We went to the fair, money was wasted, Easter was great, and now we have another pet.

That's our long weekend in a nutshell. I managed to get a couple extra days off of work which coincided with spring FINALLY arriving in Vegas, so we made the most of it. Although I really enjoyed all the extra family time, I have to say that J's "Almost Three" status was on full display this weekend, in all its lovable, annoying, funny, obnoxious, whiny, cute, frustrating, patience-testing, heart-melting glory. Lord help us over the next year.

***

Friday we woke up to an overcast but warm, breezy day, and TH and I both had the day off. Originally we had a list of things we wanted to do around the house -- pick out paint for the living room, replace the plants in the front yard that didn't survive The Great Vegas Blizzard, sort through J's clothes to separate the now-tiny 3T's from the still-too-big 4T's, etc. etc. All it took was one request from J to kill that plan, though: "Let's do something FUN today!" So we decided to head out to the Clark County Fair, which was about an hour from Vegas but promised lots of "fun." All the way there, J talked non-stop about everything we'd do at the fair: rides, hot dogs, animals, candy, games, animals, lemonade, animals. When we got to the fair our timing was perfect -- we arrived right as everything was opening and the line was short. We had to walk past all of the kiddie rides (and there were alot) to get to the ticket counter, and J was yelling at the top of his lungs the whole way about the rides he couldn't wait to get on: "Look! A train!! I wanna get on the train! Hey that one looks like a balloon! Can I ride it, pleeeeease?" As we passed the rides we noticed that they all cost 1-2 tickets per ride, and figured 20 tickets should be plenty for all of us. So we paid for the little "unlimited rides" hand stamp for J, headed back towards the rides...and HE REFUSED TO GET ON ANYTHING. I don't know what happened. I felt like I was pulling a stubborn mule, he was digging his feet in so hard at the entrance to the rides. "NOOO!!" he started screaming. "I DON'T WANNA GET ON IT!! IT'S TOO SCARY! IT'S TOO LOUD! NOOOOO!" He's in this new "it's scary" phase, which manifests itself in the weirdest places at the weirdest times. It was frustrating, and I hate to admit it, a little embarassing. TH kept gritting his teeth and muttering about "twenty bucks down the drain". Oh, well. We've lost more than that in front of a slot machine, I guess.

***

The rest of the fair actually was pretty fun. J loved loved loved the animals, as he always does. The livestock pavilion was awesome, and it made me wish that we lived in a more rural area so I could get J involved in 4-H. How cool would that be as a kid to raise your own lamb? J also managed to convince TH to waste more money on the midway games, and another $20 later we were the proud owners of two tiny little beanie-baby sized stuffed animal "prizes." We ate until we all felt sick - hot dogs, ice cream, nachos, lemonade, and TH's required giant turkey leg. J even accidentally ate a jalapeno on the nachos, and after sputtering and choking, he said, "Too spicy!! I like it." We watched other kids go on pony rides. Of course there was no way in hell J was getting on a pony ("It's too scary") but he seemed to get a kick out of seeing other kids do it.


The day ended with us playing the one cheap game they had, the one where you throw little ping pong balls into goldfish bowls and if you land one, you get a fish. Amazingly on my first 25-cent try I won. J was shrieking as loud as possible: "I GOT A FISH!! MOMMY GOT A FISH!!!" in that cute way that made it all worthwhile. So that's how we ended up with a goldfish to add to our 2 cats and a dog. J named him "Zach" (?) and he's now living happily in a little tank on our counter, following an emergency stop at Wal-Mart on the way home from the fair to get fish supplies.

Tickets to the fair: $12 for the family
Ride tickets that were completely wasted: $20
More wasted money on rigged games: $20
Goldfish game: $0.25
All the crap required to keep one little goldfish: $20

Quality time and lessons learned about spending money on fickle toddlers: Priceless

Pretty much the funniest picture I've ever taken of J. I said, "Look happy about your fish!" and this was the result.

"Can we have a sheep? Pleeeeease?"

The boy is serious about his ice cream. Just like his mother.






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Easter was more of the same. We had a blast dying eggs on Saturday night, with surprisingly little mess and only a few broken eggs. It was such an easy and fun project that I may go to the store today for some markdown egg dying kits to use on a rainy day. Easter morning J was super excited for his little basket with a chocolate bunny and dollar-store trinkets. At church that morning he had a little "part" in the children's Easter program, consisting of the following line, rehearsed all week at home like this:


"What color jellybeans are like the sun? YELLOW AND ORANGE!!"


They didn't ask him to yell this last part, but I guess like any good actor he felt that was what the scene needed -- emphasis on the colors! I was all prepared with my little video camera to capture him yelling out his line, but of course...when the time actually came for him to stand up in front of the congregation and say his line, it came out more like this:


(stage whisper into the microphone) "What color is the sun? Yellowandorange."

Then he started whining loudly about wanting jellybeans and was sent to come sit with me in the pew because he was riling up all the other kids, who followed his lead and instead of saying their lines were begging for candy when the microphone was passed to them. That's my boy!

Easter, after the infamous I Want Jellybeans Church Play Fiasco. Really this is just an excuse to show my new hairstyle...not sure if I'm digging the bangs yet. I look like a teacher. (No offense, teachers.)

The finished products.

Toddler-induced egg injuries.




Look at me! I look like a six-year-old!



***


The rest of the weekend consisted of trips to the park, art projects, naps, lots of quality time...and alot of tantrums -- including the first time we've had to cut a shopping trip short and just leave the store due to high-decibel screaming. It was fun. I'm exhausted. J's rear end is wearing a hole in the Time-Out Rug. Why, hello, 3-year-old.

Lazy day at the park.

Once again, looking grown-up.

Just for laughs: This is what J took a picture of when he had the camera. At church. I think TH put him up to it.