Pioneer Days!

On Labor Day weekend, the Pioneer Days Festival was in town.  When I heard about it, I thought that it was probably something we wouldn't be up for ... so I didn't mention it to Katie Anne.  However, I saw pictures of Lily and Bear having a great time at the fair on Vanessa's blog, so I showed them to Saunders and asked him what he thought.  We decided that Katie Anne would love to go and ride all the rides, so we decided to make a go of it - even with a two week old baby!  We're bold - or crazy!  You make the call.  :)

So, we invited Saunders's family to go with us to Pioneer Days, and VJ took us up on the offer.  (Carlton and Trisha also stopped by with her family just before we left.)  After our Labor Day breakfast, we headed over for an afternoon of fun at Pioneer Days!  There were lots of rides - some for little kids, some for bigger kids - and the traditional carnival games for prizes.  There were also some tents and booths with craft items that I would've loved to look at, but we didn't have time - which is surprising considering that we stayed longer than I thought we would. 

We stayed for two hours at Pioneer Days, but we spent that whole time going from ride to ride with Katie Anne!  She absolutely loved it!  She rode almost every ride for little kids and a few for bigger kids - as long as they passed the parental safety test.  (Carnival rides make us a bit nervous, but most of these were low, slow, and safe.)  Daddy helped her in and out of the rides and rode some of them with her - including the big ferris wheel, which was a lot more scary than even they expected!  That thing went high and fast!  Her favorite ride - by far - was the Dragon Roller Coaster.  She rode it about 5 times - once, even staying in the car to ride it three times in a row!  She wanted to ride tons of the big kid, wild rides, but we had to say no to those ... and she didn't meet the height requirements anyway.  She's a total daredevil, though!  Here are some pictures of Pioneer Days!

Katie Anne and VJ after visiting the ticket booth:

Showing off her unlimited pass - thanks, VJ!

Baby Saunders kicked it in the Maya sling the whole time:

Daddy and Mommy had fun, too:

Katie Anne's first ride was the swings:

She wanted to ride in Dumbo on the animal ride:

She was not a fan of the fish ride - the metal was hot, so she was barely holding on:

KA and Daddy on the circus train:

Her favorite - the Dragon Roller Coaster:

SO happy!

On the giant slide with Daddy:

Riding the big ferris wheel:

Baby Saunders was excellent and slept the whole time.  However, after two hours, some little pitiful person had had enough:

Katie Anne had enough time to play a game and win a prize on our way out of the fair.  Of course, she picked the giant Dora magic wand!

We were all very hot and very tired after we headed home, but it was a fun family outing - and Katie Anne had such a super time!

The Duck Derby Festival

On Saturday, it was time for the actual Duck Derby Festival.  We headed back over to check everything out in the morning.  It was very fun - there were lots of sponsors, vendors, and things for kids to do - but it was sooo hot and humid.  We stayed about an hour, checking things out and letting Katie Anne do some activities.  She loved the princess bouncy house, pony ride, and her balloon duck the best!  We left a little after 12:00 to go get some lunch at Moe's (they had lots of food vendors at the Duck Derby, but it was so hot that I couldn't eat out there), so we didn't get to see the actual release of the ducks down the river at 2:30 pm.  We still had a lot of fun at the Duck Derby!

High-fiving the duck mascot

Spinning the Chic-fil-a prize wheel

Choosing a duck to win a prize

Showing off her balloon duck - she chose this color herself, much to the surprise of the clown making the animals!  He said kids rarely choose the brown balloons, but I guess KA was trying to stick to more natural duck colors.  :)

Pony ride time!

We need to go into the bouncy house business - this five minutes of fun costs $4!

CPS Fall Festival!

This morning, Cartersville Primary School hosted its annual Fall Festival.  This is the big fundraiser for the year for the CPS PTC, and they've been having this festival since Saunders and I were students at CPS (and probably before that).  It is always a big, big deal.  Classes make baskets for auctioning off, each class runs a booth for games, and there's a grill-out lunch.  I missed last year's festival - we were in Arizona - so, I was excited to take Katie Anne this year and see all the fun!

Katie Anne was so pumped for the "Fall Fiesta" as she called it ... too much Dora.  :)  We got into our best fall play wear (I really wanted her to wear her bishop dress, but I knew that wasn't practical for game playing... and thank goodness I let my practical side override my fashion side, because there were bouncy houses), and off we went!

First, we stopped by the bank to see Daddy.  Poor Saunders - he had to work this Saturday and missed the Fall Festival!  He did stop by on his way home, right as we were leaving, and he got to see it.

Katie Anne and Daddy check out his crowded desk -

lots of work to do!

Then, it was off to the Fall Festival. 
Katie Anne is eyeing all those games to play!

So much fun to be had!  Katie Anne loved the velcro toss and actually stuck two of the five toss balls to the velcro pads!

Then, it was off to the little bobbing for pumpkins tub...

Bowl...

And walk away without evening looking,
because you're just that awesome.

Here goes the winning toss...

right into the left side pocket!

The putting was a little more challenging...

But the fishing was right up her alley!

Then, it was outside for fun on the kindergarten playground!

I can't believe how big our little girl is getting... look at her eating this slice of pizza all by herself like a big kid!

And, she's outgrown her fear of the Chic-fil-A cow... anyone remember this scene last Christmas?  Well, she has totally gotten over it and loves the cow now!  She's getting so big!

You've got to love the "Little Canes Photo Studio"!

We had a great time at the CPS Fall Festival!

The Renaissance Festival

On Saturday morning, we went to the Renaissance Festival. Our friend Martin was coming up for the weekend from Florida with his girlfriend Alana, and he wanted some friends to meet at the Renaissance Festival. So, we headed down to meet everyone when the fair opened.

When we arrived, it was pouring down rain! Absolutely a downpour... so we sat in our car to wait it out for about thirty minutes. Even though the rain stopped about 11 am, it was still soppy wet to walk around in the festival with a two-year old and a stroller. We got very muddy, but that was okay - we still had a lot of fun! I didn't want to bring my camera inside in case it started pouring again, but our friend James had his camera, so these pictures are from him.

Katie Anne loved the jousting, the bird show and walking through the bird habitat, and looking at the little dragon puppets. She did not like it at all when the kissing wenches came by and smacked kisses on the cheeks of all the guys. Katie Anne was not a fan of those "two princesses" (as she called them) kissing her daddy! After a lunch of giant turkey leg, fish and chips, we headed home for much needed naps for everyone! (The Sleepy Eating video was made on the way home on Saturday afternoon, and Saunders and I were just as tired as Katie Anne was.)

We had a fun time and were glad to see Martin and Alana, James, and all the Gomisch clan. We wish the weather had been a little nicer, but it was still a great time. Can't wait to go again next year!

The Duck Derby

Today was the Advocates for Children's annual Duck Derby fundraiser. People buy ducks, which are numbered and released in the Etowah River in the afternoon, and prizes are given for the ducks that win. (Even the last duck to cross the finish line gets a prize - a gym membership!) We didn't have any ducks in the hunt this year, but Katie Anne, Gigi, and I went to the Duck Derby fair this morning. There were lots of things for Katie Anne to do - a bouncy house, a petting zoo, pony rides, games, etc. The damp weather did keep the crowds down a little bit, but we still had a fun time checking it all out!