Another day, another park

Hesston has so many parks -- so many that we kind of forgot about Hickory Park all summer. This morning we went for the first time since Max was a baby, and the kids had a great time exploring all of the "new" equipment.

All in a day's work

We shopped for birthday party invitation supplies this morning

and bid a friend farewell on her last night in Hesston this evening with an ice cream party.

Zoo Trip

Natalie was playing pretend zoo this morning when I looked at Chris and said, "What if we went to the real zoo today?". We couldn't think of a reason why not to go, so we hurried to get ready and headed to Wichita for a fun morning.

Natalie's favorite animals were the flamingos and the lions, which was no surprise because most days she requests to wear something pink so that she looks like a flamingo, and she sleeps with a stuffed Simba from The Lion King. Max kept signing for "more" animals. I didn't intentionally take a picture of him asking for more, but I'm so glad that I accidentally caught it while they were looking at the flamingos.

Natalie's doll, Eleanor, also got to look at some of the animals.

Dillon Nature Center

We spent our morning in Hutchinson playing at Dillon Nature Center with my friend Beth and her kids. The nature center has a great play area with a little waterfall, sand, water pumps, instruments, an outdoor kitchen, and more. Natalie's favorite was the big "teacher board". Here she is teaching me about H's.

Snack time!

We ended our trip with lunch at Qdoba. We had never been there before, but it definitely gets our seal of approval! Natalie kept saying over and over how good the food was. Max didn't eat much more than applesauce, but he seemed pleased as well.

State Fair

We spent the morning at the state fair with what seemed like every other Kansas resident, but the 70 degree temperature made even the opening weekend crowd seem pleasant.

Natalie has been talking about seeing "stinky pigs" all week, so we were excited to see these brand new, 12 hour old piglets and their poor, tired mama. 

The kids were so intrigued by seeing, hearing, and petting the animals that, to them, usually only live in books and songs. Without a doubt I would say the animal barns were their favorite part of the fair. 

They also loved getting to be "animal doctors". Max was originally in the stroller, but he insisted on getting out when he saw that Natalie was getting to wear a doctor's coat and stethoscope. 

We ran into our friend Abbey who just so happens to be Miss Rodeo Kansas. 

And we ended our trip with a train ride around the fair grounds. 

Another fun fair trip in the books!

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Future Wildcats

We took a miniature football player and cheerleader to the first K-State game of the season on Saturday. We all had a great time watching the Wildcats and our favorite Classy Cat, my cousin Ashley. Natalie and Max didn't really know what to think about all of the noise and people at first, but they quickly warmed up once the popcorn and snow cones came on the scene.

This family tradition is one of our favorites. It's never easy -- this particular trip was marked with short naps and a trip to the first aid station -- but the fun and memories are always worth it.

Hat Day

Fun with Benjamin

Benjamin came over to play for a bit this morning while Lacy went to the dentist. The boys had the best time together, and Natalie had the best time being the mother hen.

This first picture is here mostly because I feel the need to document Max putting his sunglasses on his head.