One last summer fling

School starts Thursday. So this weekend was the last weekend of freedom for London. We decided to spend as much time as we could making it a memorable summer for her. She got to spend some GREAT time with her GiGi and Pop over the 4th of July in Denver, and we're still looking at all the great pics and movies showing how much fun they all had. We love it when she starts telling us about one of the things that happened: "When we were in Cah-wado..." It's so sweet.

So yesterday we made a day of it at the Missouri State Fair. A LONG day of it. London's "food" goal was to eat one of the giant corndogs. She DID it! The thing was almost as big as she is. Then on to the exhibits before hitting the rides.

We spent a lot of time in the Science Fair tent set up for kids. Her cup of tea.

This is the girl at the fossil booth saying, "Boy, you sure know your animals!" All those hours spent watching the Wild Kratts and Dinosaur Train paid off. She was identifying different kinds of fossils and asking lots of questions that really impressed the staff. In fact, I noticed the booth's photographer taking lots of pics of her. No telling where they will end up. We probably spent an hour and a half in that one tent.

Then on to the Midway and the rides.

Taken from the top of the big ferris wheel.

Then riding the more domestic-type rides, and feeding the animals.

By 6:00 we had decided we couldn't last long enough to take in the 7:00 rodeo, which we had planned to do. We were just too tired and getting too hungry. Left with the idea that we'd come back after we ate if we felt like it. We didn't. And to cap it off, on the ride home, the beautiful full moon rose in the sky to lead the little Jeep-load of happy, tired fair-goers back home to dream happy dreams of a day filled with squeals of excitement, wide-eyed wonder, and the sighs of ecstasy that only state fair food can evoke.

Life is sweet. Sweet as cotton candy and kettle corn and sticky-faced little girls with sun-kissed cheeks.