a ladies' fellowship at church. I rushed home from work, spent about 15 minutes with Ari (most of that time was spent coaxing her to eat), and then rushed out the door, arriving late. I had planned to make some homemade brownies--the turtle kind--but with the long ER visit on Thursday night, it didn't happen, and I brought store-bought cookies instead. I was a bit bummed, because I'd really been looking forward to those brownies. I had a nice time at the fellowship, and when I got home, the guys were all still there, playing a board game.

Saturday morning we didn't get to sleep in at all, because we had another church thing to do first thing in the morning. After that, we hurried to The Big E to meet Dave and Jess. Well, "hurried" doesn't seem to be the right word, since we were stuck in traffic for over an hour--and that stretch of road should have taken us all of 10 minutes to drive, under normal circumstances. But once we were there, we got some food and got a chance to catch our breath.

(By the way, if you're wondering what in the world a Big E is, it's short for the Eastern States Exposition, a huge fair that comes around every year for a couple weeks--it's the biggest fair in the Northeast. It's your classic kind of fair--there are competitions with all kinds of livestock and produce, things like that. Plus there is a ton of other stuff--hundreds of vendors selling everything you can imagine, all sorts of greasy and unhealthy food, a different house for each New England state that shows off what that state is known for, a circus, all sorts of crazy exhibits, a parade, and other various forms of entertainment [even some big acts, like certain country singers, that you can pay extra for]. We usually end up going once or twice with different groups of people.)

We offered Ari some bites of our food, but she refused, and munched on a graham cracker. This is how she gets comfortable in her stroller.



The highlight of Ari's day was visiting the petting zoo. She absolutely loved the animals, but the donkeys were her favorite, since she could get close to them and they didn't move much (the goats wanted nothing to do with her once they realized she didn't have any food). Here she is meeting the donkey for the first time.



She wasted no time in getting better acquainted.



She decided she wanted to jump right in and see the donkey a little closer.



So Tony distracted her by helping her feed him instead.



I'm telling you, this child is fearless. I have a feeling that stitch in her forehead will be the first of many, as my little daredevil explores the world.

Dave and Jess left shortly after the petting zoo, and we had to cut our day short too in order to attend yet another church event in the evening--a bonfire. It was a nice night for it--chilly, but not too bad. Ari was pretty good, too, considering what a long day it had been. She spent most of the time walking walking walking, and I am beginning to understand just how tiring it is to chase after a toddler. The thing is, when she starts to walk away, half the time she'll turn around and come back to you with no prompting, and the other half, she'll just keep going. And since you never know what she's going to do, you've got to stay no more than a few steps behind her.

Sunday was church as usual, and then Greg and Wayne took Pete out for lunch and then back to our apartment to hang out, while we went to meet Matt, Kristin and Nicholas at The Big E. They had already been there for a couple hours when we got there, so we took some time to relax and let the kids out of the strollers. Nick entertained himself by trying to eat the grass, and when he wasn't allowed to do that, he decided to just rip it up and throw it instead.



He was content to sit pretty still, while Ari was on the move from the moment her feet touched the ground. But once he noticed her dashing all over the place, he had to follow her.



She has absolutely no qualms about just taking off, whether or not she knows if one of us is nearby. I am dreading the next couple of years--I just know she is going to be one of those kids who dashes off unexpectedly in the split second I turn my eyes away. She also has her daddy's personality--she makes friends wherever she goes. So even when she walks away from us, and turns around to find herself staring into the eyes of a stranger, instead of freaking out, she smiles slyly and puts on her most charming act. She is going to be a handful, this one.

We attempted to get the kids to pose for a couple pictures, and, not surprisingly, we were barely successful. At first, Tony tried hold them. Nick immediately tried to get fresh with Ari.



Then we got them both to look up and look somewhat pleasant. (And you can probably guess that they were gone a split second after this picture was taken.)



So we decided to try having them sit by themselves. And Nick decided to try eating Ari's arm...



And this was the final result of that pose. Kristin was putting Nick's arm around Ari, but I didn't even wait for her to get out of the way before snapping the picture. I've learned that there's no point waiting for the perfect shot--just snap a bunch of candid shots and hope that one or 2 come out decent.



Another time when we stopped pressing on through the throngs of people to take a little breather, Ari and Nick put on a little show for us. She spied his pacifier and decided that she needed to have it. He was a little put off by this.



But she ignored him, and persisted until she had it in her hands. Nick made a polite attempt to get it back.



We stuck her pacifier in her mouth, just to keep her from putting his in her mouth. Nick was looking a little worried at this point.



He finally decided that sharing time was over, and reclaimed his precious binky.



Ari, not at all fazed by that, immediately tried to get it back. But Nick held his ground this time--no more Mr. Nice Guy.



We supplied Cheerios as a distraction, and Ari was kind enough to share them with Nick. Yes, she actually fed him.



Nick passed out in his stroller, and Matt and Kristin left shortly after that. Tony and I stayed for a while, and took Ari to the circus. It started at 7, and her usual bedtime is between 7:30 and 8, so we weren't sure how she'd be. She had her moments where she whined or squirmed to be let down, but overall, she did really well sitting still in a show that lasted for an hour. She really loved the act with all the dogs doing tricks--no surprise there. When we got outside, it was chilly, so we put her jacket on her, laid her in the stroller, and tucked a blanket around her. In a matter of minutes, she was asleep. We walked around for a little while more, then headed home.

We were pretty good with not spending a whole lot of money--well, besides food. There are so any vendors there that it can get really tempting to buy stuff. We got a couple of "flameless candles"--basically, they're LED lights that are shaped like a pillar candle (they even have a wax coating) and flicker like a candle. They change colors too. We thought they would be perfect as nightlights in Ari's room. There are no available, visible outlets in her room, so plugging something in isn't really an option. We've been using a small lamp with a low-wattage bulb, but it was still too bright. These candles work perfectly, though--and the flickering light is so soothing. I want to steal one for our room.

So that was my weekend. Oh, wait, did I mention I got a last-minute freelance project on Friday? Well, I did. It only took me about 2 hours total, but that time was all chopped up into little bits, as I brought the laptop with me to church on Sunday and worked on it before and after church, as well as in the car. I was also supposed to get my self-evaluation for work done, too, but my boss was gracious enough to let me put it off another day (especially since she hasn't finished her evaluation of me yet). So my busy-ness isn't over yet. But the season premiere of Heroes is on tonight, and I am not missing out on that, even if I have to watch it on the DVR after it's over (which would be the smart choice, since I can then fast-forward commercials and it won't take as much time to watch). I can sleep when I'm dead, right?

Jack Handey QOTD:

If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them.