A Night At The Fair

The local fair has come to town, and last night we adventured out to see the sights. Somehow we hadn't taken the kids to any of the previous fairs, so this was their first.
It was a good night for the fair - the high all day had only gotten to the mid 70s, and the air was clear from an earlier rain shower. We ate dinner at one of the long picnic tables erected near the midway, and then walked around checking out chickens, rabbits and goats. We watched a couple baby chicks work on hatching (by far the coolest exhibit at the fair)
We tried to get the kids to go on the Ferris Wheel but Jakey wasn't in the mood. I guess it looked a little too intimidating up close.
Charlie Daniels was playing on the main stage. You can buy tickets to hear the concerts on the main stage but it was apparent that you didn't really need to do that. The view and the sound from outside the stage area was pretty good (and free with admission) We watched one song but country isn't dh's thing.
We went over to the horse barn next. They had minature horses (verycute) and they had freesians and some beautiful draft horses. Jakey was terrified of the horses, but Vi and Em petted them easily.
The kids also got their first taste of cotton candy (big hit although puzzling to Em at first) I'll fill in with pictures soon!

Holiday

Sorry to have been MIA for so long - this weekend was a crazy busy one! Back in February we had the sad task of burying my mother-in-law - a truely amazing vibrant 89 year old woman. We all had worried for years that our family would drift away after that. She was the glue that held us all together we thought. At the party after the funeral, we all agreed that we needed to work hard to keep in touch and stay together. The first piece of that happened this weekend at our family reunion.

We all drove to a campground on the side of Lake Shasta in California for a weekend of swimming, boating, and catching up. We ate big breakfasts around the campfire, swam at all hours, and some of us even sang Karaoke in the evenings.
This is Emma, Glenn and I after a long day of getting dirty and having fun with our favorite baby girl!

This is Emma when I asked her to do a 'mad face'. Too funny!

We arrived on a Saturday, set up and the kids all immediately headed for the pool. Emma made an attempt at swiming on her own so I pulled her out sputtering. The rest of the weekend all the kids followed their cousin Curtis (age 9) around like the Pied Piper, from the playground to the camp and back again. Sunday morning we rented a pontoon boat and took all the kids out for a swim. We ate Tacos in honor of Mom, and stayed up entirely too late relating stories of the folks and of growing up.

I have to tell you, it was a great time. There is nothing quite as heartwarming as seeing your kids loved by their aunts and uncles.

I'll post more pics in a few days, I'm waiting for dh to remove them from his camera!

Wild and crazy weekend

Thursday night the fun began. You see, this weekend we had Emma dedicated at church. That meant that family would come up, which in turn meant that we needed to get through Mom's stuff before they arrived. We sent a set of photos down to the distant realatives to see if anyone wanted anything. Most everyone said, 'nope, Mom gave us what she wanted us to have' but not my sister in law. She of course had to have a different approach - she wants us to hold everything while she darts off on another international adventure. I am not sure how to act around all this. She wasn't my mother, and she isn't my sister. I mostly resent the fact that she is being so greedy. Doesn't it seem strange. In my world normal people want things to remind them of the person they lost. They don't worry about net worth. This woman is wanting things appraised. She actually wants to come into the house when we are not home, which makes me wonder what else she will take. I feel very uncomfortable with the whole thing.
Her daughter came up with her husband, and we gave them a few items. We had a nice weekend with them - had pictures taken, went to the fairy festival, had a nice time. Sunday we had the dedication and then we all went to lunch. Emma as a bonus got the stomach flu.
Guess that is it for tonight.