the kees family

If you've lived in Anacoco for any amount of time, you soon hear about the Leesville Fair! It's technically the West Louisiana Forestry Festival, it's always the first weekend of October, and everyone dresses in their boots, plaid, and blue jeans! Jason never missed one growing up, so I couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about and continue the tradition! First, we of course had to invite the fam over from Pineville for a fun lunch before we headed to the fair!

Jen and the rest of her family weren't able to come, but we sneaked Callie off to have a weekend to remember in Anacocoooo!

Looook at that smile! Swoooon!

Grant and Kate are the best little buds! I love watching them play together. Sometimes I have to pull Grant off of Kate, but it's cause he loves her so much! ;)

We started off with a healthy veggie tray...

...to offset our Jucy Lucy Hamburgers! haha! We don't have a grill, but Chef Poole came to the rescue! I patted out burgers with a block of cheese smack dab in the middle. Wade cooked them in the skillet, and the cheese melted to this ooey gooey goodness inside. Yum! I have the recipe if you need it!

A little BLT salad with semi-homemade croutons and homemade dressing. Thank you Melissa for taking all these food photos; I always forget!

Ta-dahhh!

Lissie enjoying her burger at the kids table!

And of course, we had to have homemade buns for our burgers. Sooo easy!

And warm, homemade apple pie for dessert!

Now who's ready for the fair????

Katie Bug is!! With her plaid shirt and all! (Fun fact, this was actually JASON'S SHIRT when he was her age! How sweet!)

Vannie Girl is ready too!

We headed outside to the picnic table to take a couple of photos before our big afternoon. A couple photos turned into a PHOTO SHOOT, so here's a little taste! You'll feel like you were here!

Andrew. So funny.

Perfect big sister.

And of course we had to include Cherry. (By the way, anyone want a kitten in a couple of weeks?? Cherry's pregnant!!!)

Best friends!

Then Andrew, being my sweet 3 1/2-year-old nephew, starts getting sillyyyy...

And Grant starts to crack up!

Perfection.

Andrew gets sillier and sillier, and Grant really starts to let loose. Baha!!

NOW who's ready to go to the fair?? We are!

We took the babies in the wagon and loaded that thing down!

Laying a couple of ground rules before we go in!

It's a little rooster! Rooster Cogburn!

The kids got to pick out three things to ride while we were at the fair. First pick is the classic Ferris Wheel! Waiting in line!

Climbing in the line!

Waiting/climbing in line!

Kate's not sure how she feels about all these shenanigans...

There they goooo!

While they rode, we took pictures haha! Me and Lissie and Baby Samuel!

Yay, finally a family photo!

They did it! They rode their first Ferris Wheel and survived!! Yayy!

Three best little buddies.

Next, we checked out the livestock show! The kids loved looking at all the different farm animals.

Here's Andrew petting the bunny'slittle bottom. Then...

as Callie and Savannah look in horror....

the bunny peed on brother's foot!!! He was so sad, and he didn't want to wear his shoes anymore! So we poured a bottle of water over it to wash it off, but then he didn't want to wear wet shoes. Poor brother! haha!

Ew.

Wade and his billy goat!

Callie and Andrew prowled around the livestock barn, making themselves at home. They found this cow getting a trim and squatted down and just watched! They were so intrigued and stayed there for like 10 minutes!

Then we found a miniature horse!

They weren't too sure, but they were so brave!

All the prize winning jams, jellies, and preserves! It felt like an Andy Griffith show, it was so cute! At a table at the back, they had free New Testaments and little tattoo stickers. In the words of Melissa, only in Leesville can you get Bibles and tattoos in the same place hah!

The second thing they chose was the Merry-go-Round!

Callie and her free New Testament haha.

Bleh, the merry go round made me sick! haha but the kids loooooved it!

No idea how or what or where....

The very last ride the kids chose was the Speedway, a line of cars that goes in a circle but goes really fast around the curves. Here they are, waiting for the ride to start!

Start your engines!

I'm telling you, the pure glee on the kids faces was worth every penny! I put a lot of pictures so you can feel like you were there!

(Funny kids in the back.)

Pure glee. Bliss. These kiddos were in heaven.

Till next time, ya'll!

What an incredible day with incredible family! We had such a blast together!

Kate and her one prize from the day...her free New Testament haha! What a cute little preacher's kid ;).

Thanks for such a wonderful day, everybody! Same time, same place next year??

The next day, we headed out to the fair again with Jason's parents and sister. This time we added the overalls to the outfit, and fun fact, THESE WERE JASON'S too! How adorbs! My little farmer girl :)