First County Fair

Ahhhhh, the county fair -- a symbol of summer around these parts. Every August, kids around the county bring out their animals they spent all year raising and show them. Last year when Wren and I went, the boys were still in utero and were still only affectionately known as Baby A (who we were convinced was a GIRL) and Baby B. So this year, we headed out to give the boys their first fair experience and to see the animals.

Oliver introducing himself to Mr. Ed the Horse

Jack

Oliver and Jack debate which came first -- the egg or these laying hens

Wren explaining to the boys this is also where milk comes from :)

Oliver and Finch

Baa, baa, shaved sheep -- what happened to your wool?

Hanging out with the Jersey cows

All in all I think they had a good time checking everything out. Next year will be a different story with them wanting to touch everything I'm sure.

In other news, we will be taking our first official family vacation the end of this week. We are packing up and heading to Va Beach. Wren and I are very much looking forward to getting away and relaxing. As well as seeing how the boys react to their first beach experience.

Also, I haven't even gotten to write about our adoption process..... Oddly enough, WV is one of the few states that allows second parent adoption for same-sex couples. We have several friends in the immediate area that have all gone through the process without a glitch. And of course, that's not how the dice rolled for us, but it all seems to be working out. Luck of the draw, we ended up with a judge who requested either an in-home study or a letter from our minister. Now mind you, none of our other friends had either of those requests. There is apparently no exact protocol or guideline to follow, it is all the judges' discretion. So, thank goodness, we have a church we occasionally attend and our minister wrote a letter of recommendation -- along with about 5 other members of the church and a very large letter campaign from friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. We handed our attorney about 50 letters (over-kill?? Maybe, but it got the point across to the judge) for the judge, all in favor of our adoption. That was almost a month ago and we have been on pins and needles ever since...waiting to see if the judge accepted them or will now still require the home study. Well...we just got new yesterday of our court date for September 17th!!!!! So it looks like it's all a goooooooo!!!!!

Leaving you on that positive note! Hope you're all having a great week.

Xoxo,

Finch, Wren, Oliver and Jack