Texas State Fair

We decided to keep up our (now) annual tradition of heading to the State Fair for the third straight year.  We had picked a date way in advance of our trip to College Station, but we went ahead and forged on with our plans- just altered slightly.  We decided to ride the DART (public transportation) this year, that drops you off right in front of the State Fair.  Emma was beside herself that she was going to get to ride the "choo choo" train to the fair.

After all the waiting, I think the excitement turned into a little bit of nervous anticipation.

All the girls- ready to go!!

When we got there, we checked out big Tex to see if the lighting would be ok for our annual picture; we ultimately decided that the sun was a little too bright and we would try later on in the afternoon.

The first thing that we did (after checking out big Tex) was head to the Pavilion to get our root beer floats (or just vanilla ice cream if you are the girls!). It was a hit all the way around :).

I could sense that Emma was getting pretty tired and was probably in desperate need of a nap if she was going to enjoy the day at the fair.  So into the baby carrier she went and we were off for a long walk to get reacquainted with the fair grounds.  Along the way, we found some ridiculously cute doggie hats and sunglasses to put on Ev's.

In the meantime, this girl slept for about 45 minutes :) so sweet and peaceful :).  There is nothing I love more than baby-wearing a sleeping babe. 

While she slept, we made our way over to the international car show- to get a picture of me with my future/dream car, the Prius.  Sweet bedhead woke up during this :).

After the car show, we made our way to the Dr. Pepper stage to check out my favorite live band- the Kildares.  I look forward to seeing them every year, but especially this year since they did not have a fall show at the Levitt Pavilion.

This girl was all smiles after her nap and discovering that we had picked up a doggie hat for her too!

These two were being ridiculously cute during the show- laughing, dancing and tickling each other :).

When the show finished up, we headed to the barnyard, bought some feed and had a ridiculously good time feeding all of the animals.  Emma was double fisting her feed for awhile.

A little unsure of the giant moo-cow :).

Ev's got in on the action from her time in the baby carrier.

Emma had enough slober on her hands, so she started to feed the animals using the shovels :).

She was all smiles :).

Getting in on the horn action as well.  I really hope these girls never stop loving animals.

Then, we stopped and got our only fried treat of the day- my favorite, the fried grilled cheese with tomato soup (and a hot dog for Emma- not pictured!).

After our bellies were full and our thirsts quenched (we seriously had the most delicious sweet tea ever!), we had someone take our annual state fair picture.  I would say it turned out about as good as expected (considering we were looking into full sun).

Then, we walked down the midway and Emma and I rode the flying elephants :).

We finished out our day at the state fair watching the Kildares one last time and then seeing about half of the Ostrich races :).

This picture sums up life with two girls- pure joy combined with intense chaos :).

We dragged our tired selves back to the "choo choo" train and took the DART back to our car and then finally made it home.  It was a long, fun-filled two days of family fun that I would not trade for the world :).