the FAIR

Labor Day weekend in Flagstaff means FAIR weekend. FAIR weekend, like high school dances and buying a home, is all about the anticipation. When the time comes for the actual event, it's a little anticlimactic. This fair was no exception. While it wasn't the most amazing time ever, it was pleasant: The weather was nice (overcast!), it wasn't too crowded (it helped that we got free VIP passes and didn't have to wait in the looooong line to get in), and the kids were mildly amused. Each year will be more fun for them; they're still just a tad too young. I ate my annual corn dog (also better in theory than reality), Rory made it very clear that she did not want a pony ride, both kiddos consumed funnel cake, and we moseyed through the exhibits and animals. Rory's favorite parts of the day were riding the train and sitting in the car that one of the local dealers had on display outside its booth. Bash became most animated when he faced a gigantic bunny rabbit.

About those free VIP passes...A friend of ours was doing a lot of volunteer work this year and mentioned that they were looking for judges for the canned goods. Although we are not remotely qualified as preserve-experts, we gamely volunteered. We ended up being a little over our heads; there were probably over fifty jams, jellies, pickles, fruits, jerkys, barbeque sauces, and other random entries to sample and rank. For an indecisive people pleaser like myself, it was stressful! I still get a pit in my stomach when I think about the second place jerky..couldn't they both have won? Some of the decisions were quite difficult, and went something like this:

Me: "Which one do you think is better?"
Blake and our fellow judge, Nina: blank stares
Nina: "Umm. I kind of like this one."
Blake (murmuring): "Yeah, it's good, right?"
Me: I guess so. The other one is kind of gross."
Nina: "I mean, that's what a jelly's supposed to look like, I think."
All of us: collective relief, moving on

We were supposed to write comments on each entry. Sometimes it was a stretch: Well preserved; nice job pickling; appropriately jelled; and so on.

In other news....
I'm not eating sugar and white flour anymore. If you know me, you know that's a huge deal. It's been over two weeks now and I'm going strong! I'm eating whole wheat flour and allowing myself honey and pure maple syrup as sweetners (expect syrup is too expensive so basically it's just honey). I also have a little  agave. I also let myself eat dark chocolate, but I'm consuming a lot less of it than I anticipated! Fruit and fruit juice are fine too. I plan on maintaining this through the end of my next pregnancy, whenever that is, both for health and will power purposes. I've made lots of super healthy muffins and some dark chocolate peanut clusters for snacks and treats, and spend some time scouring pinterest for new ideas. I won't use fake sweetners and weird ingredients designed to make healthy things more palatable; my focus is on reducing the amount of empty carbs I eat drastically and wanting them less, not faking myself out.

The kids have been sick (ugh), and Blake's back in school. We canned a gazillion pints of pear butter last night (canning is so stressful!) and ate it on delicious homemade whole wheat bread. We are READY for fall!!!

Cheeesese!

"You can put your baby on the sheep and take a picture if you want."

Sleepy Bud-o

Love

Not too enthralled

"Please don't make me look at the llama!"

Turkeys were much more intriguing.

Bash loves bunny rabbits!

Rory found the sting rays interesting.

Sillies

They love bath time!