You Don't See That Every Day

Dear Friend overseas, I haven't been too good at keeping in touch, and I apologize for that. But you know how summer gets around here! Let me catch you up on the month of August at least. I have to do that before I can post back-to-school pictures. The Cousins came to town. We're naming this summer the Summer of the Cousins. In July as I posted earlier, my kids got to hang out with all their paternal cousins - which hasn't happened ...ever. In August we had cousins come to stay at our place. Which involved the necessary trip to the Oregon coast, since it was in the triple digits at home! What a beautiful day it was too! No wind, warm and just about perfect. It also included the traditional damming-of-a-river. Some of them worked hard at it. We had the traditional fare at Mo's restaurant and ended the day with ice cream. We also spent one of the hot afternoons at a local aquatic center. I got up the courage to go down the big twisty slide, but no way ...

We made it to the fair this year. Not just once, but twice!! Because of whatever reason, the powers that be offered admission for .25 on Thursday. How could be say no to that price? My sister and I loaded the kids and drove on over. (Cue Beverly Hillbillies music in my mind) We got there soon after it opened, which was nice since there were less people to walk through. We enjoyed some shows, some animals, some exhibits. We were able to check on The Girl who Bakes' 4-H exhibit. As we wandered through the baked goods, we found her plate with the beautiful words "Reserve Champion" on the tag. Woohoo! My girl can cook! We took in the dog show - a favorite every year. And we had to partake of the ice cream offered by the Dairy Women of Oregon. It was enough for 25 cents. But we had to go again. We had free tickets from the kids' library reading program, and two of the family members didn't get to go with us on Thursday. So we picked Monday as the day. Once again,...

"It wouldn't be a fair without a horse ride ." That pretty much summed up one daughter's trip to the county fair. I took all 5 kids down to the fair last Friday; it was the first time for all of us to be at this fair (we usually go to one closer to us). But because my daughter, the Chef, had her 4-H entries in this fair we had to go and see how she did. And boy were we pleased! This was her first year in the 4-H program, and I am so thankful our friend put this all together. She entered cookies, biscuits, a short story and a skit. With the the edible entries, she also had an interview she had to do for the judges. We hadn't prepared for that, but I think she did ok. Her cookies were marked "Excellent" and got a blue ribbon. Her story was marked interesting, and got a blue ribbon. Her skit, which she did with 3 friends (also in 4-H) got a blue ribbon. And her biscuits!! Well, if this was 100 hundred years ago, we would probably already have her engaged...

We seem to pack it all in on the weekends, making for a very full Saturday. This round included farming, canning, a trip to the town dump, and a county fair The beginning dawned brighter - and earlier - than I was ready for. I headed out to the farm with the kids before they even had breakfast. It was an in-the-car meal for them that morning. Two of the kids helped my parents with the picking of the garbanzo beans, while I headed to the apple trees with my younger two. I climbed into the trees to pick what I could while the girls played in the bed of the truck. It was like being a kid again, picking those apples up in the tree. They make great applesauce too. I only picked two boxes, but it has been plenty for now.   So while I was away G was busy busy working on the upstairs and the stairway. We have a heat pump installation this week and he wanted to get as much sanding done as he could. Along with painting on the outside on other hard labor, a trip to the dump was n...