The Big Fresno Fair

The Fair - oh how I love the Fair! I have such great memories of going to the Fair with my school when I was a kid.

I have loved taking my kids. We have gone just about every year. This year, Neil even got to join us :)

The first thing we did was get us some Fair food. You just cant beat it! In fact, we ate it so quickly we didnt even take a picture. The kids and I dined on Corn Dogs while Neil chose the tri-tip sandwich. Yum!

We headed over to the livestock area. Gotta love the smelly animals :) We did get to see some baby animals....so cute! Also, Haven and I almost got ran over by a cow....didnt get a pic of that tho.

The kids also played around on the toys. Haven is enamored with horses!


We checked out some of the exhibits - I always hit up the Gem & Mineral one to get polished rocks, spin the wheel for a prize & the black light part. I also always go to the agriculture one. I feel its important to show the kids how great our Valley is at producing.
Of course we hit up the rides. Always a fun time.





I let the kids pick a toy or treat. Justus picked a toy guitar while Haven went for the ice cream cone.


Lastly we stopped to let the kids ride some horses.

Fun times at The Big Fresno Fair!

Mountain trip - Part 2

We woke up in the morning and got ready to hit the trails up in the Mariposa Grove. I was so excited to hike through the woods and experience Gods Creation :)

We saw a tree that had fallen.

We saw the Grizzly Giant which is the oldest and second largest tree in the grove.
Saw the Bachelor and Three Graces - A group of four trees, three of them growing very close together, with a fourth a little more distant.

Then we got to walk through the California tree.

We made it to the Faithful Couple ( A rare case in which two trees grew so close together that their trunks have fused together at the base.) before it was time to head back. Haven was getting a little to tired.

We saw some great wildlife along the way. We saw a total of 5 male deer with their antlers and 4 females. Simply amazing.

We stopped to take some fun pictures in nature as well.





We had our lunch on a parking curb - train style :)


Must have been a great day :)

Mountain trip part1

When I took the kids to Yosemite back in the summer I noticed a few spots along the way that I wanted to visit. One was The Sugar Pine Railroad, the other was staying at Tenaya Lodge and I also wanted to take the kids to see the Mariposa Big Trees - the grove of Giant Sequoias.

I thought a trip to the Mountains would be a great way to kick off the fall season. So we headed to Sugar Pine Railroad first.

The kids each picked out a stuffed Wolfy to be their companion.

We watched as they pulled the Steam Train out and hooked it up.


Then it was All Aboard. We enjoyed our ride.



We stayed the night at Tenaya Lodge.


And ended our night with some tasty drinks by the fire. :)