State Fair

We drove down to Salem and had a super fun day at the State Fair today! We haven't been since Evelyn was 2 and I was pregnant with Matthew.. it was time to head back! Doug's folks met us there and although it was a hot day, we have a very special time together!

 We were here...  :)

We got there right when the fair opened. The kids wanted to ride the rides but since they didn't open until an hour later, we walked around and looked at things, then grabbed Elephant Ears and watched some dance performances.

  Both kids LOVED looking at all the big tractors!

We headed back to the rides, much to the kids' delight, and let them ride a few before it got too hot.

We then grabbed lunch and saw the rest of the fair!

 

 Foot massages... they loved this! :)

 Checking out the miniature salmon run

 It's Smokey the Bear!! Last time we were here Evelyn was totally freaked out by him. 5 years later he isn't so bad! :)

We saw a lot of animals! The kids really enjoyed getting up close to all of them they could and were very gentile and sweet about it!

 There is a picture from the last time we were at the fair with Evelyn hugging this ice cream cone. Matthew just HAD to also get a picture taken with him hugging it. It was to have both of them recreate the photo from 5 years ago!

After hugging the fake ice cream cone, we had to get REAL ice cream! It was so yummy, especially on such a hot day!

 Look.. another tractor! :) They were everywhere!

 Watching glass blowing.. such a skilled art.. it was interesting to watch.

We ended the day with the kids going on one more ride each...

Thankful for such a fun family day together, and the kids have already asked to go back next year!

A fun day...

Doug worked on house projects all day so the kids and I needed to entertain ourselves and ended up having a super fun day.

I totally remember as a kid turning my bike upside down and "working on it", seeing how things work and pretending I was a bike mechanic. After we rode bikes for a while today, I showed the kids how I did it. They both found it quite fun and "worked" on their bikes for a while.

It was getting hot so we came in for a bit. Evelyn asked me to try to make her hair "like Elsa's" (from Frozen). I did the best I could.. I am still learning how to "do" long hair.

 Evelyn thought the back was really pretty, but not totally the way Elsa's looked. Oh well.. at least she liked it! :)

We then headed out to try a new shaved ice place close to us. We had never had it before, and oh, my goodness, what we have missed! It is SO SO yummy! We will come back here again soon!

Um.. these are the "small" ones. Yikes! We could have split one between the three of us! Oh,and there is Evelyn's hair from the front... she thought the front looked more like Elsa's, which was a bonus! :)

I am not trying to think about the face that school starts in just over 2 weeks... and just enjoying the moments I have with these two sweet faces!!

Gardening Goodness

This is the second year of having a small garden. The kids have been helpful in watering and tending to it and watching things grow. Everything did quite well, especially our zucchini. We have had more zucchini than we know what to do with, and this year we harvested our biggest one yet!

 The kids were just shocked a how big it was!

Here's to making and freezing lots of zucchini bread!

Quentessential Summer Fun

A hot summer day just screams for a water fight.. and today my kids had an epic one! It started with "Hey, mom.. can we wash off the tree house?" Sure, I said.. there was lots of old leaves and sticks, etc on the floor of it and we hadn't hosed it off all summer. So the kids swept it out and then I helped them hose it off. They started running thru the hose spray to cool off as I was washing. Somehow, at some point, they got a hold of the hose and started squirting each other. They were FULLY clothed, mind you, but I really didn't care. They ended have quite a fun afternoon getting soaked and playing together!

I know the time will come when they may not want to play with each other (I hope not, tho!), but I will cherish these moments as they love each other so well.

Yay for summer fun!

Ride-Along

Many years ago (probably when Evelyn was a baby), one of Doug's co-workers gave him a "ride-along" for his bike so we could take kids on the back of Doug's bike as they learn and grow into riding. Both kids are riding bikes well with training wheels but both are hesitant to take them off (Matthew says he will take of his when he is 15...HA!). Doug thought the ride-along might help them get used to balancing  and get them ready for no training wheels. So we finally hooked it  up tonight and Doug took the kids for a ride. It was a HUGE hit!

Matthew was ready to go before Doug even got it hooked up. He was a pro from the start (although he likes to move around along, which doesn't help Doug!) and had SO much fun!

I couldn't get a good close up shot of his face, but I can assure you there was a perma-grin on the entire time he was riding!

Evelyn was pretty uneasy and nervous about getting on, but after some tears and hugs and coaxing, she got brave and did it. 

She, too, LOVED it once she got the hang of it!

They both could have rode all night.. but Doug eventually tired out (bless that man of mine for doing the hard part!) and we called it a night. I am sure we will have many many more nights of "bike rides with daddy"!

Let's Go Racin'

The kids love NASCAR racing and motor sports in general. Matthew likes it more than Evelyn, but they both look forward to race day on Sunday. There is a local dirt track close by that we have wanted to take the kids to for a while, and Saturday night we did.

Super excited.. and they have their hearing protection ready to go too! :)

That would be my son RUNNING up the hill to the grandstands. He was SO excited he couldn't stand it! So cute to see him so happy to be at the track!

Totally in his element!!

She sure looked cute, but the flying dirt clods and dust really upset her, so she didn't have as much fun. Doug eventually took her down to a grassy spot away from the track for her to read the book she brought.

The dust wasn't fun for Matthew either. He was so conflicted... he wanted to watch the races so bad but also wanted go home away from the dust which was stinging his eyes. He stuck in out for a while then was done. We were there for a couple of hours and learned a lot about the track. We will be back, but come a little more prepared next time.

A fun family night none the less, tho!!