California State Fair

Earlier this year we went to the county fair, and as we were leaving, we immediatley started talking about how much fun the state fair would be. This year the theme was Hollywood. There was a large exhibit hall filled with all sorts of movie memorabilia and information about the history of the movie industry in Hollywood. Sophia was proud to receive an Oscar for World's Greatest Daughter.

And here we are posing as Princess Lea and an adorable Ewok.
There was also an exhibit called Birds, Cats and Rats. Sophia had the chance to pet a hairless Norwegian rat, which was even creepier than a regular rat!
She really enjoyed looking at the baby birds, and she squealed with excitement when the chicks would scurry around their cage.
As we were trying to decide what to do next, some belly dancers were performing. Sophia was totally fascinated by them and protested loudly when we tried to move on to another exhibit. We decided to let her have her way, so we bought a beer and found a nice spot in the shade.

When Sophia tired of watching the dancers, we moved on to the agriculture portion of the fair. We saw some newborn cows and piglets, but we weren't lucky enough to watch any live births this time. Sophia said "hi" and "bye-bye" to each animal, which the other fair-goers thought was pretty cute.
This year they also had a great kids area that incuded boxes filled with dried corn for the kids to play in. Sophia would have played in there all day long if we had let her, but she wasn't really interested in playing with the other kids. The little girl in the lower picture pointed at Sophia and complained to her mother "Mommy, this one doesn't make noise!"

A trip to the fair wouldn't be complete without going to the petting zoo. Sophia is a pro at this now and she fearlessly went up to animals small and large and gave them pets on the back.


Last but not least, we went to the midway for some rides. Sophia had a great time and there weren't any tears shed.


After the rides, we had 2 tickets left. The only thing we could find that you could do with only 2 tickets is play the Goldfish game. The object of the game is to throw a ping pong ball into one of the many small goldfish bowls in the center of the booth. Sophia kept throwing the balls behind her back, so as Daddy was trying to show her how to throw it correctly, his ball actually landed in one of the bowls. Here is a picture of Sophia with her prize fish, which she named "Bubble":
I'm sorry to say that Bubble was with us for less then 48 hours before she passed on to fishy heaven, but hopefully she enjoyed the last days of her life with us. And if you know anybody who could use some fish food, we have a large bottle that was hardly used!

Ultimate Kiddie Pool

Those of you who have been to our home know that the main focal point of our backyard is a large Tuscany-style fountain. In the summer, it really doesn't require a whole lot of maintenance, but we admittedly have left it empty most of this summer. Last week, our internet was out, so I finally got off of my lazy behind and got the fountain up and running again. I instantly wondered why on earth I bought an inflatable kiddie pool when the fountain totally makes the ultimate kiddie pool!
Needless to say, our little water baby loved it from the moment she first stepped in. She immediately put her hands in the water spouts.


She then walked back and forth several times squealing with excitement.
She thought she should share some of the fun with Trent too, so she gave him a couple good splashes. At this point, she was feeling pretty comfortable in her new pool, so she put her head under the spouts...
...then her feet..... ....and then her mouth!!!

So now whenever we go into the backyard, she whines and fusses, and tries her hardest to climb into the fountain.....and I can't blame her one bit!