State Fair 2007, Day Two

Jared and I finally made it out to the fair last night! We realized this was our last annual fair date without a babe in tow. As we walked around, we were thinking about how much more fun the fair will become with a child to enjoy all the sounds, colors and attractions. Going to the fair with my family is one of my favorite childhood memories. Jared and I are very excited to make fun memories with our beautiful children too.
Here is the story of our night in pictures:
Waiting for the free shuttle bus



On the bus headed to the 2007 State Fair. Yah Baby!

First stop: CHEESE CURDS!!! Priorities, priorities!

I just had to stop and get my picture with this charming NEON GREENASAURUS!

And of course Jared had to stop and get his picture with this charming RED VIPOR! (Sounds like we are really into the reptiles, eh?)

We ran into my cousin Brian and his family: Brian, Adrianna, Linette, Audrey(in front). It was really good to see them! We were able to sit and catch up for about ten minutes. Then we were off to make a quick pit stop by the Air Force area...

...where Jared found this F16! Swift!

Then we went to meet up with Gary and Nathan. The first order of business was of course to EAT! Jared and I split a delicious reuben from Schumakers (sp?), Gary had some spicy sausage and peppers, and we all devoured a yummy blooming onion! Yum-o!

After meandering through the Miracle Birth center, and downing about five glasses of chocolate milk at the Milk Booth, we headed over to the Fish 'N Chips stand for a visit. Jared looks like a little boy, leaning into the booth on his tip-toes. Let's face it, he is a little boy!!

We had to get our picture by the Fish Stand. There is just too much history not to!

We finished up our evening with a malts from the Dairy Building! Jared got Strawberry Rhubarb, and I got chocolate. YUMMY!

We were both SO READY to go home at that point. So we walked back toward the gate, making a quick stop at the saltwater taffy stand (one of Jared's favorite traditions), and then headed home, exhausted. Boy oh boy, being pregnant really takes the life outta ya (ha ha, actually it really puts life in ya! Haha!).

Awesome

I have this new pregnancy complex, where I wake up in the middle of the night, and my body thinks "Ahh! A brand new day! Time to be up and about!"

Problem is, it is freakin 3AM!!

So here I sit at my computer, wanting desperately to be entertained, but strangely enough NO ONE has updated their blogs since I checked them at 11pm last night. Weird? Where are all the other people with a complex who sit awake at all hours of the night with nothing better to do than update their blogs?!?

Not tired ooooone single bit.

Okay, I'm gonna go pet Bumper. And get a drink. And look at the cat (and think about how much the poop it just laid STINKS). Night all.

2007 State Fair, Day One

Emma and I went to the fair last night to have some quality nanny-baby time! It was a blast! We started off the evening by visiting Jared and the Fish 'n Chips stand. Then we were off to grab some cookies and milk. Yum! With cookies in hand, we proceeded to the Miracle of Birth Center and watched all the baby animals stumbling around (the baby sheep were Em's favorite!) When the stench of the pigs got the best of this pregnant nose, I decided it was time to move along. The rest of the evening was spent watching random balloons float overhead, browsing through the shops in Heritage Square, looking at the dinosaur statues outside the grandstand, and watching the Sky Ride cars sail by. We grabbed some mini donuts on the way out to wrap up our day at the Fair! Emma fell asleep in the car, exhausted after such an overstimulating evening, and we drove home in contented silence. It was a great night!!
Jared and I are going back today for Part Two... Our last year at the fair together without another little one in tow!

Looking at the dinosaurs!



Ooooh! Look at the Sky Ride!! She was intrigued by all the colorful sky cars sailing by overhead.



Emma being very content after downing a couple baskets of fries, half a piece of fish, two Sweet Martha's cookies, a whole cup of chocolate milk, and three mini donuts!!!



Em and me at the fair!

Meet Me at the Fair!

Jared is working at the Fish and Chips stand next to the Midway. He is only working the two Sundays and Mondays of the fair, but he will be there from 10am until 12:30 am. Fourteen and a half hours. Whew! If any of you are near the Midway (right next to the horse barn), stop by and say hello to him! Visitors always make the day more fun, especially when the age gap between you and the next oldest worker spans more than a decade...

Getting ready to start his year at the fair!

This is like his shot with a celebrity. Here he is posing with a Fair alum, who worked that stand for eight years! I trained him in, and now left him to fend for himself. I am a proud wife.

Three Years!!!

Today is Jared and my three-year anniversary! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by, and yet I feel as though I have known him forever. I love finding out new things about Jared every day, but I also love the comfort of knowing him so completely. It has been the most amazing three years of my life. Jared is the best husband I could ever imagine, and displays his deep affection for me through his daily actions. He has been working harder than ever to make sure I am as comfortable as possible and wanting me to relax as much as I can, while he goes faithfully off to work each day. What a man!

He planned out a wonderful anniversary date for us tonight that went as follows...

He arrived home at 4:30 bearing not one, but two bundles of flowers for me! One bundle was 24 beautiful red roses. The other was a gorgeous arrangement of mixed flowers. I quickly put them in vases, and then we jumped in the car. Our destination was unknown to me. He soon revealed that we were headed to Mongolian BBQ for dinner (my favorite!), and then off to get a one-hour massage. We were on a time restraint, but we enjoyed a delicious dinner at BC's, and then zoomed back to Vadnais Heights for our massages.

Let me tell you--- best hour I have had in months!! I got a pregnancy massage, which means they put this amazing pillow system under me which allowed me to lie on my tummy. It was incredible! Just laying on the pillow would have been enough to put me to sleep! The massage was amazing as well, and we both left with sleepy eyes and smiling faces!

At home, we exchanged gifts. I gave Jared a Xbox 360, so he can stay current on his gaming when he needs to relax for awhile and take a break from the baby. He gave me a BEAUTIFUL ruby necklace, that matches the ruby ring he got me for our two-year!

Here are some pictures from our night:

Fieldtrip

On Thursday, I needed to get out of the house for awhile. So at 10am, I went to visit Jared at work. I arrived around 10:30, and watched him in action. He was coordinating that day (which he only does about once a week), meaning that he directs the move crew where to go and what plane to pick up, etc. This also means that we were in an office most of the day, rather then moving airplanes. He showed me the whole coordinating gig and how he keeps track of all. It was really fun to sit with him and see what he does at work. During the slow times, we were able to walk around the hangars and go sit with his coworkers in the break room. They all had a very good time meeting me and by the end of the day, they were calling over the radio to "Coordinator Naomi," and I was able to respond!

Here are some pictures from our day at the airport...

Flash Flood

Well we had an interesting night last night.

This week Jared was offered to go into work an hour early for the next month, and pick up some overtime hours. So all this week, he has been getting up at 2am, and has to be to work by 3am. This means that he really needs to get to bed EARLY. So we have been eating dinner at 3:30pm, and have him in bed by 7pm. Last night, however, there were two different people scheduled to come at 7:00 to pick up pieces of furniture that we sold on Craig's List (yes, we re-sold the dining set, sorry dipwad). So As soon as they left, Jared and I headed up to get him to bed.

I had mentioned to him earlier in the day that our washing machine was on the fritz. Something weird was going on. I had put in a load, and after the cycle was complete, I opened the lid to find a bunch of SOAKING WET clothes. I just wrung them out and threw them in the dryer.

Anyways, Jared needed to wash his work clothes for today, and threw them in the washing machine. After about 15 minutes, we still heard the water running, so he went back to check on it, and found about 1" of water flooding the laundry room floor. We did the scramble throwing towels down and hastily moving everything out of the way. After sopping up all the excess water, Jared moved the washing machine out from the wall. Sure enough, the brilliant team of Pulte plumbers had left the plug in the disaster pan.

When did all this happen? Yeah, exactly halfway through a romp in the bedroom, if you know what I mean. We were doing damage control in the nude.

Goodwill

I woke up this morning and HAD to declutterize. We have a pile stacked up in the garage almost as tall as me of junk to get rid of. I have had enough. That pile has been sitting there since last summer. Time to let it go. I loaded it all into the back of the car to drive straight to Goodwill, very satisfied to make this step. I turned around to survey the garage, and was dismayed to see only a very, very small dent in the overall clutter of the garage. The change was imperceivable to the untrained eye. Sigh.

I cheered myself with the thought that after the recycling goes out next week, we would regain another third of the garage. (There are literally mountains of empty boxes and cardboard stacked up, since we keep forgetting to put it out with the regular cans and cartons.) Then, after the dipwad who bought our dining set 2 months ago (which consists of a large table, 6 chairs, and a huge hutch), actually comes to PICK IT UP, we would have another third of the garage back! Presto! Back in business! Just not today. Sigh.