Labor Day "Fall-Out"...

Tim had the day off on Monday, so we decided to head to Crawfordville for the annual Labor Day Fair. We had never been, but had heard good things about it. We were going to pack a lunch, but Tim had just gotten paid from a side job he did last week and so we thought we would just use that and have a true vacation from "labor" :) .

When we arrived, we immediately went looking for FOOD! We weaved our way through the crowds until we saw smoke...then we smelled the smoke...Yeah, BABY! Smoked Ribs, that's what I'm talkin' about! They were sooooo good! The kids just had BBQ sandwiches and Tim had some smoked chicken that was so-so. But I had the ribs.... yum.

Although I have to give props to Denise Infante, whose ribs and CHICKEN WINGS are the best ever! Really, they are, I'm not just saying that.

Anyway, so then we watched the parade, which was okay, but Chloe was so cute, she just waved at everything that passed by. About halfway through, she turned back to me, with sad eyes, and said, "Mommy, they can't see me.... Nobody's looking at me!!!" How pathetic is that... :(

Regarding the parade, Tim said he could understand the firetrucks, the clowns, the horses and the hot rods, but just didn't get the 4-wheelers... I didn't get pics, but it was kinda funny because they were just ratty old things...

After this we found the liquor-free margarita stand and began the LONG wait in line to get a frozen concoction in a pretty cup with a paper flower on top. The proprietors were raking in the bucks, let me tell you. Can't you just see all the redneck teeny-boppers with their plastic margarita cups... yeah.

For the record, it was CRAZY hot! We were carrying around the umbrella just to use for shade.

So, the next thing I know, Nicole has fallen on the ground, bloodied her knee and can't get up.

Turns out, that although we were carrying around the requisite cool bottles of water, and had been trying to say hydrated, she passed out from heat exhaustion...

We quickly got her to an air-conditioned storefront and cooled her down with wet napkins and so forth. There was a little elderly black woman in the restaurant who helped with everything, she was awesome.

Quite the dramatic day, I say.

I soaked Emma's blankie with cold water and made Nicole wear it around her neck, until we got to the van.

On the way back to the van, Chloe saw the pony rides and we had to make a quick detour and let her ride. Her horse was named "Hot Dog". Go figure.

After we made the long trek back to the van, we realized that Timmy had not had the chance to slide on the big inflatable slide thingee that he had seen, so we drove around to the other side of the fair and I hopped out with him and let him expend some energy... he is such a boy. Before long, the other two, including Nini, who was feeling 100% better, were hopping out and sliding too.

We headed home soon after that to have some fried tilapia fillets on buttered, toasted, onion kaiser rolls with homemade remolaude sauce and shredded lettuce...yum, YUM!

I guess I did work after all didn't I?

A mother's job truly never ends, I acquiesce... :)

Worth every minute.

Here's the pics from the day:

(Guess who had the camera the whole time...hmmm...)

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