State Fair Time!

As always, we had a blast at the State Fair of Texas! The weather was beautiful, the fried food was sinful and the company was great as always with Pops and Nunie joining Keith, me and the kids once again for our annual adventure.

What's for breakfast on fair day? A funnel cake of course!

Time to get measured for the rides! My have they grown!

Nunie joins Madison on her first ride. 

Payson makes like a race car driver.

Hayden braves the ladybug ride with her hands up in the air for the entire ride!

The kids ride their first-ever roller coaster!

Back to the Midway for some games.

First up: water guns, of course - a Cooper family favorite for the last 30+ years!

The competition is ON!

I can't believe our brave kids rode the Pirate Ship! Hayden said she was laughing but that looks like an expression of terror to me!

Madison has always typically had a look of indifference when she is on rides but she is quite adventurous and talked about how much she loved it afterwards. Payson was truly frightened... obviously!

All done and all smiles!

Hayden, Payson and Madison pose with 60-year-old Big Tex who sadly later burned down due to an electrical short. We're counting on big and better for next year - after all, that is the Texas way to do things!

Wow, now that is a lot of Fritos!

Time for Little Hands on the Farm!

The kids working the "field."

After the dog show we went to the Backyard Circus where Madison got to participate as a butterfly in the show.

The girls took their first log ride!

Good times!

When I Grow Up

The kids drew pictures at school this week of what they want to be when they grow up. This week's photos tie in perfectly with their answers!

Hayden: When I grow up I want to be a "Princess Ballerina."

Our sweet friend, Elle, turned 5 and had her very own Cinderella carriage pick up her guests in the neighborhood.

Hayden and Madison were shocked when they first spotted it through the windows and were thrilled to be escorted in a real Cinderella carriage! This is good training for our future princess!

Later that week the kids attended an art class with a few of their friends where they got to paint princess and knight castles.

Best buds Payson and Ryan.

Hayden working hard on her masterpiece.

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Madison: When I grow up I want to be a "Zookeeper."

With the weather finally in the 80's, it was a great week to take the kids to the zoo. Here's Madison kissing a penguin through the glass.

It's hard to believe that Emperor Penguins are the same size as my kids!

Madison was delighted when Sue came up to talk to her about what it's like to be a Zookeeper and what kind of education you need (a Biology degree vs. Zoology, etc). Madison stood there frozen, listening to her for over five minutes - I've never seen her so attentive and still. She was really interested!

Checking out the elephants in the Wilds of Africa exhibit.

Feeding the young Giraffe, Jamie.

Future world travelers?

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Payson: When I grow up I want to be a "Policeman." 

What, I don't look serious enough with my ice cream mustache to pull it off?

Family Fun

Keith and I took the kids to see the Soap Box Derby competition. The kids got a kick out of watching the silly and creative cars going down the race course and various obstacles. They even got to climb in the cars after each one's competition.

Sweet Madison was SO tired that day. Keith and I were cracking up at her sleeping like this and it made her wake up just enough to take a tiny bite of banana with her eyes closed just before conking back out.

We oftentimes rotate taking the kids to various events and activities in an effort to not always have to buy five tickets everywhere we go, to help improve our experiences (less kids=less fighting) and, most importantly, to ensure we get one-on-one time with the kids. This time I took Payson to see the Cirque Du Soleil show called Kooza.

Several of his cousins were there too. Not surprisingly, he loved the show!

Rain! In Dallas! The kids wanted to know why it was so dark during the day and where the sun was! Poor things forgot about cloud cover after not having seen it for so long.

On the way home that evening we spotted this beautiful rainbow and, despite how very big it was, we could see its beginning and end - we just couldn't fit it all in our camera frame! Here is Madison admiring God's promise.

 On the flip side, Payson was taking his own pictures.

My sweet friend Melissa accompanied me to the Metro Cooking and Entertaining Show where Paula Deen was making an appearance and doing a cooking demo. She was a hoot!

After the show Melissa and I were ready to go home and try out Paula's chicken and dumplings recipe!

This week in chapel at school Hayden and Madison went up on stage to recite the bible verse of the week.

Madison and her friend Ryann received the Fruit of the Spirit chapel award for Love. Way to go girls!

Hello Preschool, Goodbye Summer!

First day of preschool!

Besties.

Daddy had the privilege of taking the kids to school on their first day!

The kids are going to school 3 days a week and every once in a while I get all 9 lunches prepared ahead of time!

Before we welcomed school, we finished off the summer with a bang. We bowled with friends...

...took a few ice skating lessons...

...shot some rockets...

...stayed inside and built tents to beat the heat...

 ...and we joined some friends at Chuck E Cheese's where Payson hit the jackpot!

This month the kids also made their very first stuffed animals at a Build-A-Bear birthday party. Hello Kitty is all the rage in this house these days!

And we finally got to meet Mr. James Marshall, the son of one of my best friends, Katie. Such. A. Cutie!

First Lemonade Stand

For Labor Day we decided to help the kids have their very first Lemonade Stand! The timing was perfect as we had just developed a family allowance system a few days prior. 

First up was squeezing out the juice from some fresh lemons to help supplement the lemonade.

Then the kids made their own homemade signs to help bring in customers. They really got into it, writing it all on their own and drawing lemons on their signs.

All set up and ready to go!

Now it was time to bring in the customers! It was such a great opportunity to teach the kids about sales, money and dealing with success and disappointment.

The kids were so excited each time somebody stopped. They would all run to get the lemonade or run to greet the customer and collect the money so it took some guidance from Keith and I to help the kids balance out their tasks.

Ahhh, with their hard work done, it was time to enjoy their own refreshing glass of lemonade. Cheers!