America's Best Idea

So is everyone watching the new Ken Burns documentary on PBS about the National Parks this week? I'd been waiting and waiting to see it. Then again, I can be a history junky at times and I have always been a child of the American West.

The national parks have been a topic of discussion in our house for years now. About a year after we got married, we decided to become full-fledged adults and open an IRA. We picked a target retirement date type of fund, and initially Tony wanted the one that had us retiring in 2050-something -- in our 70s! Our subsequent exchange went something like this:

Me: Are you on crack!?! I'm not sitting at a desk at 75!

Tony: But if I don't work, what will I do?

Me: I'm retiring in my 60s, getting a Winebago, and hitting all the national parks with the grandkids.

Needless to say, Tony didn't think that being cooped up in the confined space of an RV with his unborn grandchildren was his idea of retirement--even if the national parks were involved.

Our recent national parks discussion has centered on a trip I wanted to take over Columbus Day weekend to a park a few hours south of us.

When we found out that we couldn't get Tony's firm's time share condo (meaning, a place to stay for a really low cost), we figured getting a hotel would be more than we wanted to spend and called the trip off. That is, called it off until a friend offered to loan us camping equipment.

When I called him to share the "good" news, I used all my powers of persuasion. "We could camp! It would inexpensive. We could be one with nature -- We could be part of America's Best Idea..." Tony's only response: "America's best idea was the remote control."

So, help me out here. It's time for a poll. Camping with kids isn't the end of the world, right? It could even be, gasp, fun, correct? Just let Tony know. :)

Blue Ribbon Event

Today was the first day of the State Fair. Tony played hooky from work for a couple hours, and we took the Afton-ator out for some 90-degree fun. We did all the obligatory fair stuff...

We caught the chickens...

and the pigs...


and the goats...


(sorry the pictures are slightly blurry -- between Afton and the animals I had too many moving objects, and admittedly, I'm not the best photographer.)

And Afton's beloved cows. The dairy cows were mooing, and Afton bellowed right back. (Sadly I tried to type that word as "bellered," which evidently doesn't pass the spell check.)

We won't tell Afton's grandpa G (who raised sheep as a kid) that all she did in the sheep barn was run around yelling "moo! moooooo!"

The A-baby took in some fine produce.

Then she hit the rides.

We walked by the cotton candy cart. (Afton will need to wait until next year to get her sugar rush.)

But we did eat some other (overpriced) food (peach-strawberry smoothie).

Afton's favorite moment was when we discovered these paintings...

And as Afton says to us each morning, to her babysitter each afternoon, to any movie that gets turned off, to the water as it goes down the drain, and to the random people who wait at the bus stop by our house, "Bye!" "Bye!" "Bye-bye!" "Bye!" "Bye!" "Bye!" "Bye-bye!" "Bye!" "Bye!" "Bye!" "Bye!"

Like Daughter, Like Father

Afton isn't the only one who can sport a Pebble Flintstone 'do around here.  For some (undoubtedly logical) reason, Tony always manages to stretch out the time between haircuts, well, quite a while.  

But all that was fixed as of yesterday!  

After a brief discussion about how I can veto his veto (he didn't want his picture taken), we captured...

a bit of uncooperative behavior and

the new and improved locks.  (I requested that he smile like he loved me.)