How Much Fun Can We Cram Into One Day?

So what do you do when you have been sick on the couch for 2 whole days?  I couldn't really do anything.  It was rough.  I haven't been that sick in a long time.  Good thing I was so sick because that left me a lot of time to sit and talk to insurance people!  I still don't have that all figured out, but I am trusting that God will take control of that situation!  So, Saturday morning comes around and I will just say that is positively no sleeping in at our house.  I think my phone rang by 7:30 that morning and the other kids don't sleep past 7 a.m  This is a good thing for when school starts....but I was sick and just wanted to sleep.  Okay, anyways, when I woke up at the crack of dawn on Saturday I felt better.  Not 100% better, but better enough to actually do something.  And why not cram as much as you can in one day when you are just getting over being really sick, right?  Ha!  

We started the day by working on a puzzle that the Axtman's brought us back from the Mall of America.
This was a 500 piece puzzle and the pieces were tiny!  The kids worked on the faces and I started on the
border.  Daddy sat down and helped find lots of pieces we couldn't find!  Some kids lost interest....some didn't
But we finished it!

 Then we headed out to have lunch at Auntie Dawn's work.  She works at a hospital and the kids have been asking to go to her work to eat.  Why you ask?  Well, they have a whole cafeteria of food that they like to pile up on top of their trays.  Their eyes are WAY bigger than there stomachs there!  Auntie Dawn used to be a manager at McDonald's and we would visit her there too.  Now at McDonald's they always got cool toys, but I think they like going to the hospital more!  (On our mad rush in to get our food....we forgot to grab the camera....so we have no pictures of eating with Auntie Dawn, sadly :(


Then it was straight off to the fair.  Every year Dan and I talk about taking the kids to State Fair.  It happens to run at that same time of the Ozaukee county fair.  We have done the state fair before, but by the time we all pay to get in and then for whatever else we might want to do, we have spent a small fortune.  The Ozaukee County fair is free. Yup, I said FREE!  It has a lot of the same stuff that the state fair has, but just on a smaller scale.  Plus, we really don't do the rides or food anyways...so my kids don't really know the difference.  It also isn't as big as the state fair so we don't have to hear complaining about how much walking we have to do!  My mom , sister-in-law, and her kids met us at the fair.  We started off by feeding the animals.  Camels, sheep, goats, and whatever else they put in there!

You pay $1 for cups filled with carrots and some nasty looking things.  The kids always have a blast doing this.  There are always certain goats that are very pushy and want all the food.  

Next we headed over to the rabbit and chicken barn.  My Molly always falls in love with a rabbit and wants to get one.  We have tried to bunnies before and both have successfully gone to heaven while in our care.  We are not really good at the bunny thing!  

 My mom led us over to a tent where there was a dog show going on.  Molly, Sadie, Abbie, and Kenadie got called on to stage to be helpers.  Gavin was bummed cause he didn't get picked.  I guess his shirt and shorts were not as cute as the girl's dresses!

 There was a horse show going on as well.  The kids enjoyed watching this, but it was really hard to hear the announcer and we weren't too sure what was going on!

 Auntie Angela was so kind and held Lanie most of the time.  She loved to look at all of the animals!

 Okay, this was supposed  to be a picture of the kids with cows behind them.  I guess the cows were not in the "picture taking mood"

 If you know Abbie, you know she LOVES pigs!  She took her time looking at each and every one.

 I am pretty sure her and the pig are having a "moment" here!  She wants to be a pig farmer when she grows up.  To each his own, right?  I mean how many moms can say that one of their daughters is a pig farmer?!

We looked throughout the 4-H buildings, did some crafts, and had a few snacks.  I had a small anxiety attack because I couldn't find Dan, Lanie, and Gavin.  He usually doesn't brave it with the two little ones and when I couldn't find them, I got a bit worried.  Finally I found them...they had wondered over to watch race cars!  Whew!

 We ended the trip to the fair with a pony ride!   Oma treated all the girls and Gavin to a pony ride.  Pony rides at the Ozaukee County fair were $3.  I believe pony rides at the state fair are $7 each.  Yikes!  This is always the highlight for the kids!  It got to be dinner time and we opted to eat a McDonald's for dinner instead of spending a small fortune at the fair!  Uncle Brian even came to meet us there!

After McDonald's we headed to BayshoreBayshore.  I "happened" to have packed the kids suits along in case they wanted to play in the fountains there.  The kids were so excited to do this!

 I spent too much time in the store getting my make up so I missed a lot of them playing.  Dan was a trooper and sat with them.  It got dark out really fast and the kids got cold as soon as the sun went down.

 I thought the pictures turned out really cool when the lights came on and it got a bit darker out!  Their hair is a mess and their lips are blue, but they were willing to smile!

 I thought this was a cute idea to have them turn around....Dan thought it was dumb.  Notice how Gavin isn't listening?  Just thought I'd point that out!

Now look at Mommy....hmmm notice how someone isn't listening again?  I do think that the picture turned out cute, though!

We had a very fun filled day!  Do you think any of the kids fell asleep on the way home?  Nope!  These are the kind of days that I love.  Even though it might be a lot of work for us and we are pooped when we get home, we know we are doing it for the kids and making memories with them!  Summer has gone by too fast (and oh so slow as well!)  and we are trying to squeeze every last bit out of it!