a fair day.

last weekend found us at the la county fair.  we had gone to it last year and as soon as we walked onto the fairgrounds, mikey said, "hey, isn't this where i got my toy army gun a long, long time ago?"  the things he remembers still amazes me.  and the things he forgets (two minutes after i tell him) amazes me still more.

anyhow, we got to experience a little of everything at the fair...

we started off the day by letting mikey play a game and win his own prize.

and where he goes, she must immediately follow.  with a little help, a LOT of help, from daddy.

and where they go, this one must now follow too.  good thing everyone's a winner at the fishing game!

hooray...  three more stuffed animals to add to the tsai family menagerie.  did i mention that we're moving in less than a year?  just sayin'.

then we put the kids to work and had them do the family food shopping for the week.  a girl can dream, right?  heh heh, love how lauren's too short to look over the top of the cart, so she made do with her own lookout.

ralphs junior.  the kids loved this!

lauren took the job of putting her cart away very seriously.  even when the cart started rolling backwards into her.  she kept at it, trying to shove it into the other carts.  she didn't give up.  until finally her delinquent mommy took pity on her enough to put down the camera and come help her out.  but it was so darn cute to watch!  : p

settling down and getting ready to watch...

pig races!

and a duck-duck-duck-goose race!

before long, we found ourselves in this pink princess house where little girls could dress up and decorate their own princess crowns.  for a dollar a pop.

and like i said before, where the bigger ones go, she must invariably follow.  but she does like to keep it real with her dinosaur tat.

my girlie girls.  daddy did a good job decorating lauren's crown, no?

thankfully, the princess house didn't forget about the brothers who would be dragged in.  there was a corner full of knight dress-up gear for them, too.

we didn't ride hardly anything this year.  getting a family of five into this thing, for instance, would have cost pretty much an arm and a leg!

but lauren did manage to persuade her daddy to take her on the merry-go-round.

and where she goes, this one must invariably follow.  wait, isn't that backwards?  allie didn't notice at first when lauren and daddy slipped away to get on the carousel.  but she insisted on going too once she did notice.  and since i was still dealing with nausea, lucky daddy got to go on twice.

resting her tired dogs on what allie calls the "pah-pah-pah-pah chair".

not to worry, we did our fair share (get it?  nyuk, nyuk) of adventurous eating.  we warmed up with fresh-cut potato chips.

then we ventured into the chocolate-covered bacon realm.  and i started thinking going down this road may not have been such a good idea as i was beginning to not feel so good...

but on we must go!  right into this deep fried krispy kreme jelly donut/chicken patty sandwich.  ugh...

and on into this deep fried white castle burger.  one bite in and we knew a good thing was ruined.  (btw, you must know that the last two selections were all phil's doing.  i had no say in the matter as the kids and i were sitting in some shade waiting for daddy to come back with food and the above was what he presented us.)

topped off with two giant corndogs.

two street tacos and a torta later, and the fair food foray was done.  and so was i.

well, now we're good on fair adventures for another year.  see ya next year at the fair!  :)

labor day getaway.

i've been feeling a bit blue lately.  a bit discouraged and out of sorts.  a good bit nauseous.  a lot bit tired.  all of which i poured out to phil with tears of frustration last thursday night.

so phil, finding himself with the whole labor day weekend off, decided to whisk us all away for a short getaway.  to refresh and recharge the old batteries, if you will.  to renew the old outlook on life.  to get me out of my funk.  and you know what?  it worked!

hooray!  Vacation Phil is back!  :)

 phil booked us last-minute reservations for a double-room in carlsbad.  the kids love going on vacation and especially love staying in hotel rooms.  cuz jumping on the bed is completely allowed...

not to mention the luxury of drinking milk in bed while daddy goes back and forth multiple time to bring us all breakfast.

and getting to watch morning cartoons while drinking milk in bed doesn't hurt, either.

after we all finally got dressed and ready for the day (never before 10am it seems), we made our way to legoland.

it was pretty crowded that day, but not so crowded that mikey didn't get to ride his favorite ride there.

she was kinda disgruntled about not getting to drive a car again.

this time around, we thought it'd be fun to get caricatures drawn of the kids.  it took some convincing to get mikey to do it and he only agreed to sit there if i sat next to him the whole time.

i think it was worth it!  :)

and allie couldn't be convinced at all to do it.  until we found another booth with PINK PRINCESS drawings and a GIRL sketch artist.  then she was completely sold on the idea and was only too happy to sit still and smile her best princess smile while being drawn.

she kissed her picture immediately upon seeing it and thinks it's the best thing ever.

we decided to wait a couple years before getting one for lauren since it's pretty doubtful that she'd be willing to sit still long enough right now.

at lunchtime, allie immediately set to work drawing caricatures of her whole family.

not bad, eh?

and here's me, trying not to be sick.  and there's lauren, really enjoying her all-you-can-eat mac n cheese.

mikey's favorite activity of the day turned out to be racing lego cars.  daddy took him inside to help him build one and race it, while i (still feeling nauseous) sat outside with the girls.

allie kept me company while practicing her letters.  her next favorite activity besides drawing.

pretty low-key, but pretty fun legoland memories!

the next morning, i found my little monkey off in a corner by herself.  with these on.

trying on mommy's new flip-flops.  don't tell her they're a bit big on her though as she thinks they look great on her.  and i kinda have to agree.

we stopped to do a little outlet shopping before finally heading home.  which only resulted in...  pillow pets for one and all!  that darn commercial!  oh well, they are awfully soft and cuddly...  but see that little one on the end?  the one holding the ALL-WHITE polar bear?  the one i insisted on her NOT getting?  cuz it was ALL WHITE?  well, guess who won that particular battle?  the little stinker.

so now we're back refreshed from our little getaway and only wishing Vacation Phil could've stuck around a bit longer!

her first day.

so today allie embarked on her new adventure in pre-kindergarten.  it was a big day and she was soooo excited to start her new school.  but between nausea (which never seems to get easier no matter how many times i do this) and trying to get all three up, dressed, fed, and out the door on time, i didn't have too much time leftover to get sad about my middle baby going off to into the big wide world.  but i still had to make time for pictures of her big day!  :)

all dressed and ready for pre-k!  her brand new light-up shoes were the icing on the cake.

once we got to her school, we found her cubby where she stowed away her water bottle and hung up her jacket.  she was pretty happy about having her very own cubby.  it's all about the little things, you know.

next we got a quick picture with her new teacher, miss d.

all the other kids had congregated at the other side of the room where all the toys were, but allie was feeling a little too intimidated to join the big group.  so while she didn't cry (there were a few criers in the room), she decided to stay off on her own where she spotted a princess book.  i wasn't quite sure she was ready for me to leave yet, so i hovered just a bit.

meanwhile, i WAS quite sure this one was ready for me to leave her alone.  she blew me off as soon as we entered and made herself at home right away.  and yes, she is still in her pjs.  hey, we only get dressed on an as-needed basis.  : p

i was beginning to wonder how long i'd have to stay with allie.  she never said a word, but i knew she wasn't ready for me to go just yet.  but then, thank goodness, she spotted a drawing center with a large stack of paper and lovely markers in every color and suddenly felt right at home.  she sat herself down and got right to work.

"it's okay mommy, i'll be just fine."

and she was.  she had a great day and is looking forward to going back on friday!  aw, my big girl.  have i mentioned that i love this one?  cuz i do.  i really, really do.