St. Johns and the Fair!

A few weeks ago I took the kids to St. Johns to see their grandparents and to get some dental work done.

I felt brave enough to travel by myself with all 4 kids. In hindsight it was a false sense of bravery. The 4 and 1/2 hour drive to the White Mountains was filled with whining (I can't hear the movie, I'm tired, I'm hungry), crying (from all 5 of us), and complaining about our sore bottoms.

I must share: Mary, she's a smart one, kept telling me she was 'stinky' and pointed to her diaper. I decided that sitting in a poopie diaper for another 45 minutes (we were that close) was torture. I pulled off the highway and removed Mary from her car seat. Holding her above my head, her butt to my face, I sniffed her diaper. RATS! I was fooled! She wasn't poopie! She smiled a funny smile. I tried to put her back in her car seat but she only screamed. You know, that heir of Julia scream. After about 10 minutes of bouncing her around and letting her shake her legs out I was able to put her back in her seat. Mary insisted that she had a stinky for the remainder of the trip, funny smile included. I didn't believe her. Would you? We got to our destination safely and without incident. Thank goodness!

The next day I took the bigger kids to grandpa's dental office in Springerville, AZ. The kids had their teeth cleaned and I had some 'work' done.

We hurried home to spend some more time with grandma, make crafts and play in the backyard.

That night we headed off to the annual Apache County Fair. The kids had a great time riding rides (over and over and over) and eating fair-ish foods. Joe and Mary spent most of the evening in their stroller (thanks to grandma) who pushed them around so they could see all the art, food, flower, plants, you name-it exhibits. I decided to let them loose near the end of the night. They had a blast throwing rocks in the air and at people, not on purpose, but still embarrassing. We left the fair with happy and tired kids. It was a great day.