Little Miss Tougleton reached the year-and-a-half mark over the weekend, and to celebrate, she ... kissed a cow?

Seemingly not ones to ever stay put for more than a day or two, we headed over to the western side of Maine on Saturday to visit the Fryeburg Fair.

Having lived in this part of Maine from 2001 to 2007, it is always with a bit of nostalgia that we return. The fair is a large annual event that we have always enjoyed and we looked forward to someday sharing it with our kids.

Below are some photos from both the fair as well as some from our old house there that Tougy visited for the first time over the weekend, though before we get to that, we thought we would give you a sneak peak into the first contender for Tougy's first halloween costume.


KJ found this cow online(One Step Ahead) and as soon as we showed it to Tougy, we knew we had a home run. She loved it as you can see. In fact we have since worn just the hood around from time to time.


Of course even Tougy knows that cows don't really stand up and so it was necessary to get down on all fours to view herself as a proper cow.


Our bovine princess.


The cow costume was waiting in the mail when we came home from the fair otherwise I feel quite certain it would have been her fair going outfit. She would have made quite a statement walking through the barns as a cow.

This was Tougy's first up and close with a cow and so it of course necessitated an introductory kiss. She loved the boisterous Moo's that real cows make - so much more emphatic a noise than daddy's imitation suggests.


As is customary with all faces, it was necessary to point out all the features that Tougy knows. The game goes something like this: Where is the cows nose? Where are the cows teeth? ...


I can't imagine the stomach ache the goats have at the end of the day, but then again they are goats. In the children's area is a barn where each child is given a small cup of feed and set free amid a group of goats and sheep.

After several hours of this, finding a goat that is still interested in your food can be a difficult task. Thankfully Tougy eventually found a willing stomach to play along and her game began.


Every animal gets a hug and a kiss in Tougy's world. People may not always be so lucky.


The animals and the people watching were fun, but what our little girl really was interested in was the rides. Although most of the roller coaster type rides were height dependent, fortunately for Tougy, the cars and trucks were not.

Where this fascination will lead us in the future I don't know, but you put a wheel in front of our little Aitugan, and the world is made right in an instant. A quick adjustment of the mirrors and she was off.


For some of the rides, KJ was right beside her, but as the truck cab wasn't big enough for an adult, Tougy had the controls all to herself. Ooh the power.


The anticipation of the start of the ride was nearly as fun as the ride itself.


Though as soon as the ride was over came the gesture for more...


followed a few seconds later by immediate cries of misery as her calls for more go unanswered.


So now we are at our old house, and this is in fact the very first apple ever eaten from the selection of fruit trees we planted as saplings several years ago. During our time there, they had never been mature enough to fruit, but here on this visit were two good sized apples. To my surprise it was great tasting.


KJ and I were married out front of the house upon this very rock and the cairn of stones remains set upon it from that event. We had always wanted a chance to bring Tougy here for a photo - so thankfully the house still has not sold ;).


Like the rock, this tree was part of our wedding ceremony as we had our guests assist us in its planting. It is certainly not the same small tree it was then. Life moves on.


Yes, Tougy loves the phone. Anything even remotely similar to a phone warrants an attempt to talk to Nonna, Mor Mor or Mimi.

And so this is it. We would like to say welcome home to Steve and Jane who brought their daughter Jem home from Astana this past week and also congratulations to the Serra family who are just days away now from flying home with their daughter Leeza from Kostanai.

It has been a pleasure following both of your journeys and we hope to be heading over to either Astana or Kostanai sometime in 2009 for either a brother or sister for Tougy. Take Care.