The State Fair

While Ben was bow hunting over Labor Day weekend, Diane and I met cousins down in Salem at the State Fair. I went into the day purposing to have fun despite traffic, long lines and ridiculous prices., and to say "yes" as often as possible. We talked over expectations for the fair and the boys said that they really wanted to see the draft horses, go on two rides, and eat a treat. Clear expectations and good attitudes helped make for a really fun day!

The boys were so excited to see Draft horses. This is such a sweet picture of the boys:

We had lots of fun at the Forest Service booths. Josh and the turtle were friends:

Sam learning how to fight fires

I squeaked out a "yes" when the boys asked to go on a pony ride for a ridiculous amount of money; I'm so glad I did, because all the boys were so thrilled to go on their first horse ride. 

Sam

Don't you love this expression on Josh's face...a little unsure

Seth

Fair food: SO GROSS! AND EXPENSIVE! And the kids called it their favorite food ever. Eating gluten and dairy free is always a bit of a challenge at places like this, but we settled on a turkey leg, curly fries, corn on the cob, and pulled pork nachos.

Seth tackling the turkey leg

Sam's turn

For dessert the twins were thrilled to tried ice cream dots (Seth, Sam)

While we waiting in line for our final ride (the Ferris wheel), for which we had just paid an exorbitant amount of money, it started trickling rain. But we had just bought the tickets and it was our last thing before leaving, so we weren't too concerned about a bit of rain We hung out in line while others started abandoning. Then it REALLY started raining...then it started pouring, and kept pouring. And we were no longer laughing, and Josh was crying and we were soaked. So we huddled under the umbrella next to the line, and hoped to be first on the ride when the rain stopped. Then we found out that the ride wouldn't open for a long time because they had to wipe down each seat and all the wheel spokes. All we could do was laugh and keep a good attitude. 

And then the Lord gave us a wonderful beautiful rainbow as the rain stopped. 

And the boys asked if they could jump in the puddles and I said "yes" because they couldn't get any wetter. And it's a great memory.

Then, because we needed to wait for the rides to be dried off, we headed to the horse arena and got to see a great show: 3 teams of 6 draft horses pulling buggies. It was awesome!

When the draft horse show was over, we headed to the Ferris wheel...and the line was enormous. So we counted our losses and hit the carousel.

Seth on his reindeer

The day ended with soaking wet clothes but full and happy hearts. We were so thankful for Grandma DiDi for joining us and thankful for memories made together.

Ben and Josh's Birthdays

Both Ben and Josh's birthdays were pretty low key this year. Ben's birthday was super hot (102 degrees), so instead of roasting at home we decided to spend the afternoon at Sauvie Island on the beach. It was so much fun and the perfect place to spend a very hot day! We love visiting this beach: there are really cool barges and ships that float by, the boys can safely play in the water, and there is late afternoon shade from some beautiful trees. 

 Several huge barges loaded with sand came by...they were so cool and made some great waves!

Watching the barge

 Ben decided to get crazy and do front flips into the water. The boys thought this was extremely cool.

 Enjoying running from the waves 

 Loving the sand.

 It's so nice to be less worried with the big boys in the water this summer; their swimming has greatly improved and they really enjoy being out a bit deeper without their mother hovering over them.

 Sweet Joshy

 Making castles and dams 

 The boys all made Ben some birthday cards. Josh was very zealous to have Ben see his.

We did a mid-week bbq with the Plato family and celebrated the August birthdays (Ben, Josh and Miriam). The Platos got Josh the coolest bubble gun: it even lights up!

Josh loved standing on the table and blowing all the kids bubbles.

 On Josh's actual birthday, we had the Kessi kids over for playing and a hot dog lunch. Josh felt very special to have friends over for his birthday.

 That evening, Grandpa Deedo and Grandma Didi came over for dinner, presents and ice cream. I love this picture of Sam with Josh opening his new backpack; Sam saw this backpack at Fred Meyers months ago and insisted we get it for Josh for his birthday. It was so thoughtful of him!

 Sam knew Josh would be thrilled...and he was!

Giving traditional thank you hugs

Grandpa and Grandma got Josh a big set of marble works and all the kids have been playing with them non-stop!

 Josh's present from Papa and Titi arrived in the mail right on time and beautifully wrapped.

 They got Josh his very own Calico Critters, so he doesn't have to borrow from the boys all the time.

 I decided to do ice cream cones for dessert (because of food allergies, this was literally Josh's first ice cream cone ever...poor kid!)

 Not bad for gluten and dairy free!

 Happy three-year-old!

Farm Life

Both boys want to be farmers when they grow up, so Glenn and Tani's is a great place for them to visit. They get to see a whole plethora of farm animals, ride four-wheelers, pick berries, shuck freshly picked corn, and they even have a pool! Glenn and Tani's is always full of cousins to play with and animals to feed. It's a wonderful place and they are such kind and generous hosts. The boys and I often spend the day out there (it's about an hour away) when Ben is out of town for business. We're very thankful for them and their support in our lives! We've gone out there a few times this summer and here are some pictures from our experiences:

We got to see a calf that was just a few hours old!

 It was so soft and sweet!

 The boys' swimming skills have grown so much throughout the summer. They can even swim across the pool now!

And they even learned to dive!

These pictures are Sam. He enjoys it more than Seth (Seth doesn't like to get water in his nose)

 Josh, on the other hand, just puts on the swim gear

 And is sometimes coerced into getting in

 But most the time just chills outside the pool; here he's pictured with cousin Selah

Glenn with Seth and cousin Judah  

Tani and Glenn and even kind enough to let all the kids into the hot tub. They might want to sanitize it after this group:

 How many kids can fit on a four-wheeler? All the big kids were riding with Tani, and Josh disappeared. I looked around and finally found him on the four-wheeler as well. I was so surprised that he went right up to the four-wheeler and got on Tani's lap all on his own!

 We got to see newborn bunnies. They were smaller than the palm of the boys' hands!

 Hot dog dinner with cousins and Glenn and Tani 

 Homemade raspberry ice cream that they helped make, with berries they picked!

 Contently hanging out and wrestling in the yard with cousin Judah

 Cousin Melita's boxer dog had puppies and we got to see them when they were only five weeks old! 

(Seth, Sam)

 It was such a precious experience.  

 No: I did not take one home.

 Josh was a bit unsure of the experience

 Especially when the puppy started nursing his neck. "I'm outta here," is the caption for this photo.

 Ending the evening by feeding the cows

 We are so blessed!