when family visits: the AZ state fair

Sam and I (and definitely Claire) were all spoiled last week when my family came to visit. I can't even say how great it was to see them. We spent a lot of time giving them "the Arizona experience," which mainly meant lots of walks through the cactus-filled deserts, a few trips to the pool, and lots of fighting over who got to get Claire up from her naps. (More snapshots of their time here on my Instagram.)

We live too far away and their trip was far too short for my liking. Although I have to admit cramming 9 people into our two-bedroom apartment was getting a little too squishy by the end of their visit. ;) 

On Saturday we went to the Arizona State Fair. The gods of weather smiled upon us and gave us a beautifully cool, breezy day. It even rained for a second or two! The only time I felt hot was at the very end, when the sun came out as we were walking back to the car. Not feeling constantly warm was definitely an Arizona first for me!

^^Claire greatly prefers pushing the stroller around to actually riding in it.

^^ The view from the top of the Ferris wheel.

 ^^This girl is always wild and crazy and happy, and she was in heaven with so many people who were willing to buy into her shenanigans. Love this picture of her and McKay, who appointed himself to be Claire's godfather, and takes his godfatherly duties very seriously.

 ^^Her scared face was cracking us all up! She was very unsure about the whole thing up until the end of the ride.

 ^^They say you can't go to a fair without getting something deep-fried. We got this little sample pack, and I have to say, I don't think I'll ever hop on the fried-everything bandwagon. Too greasy!

^^These people are my people. They know me and all my flaws and they love me anyway. It was so great to have them here. (Missing Sam, who somehow had school all day even though it was fall break. What's up with that?)

Come back soon, family! 

And thanks AZ state fair for such a great day!