Big Tex welcomes you!!
Last night we went to the Texas State Fair because since we've moved here, GraceAnne has been seeing this: 
in the Dallas skyline. She begs us every time we drive up there and every year we put it off because it's "too expensive" or the "crowds are too big" or it's plainly not open at that time of year. This year we told her that if she was willing to save some of her commission and could pay her own way/for her own food/for her own rides we would go. She saved for a month and a half, (she gets commission for doing chores like dishes, feeding the ducks, keeping her room clean, etc) and had $35. We are VERY impressed and incredibly proud. Some weeks she didn't keep anything to spend and saved it all because she wanted to have enough to go. As it turns out, she gets a free ticket for being a student, so she had LOTS of fun at the fair!
Something we've noticed...if you're from Texas, you might start to bundle up when the temperature hits about 70. See our tiny examples below. 
GraceAnne hollared about how cold it was as soon as we got out of the truck. Thanks to all the rain we've been getting, the temperature almost feels like a "real" autumn.
Violet is our little Texan, and she was totally needing the bundle. Under that fleece jacket she's got on a couple layers and she had a fleece blanket, too. She would have done well with some mittens, but I didn't think about it. After all...we live in TEXAS and it's only OCTOBER!
If you're from Wisconsin, but you've lived in Texas for several years...you might just begin to bundle up when it hits about 65. There's no picture of me, (trust me, you don't wanna see my pale, broke out, pregnant self. One of these days I'll wash my hair and put on some make up and have Allan take another belly pic.) I was glad I chose to wear a long-sleeved shirt underneath my jacket last night.
If you're from Alaska, you will probably begin to put on a sweater when it hits 55. And yepp...that's about where the temperature sat last night. We all had red, runny noses, but it was so worth it!
He's so cute with a fuzzy sweater on! This picture was taken inside the "Texas Skyway." We rode it twice and both times GraceAnne kept yelling, "ARE THEY GOING TO DROP US!?" Which in turn made me grumpy because I'm not overly fond of those types of things anyway, so I was secretly trying to not turn green, not scream and not jump overboard. It was pretty cool in the end, (because we didn't crash and die!), but there was no way anyone was getting me on that ferris wheel you can see behind Allan!
The girls had a great time in the "Little Hands on the Farm" exibit. They got to get corn to feed all the animals:
Pick eggs, (which they are both professional about because they've been picking duck eggs for a while now):
We learned a chicken can only lay around 5 eggs per week and it takes nearly 26 hours for an egg to form. Maybe those chickens should take lessons from our ducks, because we get, (without fail), 2 eggs per day and sometimes 3. Yay for Welsh Harlequin ducks! Which leads me to a funny picture before we continue our fair adventure...What's happier than a pig in sh*t?
Duckies in a puddle. Yepp, they are SWIMMING in my YARD. When it rains like crazy as it has been for the last couple weeks here, we get standing water about 6 inches deep in sections. They love to muck it all up looking for grubs and sleeping in the water like their wild cousins would. Allan must be part duck. He loves the rain as much as they do.
The girls got to plant and harvest crops at the fair:
Violet liked digging in the dirt better than "harvesting." Then they got to turn in their harvest for money to spend at the general store. 
Violet promptly threw her dollar in the trash. After mommy retrieved it, we discovered the value of a hard day's work and traded that strange green paper for fruit snacks. We totally ripped those people off...don't they know fruit snacks are MUCH tastier than green paper!?
Allan and GraceAnne enjoyed a ride together:
And GraceAnne actually didn't wuss out, so she wanted to ride something else. This time she went alone cuz those kiddie rides just aren't nice to Allan's long legs.
She had a blast. Then...FINALLY...we were getting ready to leave. We had a hot plate of french fries and came upon another game. GraceAnne had been begging to get a toy since we got there. Dummy me had no idea the tickets you buy to do EVERYTHING were not good for wares or games, so I had spent most of the money on tickets, which you can't sell back. Well...you may or may not know this, but I am a HUGE sucker for my kids. She left the fair with this after dunking 30 out of 34 baskets:
Yes...that IS a My Little Pony. How dare they! I could have walked away with a whining child if it had been a banana or an ugly bear like at all the other games, but of course THIS one was well stocked with our favorite weakness. She was pleased as punch and that was enough for us to call it a night and walk away, (after we got another funnel cake...had to use the last of our tickets, afterall!)
It was a fabulously fun time and I'm so glad we went. I can't believe we haven't gone before. Both girls had fun and passed out on the way home. The crowds weren't bad because it had rained until about 2pm yesterday and it was COLD! We still got home around 9:30, (perfect..only an hour past bedtime!), and everyone slept pretty good last night. The girls didn't even wake us up until 8:30 this morning. How Blessed we are!
I'll leave you with a few more pictures since I already uploaded them. I hope you enjoy and I hope you're all having as wonderful an October as we are!
She is altogether too cute!
GraceAnne's favorite shirt. I have to hide it to keep her from wearing it several times a week.
Violet THINKS she wants to touch animals when we see them, but when they get close she jumps and yells at them. HAHA! That sheep had just put his muzzle up to the buggy and she screamed at it and it jumped back and the look on its face in the picture above is "WTH is your problem, little girl? You asked me over here!"
Sweet little puppy!
On a tractor at the farm.
How's that steering wheel taste? That would be why MY kids are the only ones not contracting swine flu this year. *sigh*
Slimy seeds
Drawing her face for mom to cut.
Violet drew SOMETHING, but I couldn't carve it.
GraceAnne was Thumbelina. She got to go to Boo Bowl with Girlscouts and then we went to the Harvest Festival at the old church and then we went Trick-or-Treating. What a fun day!
Violet was a SUPER CUTE cowgirl. She was very proud of her costume, too.
Here it is in it's full glory.
GraceAnne is an old pro, but Violet got this trick-or-treat thing down FAST. She was all about running up to a house, babbling and getting some candy!
Allan and I went as trailer trash. His tattoo says SNAKE. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Snake thinks he's a rock star.
Snake's wife doesn't know why pregnant women don't get to be Sexxy, too. We were so gross. Some people thought we might be serious and most people thought we were hippies. I dunno what's up with that, but we had a lot of fun saying crude stuff to each other in outrageous accents, so it was all good.
