visit from papa and dee

In early October we welcomed a weekend visit from PaPa and Dee.

Noah helped cut up bananas for a banana pudding we made for dessert.
He used a butter knife and Clay helped supervise :)

This is what Jude looked like after eating the banana pudding.

Saturday morning we drove to downtown Fort Worth and got on the TRE to travel to Dallas. The 45 minute train ride was just as part of the adventure as our destination was.

We arrived at the State Fair mid-morning. PaPa and Noah posed in front of Big Tex at the entrance to the fair grounds.

We started our day by letting Noah ride a few kiddie rides.

It was so fun to watch him just walk right up to the ride and get on by himself. There are many things that are fun about having an independent three-year-old.

Jude was a bit too young to ride rides just yet, but he enjoyed hanging out with Dee and watching big brother.

One of our favorite things we did was watch Noah go through a little kid's activity farm. This teachable "farm" was designed to educate kids on the process that farmers take to get food to the grocery store and that it doesn't just magically appear there with no work involved.

Noah started by dressing in the appropriate gear, wearing an apron and donning a bucket.

First he watered the peach tree and then was able to take one of the peaches for his bucket.

He also milked a cow and was able to take a carton of milk for his bucket.

Another step was planting a seed and then choosing a veggie to place in his bucket.

He jumped on a John Deere tractor, placed his bucket in the wagon on the back, and took his produce and dairy to the store.

He was paid a buck for all his hard labor.

He exchanged the buck for a pack of fruit snacks.

Another fun, completely free activity we did was enjoy the petting zoo.

While Noah enjoyed feeding the animals with a shovel...

... Jude enjoyed touching the animals and squealing with delight! Jude learned to say quite a few words while traveling around with PaPa and petting the animals.

Sadly the corn dog stand line was too long at lunchtime, but we did enjoy a burger and fries. We weren't adventurous enough to try any of the fried goodies that the fair is known for.

After the train ride home, we rested a while and then enjoyed a dinner at home. The men watched the LSU/Florida game while Mrs. DeDe and I cleaned up and got the boys ready for a night at the hotel! Every time we pass the Seminary hotel now Noah says, "There's PaPa and Dee's hotel!".

On Sunday morning we went to Sunday School and church. Mrs. DeDe was so sweet to help me in the Ones Sunday School class. Once again, we were thankful to have our family join us for worship with our church family.

After church we enjoyed pizza at Joe's Pizza and Pasta and then PaPa and Dee hit the road.

Thank you both for taking time to visit us and love on our boys!