Fun at the Fair

I took Ainsley to the Macoupin County fair last week.  We met Lauren and Grayson, so Ainsley had someone to run around with and I had someone to help keep me sane!

I was worried she wouldn't ride some of the rides, and she didn't want to as soon as we got there.  Of course, Grayson hopped right on and rode the first one by himself while Ainsley watched.  Then, she saw the big slide and both kids were excited.  I'm so thankful I have good friends who will take my kid down the slide for me because I'm too scared of heights to do it!  Lauren took both kids down and they both loved it.

 

 

They got stuck at the end! 

We tried a few more rides after the slide, but Ainsley still wasn't into it, so we headed over to the kids area.  They had a petting zoo, so we bought some food to feed the goats.  What do you know...both kids were too scared of the goats to feed them!  If you know me, you know I'm not fond of animals, and trying to feed a goat wasn't exactly up my alley but Lauren couldn't do it all! 

You can see Ainsley's hand with the carrot...that's as close as she would get!

She didn't want to get too close.

Watching from a distance.

Did I mention how Lauren had to take Ainsley down the slide for me?!  Well, she had to take Ainsley into the petting zoo also, because this Mommy wasn't going near all those goats!  Ainsley wasn't feeling it at first, but she quickly warmed up and after Lauren handed her one of the baby goats, she was in love!

It was about time for the pig races, yes, I said pig races.  They were set up right beside the petting zoo, so I tried to get Ainsley to go watch them.  The pigs race around a little track for an Oreo at the end.  They also swim during a race.  Who knew pigs could swim?!

Waiting for the pig races

swimming pigs

Running to the finish line

Ainsley wasn't feeling the pig races with the baby goats right beside us, so I ended up taking her back to the petting zoo.  And, I actually went in with her.  Shocking, I know!  She chased around the baby goats until one finally let her pick it up and she would just stand and hold it.  She kept saying "baby goat, baby goat".    She didn't want to get near the big ones, though and when one would get close to her, she would start walking away.  I even got a few videos of her with them. I do have to admit they were cute and it was so fun to watch Ainsley with them.  Here's a video of her chasing one of the babies.  Here's a video of her holding one.  And here's one of her saying "baby goat baby goat" (you have to listen close) and looking around for one!

Giving the baby goat hugs

Here baby goat!

More hugs

We had to check out the tractors before eating and then we headed back over to see if the kids would get on some rides.

She kept squirting herself while milking the cow and was soaked!

So sweet!

I was worried about Ainsley on the rides, because the weekend before, we found out Ainsley gets motion sick.  Joel pushed her in her swing for over half an hour one morning, and when he got her out, she could hardly stand up.  Once she did stand up, she immediately started throwing up.  She threw up a few times, but even after he brought her in the house, she was still dizzy and threw up a little more.  Ainsley actually got on the cars once we got over to them, and liked them! 

Ainsley and Grayson...there's only 2 months age difference between them.  Ainsley's huge!!!

Love Grayson's smile!

The boats were a different story.  They went up and down and around in a circle and after the first time around, Ainsley started getting a weird look on her face and started crying.  I had to have the Carnie shut it off so I could get her off. 

She was pretty good on the carousel, but didn't want me to hold onto her.  Of course, I put her on a horse that didn't move up and down, so thankfully she didn't get sick!

 

After she rode a few rides, she was ready to go home!  She was running around the carnival section and didn't want me to follow her or hold her hand, so we left.  She was beyond tired at that point and was ready for bed.  We still had to stop at Emilee's before heading home to pick up Lily.  I had dropped Lily off with Emilee on our way and it was the first time Ainsley was really worried about Lily.  When I got back in the car without Lily after dropping her off, Ainsley kept looking over to where Lily should be and asking where she was.  I told her Lily was staying with Emilee and we were going to the fair.  She asked about Lily all evening!  She was excited to see her again when we went to Emilee's to pick her up. 

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th from the Freeman girls!

Ainsley loves to hold Lily now, and I'll let her hold her a few times a day now.  As soon as Lily gets in her lap, she'll lean down and give her a kiss.  It's the sweetest thing! 

I took their pictures last week for our 4th of July cards and it's still hard to get Ainsley to sit or stand still for a picture.  She's constantly on the go!  To get a picture, I asked her to go hug the tree and she actually listened!  Of course, if the tree gets a hug, then it needs a kiss too!

Lily didn't last long that evening either and quickly gave me her pouted bottom lip, which I'm absolutely in love with!

She's filling out!

How could you not love that pouty lip?!

Water puddles

We had two little girls running through water puddles at our house over the weekend.  Alaina and Hadlee came over Saturday afternoon, and the rain kept us away from the park, but it didn't stop the girls from having fun. 

As soon as I got the rubber boots out and let the girls outside, Ainsley knew exactly what to do.  She went right to the puddles and started jumping!  Hadlee, on the other hand, was a little skeptical. 

You're telling me you want me to jump in this water and get wet?!?!

 

 

Ainsley tried to show Hadlee how it was done.  Both girls thought running through them was fun.

C'mon Hadlee, here's a good one!

Love Hadlee's face in this one!

Hadlee managed to stay pretty dry, but Ainsley was soaked from the waist down.  She loves her water puddles!

This is fun, Mom!

And she's off....

We came in when it started raining again and the girls colored.  Hadlee had borrowed a shirt to wear outside and took it off to put her shirt back on before leaving.  I told Ainsley to show Hadlee where her dirty clothes go in her room.  I didn't find the shirt until the next morning.  It didn't make it in the hamper.  I found it stuffed in the Diaper Genie!  I can't wait to see what else these two girls (along with Lily and the newest Hallock baby) do in the years to come.

Playing in the water wore Ainsley out and she fell asleep within minutes after laying down with her that afternoon.  I love that she still (rarely) falls asleep laying with me.

Clean oven

I don't know how my oven didn't get tackled while I was pregnant and nesting, but it was desperately needing cleaned.  It was suppose to be in the low 70's over the weekend with high 50's and low 60's at night.  I thought it would be the perfect time to open the windows, and run the self cleaner on my oven so I could finally stop smelling that burnt stuff when I bake that's been sitting on the bottom of my oven for who knows how long.  There's no way I would run the self cleaner on the oven with the house closed up, because it makes a horrible smell!  I'm guessing everyone's is the same way, or maybe I just did something wrong when I ran our self cleaning cycle.  Who knows!  Anyway, back to getting my oven clean.  Exciting stuff, I tell you!

Most of you know my Mom sells Norwex.   Well, I found some Norwex grill and oven cleaner that I had bought from her a few years ago and thought I would try it out before running the self cleaning cycle.  Yes, I said a few years ago.  We've lived in this house for almost 6 years and I've only cleaned my oven once before this weekend.  I called my Mom after I read the instructions on how to use the cleaner to make sure I was going to do it right.  She pretty much told me to do exactly what the directions said, and I asked "So, I'll run my self cleaning cycle after I get done with the Norwex stuff?"  Her reply was a little chuckle and "No, you won't have to."  I thought:   Uh-huh, sure Mom, I'll try your Norwex stuff (only because I already had it) and then I'll run the self cleaning cycle that night while we slept. 

Who knew I had so much to say about cleaning an oven?!?!  Just sit tight...I'm almost to the good stuff!

So, I heated my oven up to 170 (the directions said 100, but 170 was the lowest my oven goes) and then shut it off.  I opened the door and sprayed the Norwex cleaner in it and waited 5 minutes.  When I opened the door after 5 minutes, all the nastiness in the oven was literally dripping down the sides of the oven and pooled at the bottom of it.  I grabbed some paper towels and wiped it all right up.  I couldn't believe it.  I had to scrub a few spots, and then sprayed it again and let it sit before wiping it again with paper towels, but it all came right off.   I was shocked!  My oven looks brand new again!  (I wish I would have taken a before picture.  I'm telling you, it was disgusting!  In the picture of the "before" door picture, you can see what was everywhere in the oven.  Just imagine the stuff on the door times 10 in my oven!)

 

The only thing the cleaner didn't get was all the gunk on the door.  But, that my friends, wasn't too hard to get off either with the help of some Norwex cleaning paste! 

Door before



Door after...you really can't see in this picture, but all the gunk on the before picture is gone!

I left the oven door open while I took the racks out to wipe them down, and Joel walked into the kitchen.  He looked in the oven and back at me and asked how I got it so clean (I'm telling you, my oven was disgusting).  I just laughed and said that Norwex cleaner.  He looked at me and chuckled.  He knows, as much as the rest of the family, how Mom thinks Norwex can clean anything.

The only pointer I have when cleaning your oven with the Norwex cleaner is:  Don't pull the racks out of the oven with pot holders after you've sprayed the cleaner.  All the nastiness will get on your oven mitt!  Yuck!

 
I'm so happy to say that I'm never going to run my self cleaning cycle on my oven again.  Yes, the Norwex cleaner is a little expensive at $29.99 a bottle, but if you're like me and only clean your oven once every few years, it's not really all that bad of a price.  I still have 1/2 the bottle (if not more) left, so it will last me a few more years!  You can find the oven cleaner here. 

I'm so happy with the oven cleaner that I think I'm going to have a Norwex party.  I haven't had one since Mom started selling the stuff and some of my stuff is starting to run out.  I bought my cleaning paste probably 5 years ago and I'm just now getting to the bottom of the container.  Yes, I do clean my house.  It literally just takes a small amount of the stuff to do the job, which is why it's lasted me so long.

I wasn't planning on making a whole blog entry about Norwex, but the stuff really is amazing.  I think the oven cleaner may be tied with the window cloths (which you only use with water to wash your windows...no more Windex and streaks) as my favorite Norwex item now!  If you want to check out Mom's website, here's the link.  It's all environmentally friendly and free of chemicals.  Let me know if you would like to order from my party (that my Mom doesn't even know about yet)!