I'm trying to do a bit of blog catch up - a lot, actually. We made it to Austin and got our Internet connected yesterday afternoon and before I get too far behind, I want to try to catch up, before it becomes to overwhelming!
While the kids and I were in Oregon, we did lots of fun stuff. Did I mention that my brother, Dan, and his family now live in Bend? We got to play with cousins! They loved all their girl cousins! We also got to meet the newest cousin, baby Karlee, the day after she was born. We went to a movie with our cousins, and spent the day at the High Desert Museum with Grammie - the kids LOVED it there - they didn't want to leave after a full day! We of course had to stop by Goodies in Bend and run around a bit at Drake Park. We also spent plenty of time just chillin' in Grammie and Grandpa's great yard. The kids loved the kiddie pool (and loved streaking around the yard sans clothes). It was also a treat that the Olympics were on when we were visiting, because we don't have TV at our house - so we got to watch a bunch of Olympics in the evening with Grammie and Grandpa. I kind of threw schedules out the window and the kids missed a lot of naps and stayed up way too late - but we all had fun and rolled with it. I think it's good to teach kids to be flexible and adaptable (ha ha). I think the gymnastics was all of our favorite - and the kids started running around pretending to do a lot of different sports - especially gymnastics, but they also tried out volleyball and water polo. Sawyer got so excited about the gymnastics he just thought he could run and start flipping like they did. He gave it a good try, and to my surprise, he did a few pretty accurate front handsprings. Once, though, he over-rotated and hit his cheek on the hard wood floor and got a beautiful bruise. Maybe I should sign the kid up for a tumbling class?
Anyway, one evening, we went to the County Fair. I hadn't been in years, and figured it would probably be years before we went again, so why not enjoy? Grandpa, Grammie, and Aunt Tia came with us to enjoy some good fair food and a few fun rides.
I didn't bring a stroller, so my mom pulled out the stroller she used with my youngest sister (now 21). We kept joking about our truly "vintage" stroller. Hey, it worked great and we even got both kids in so we wouldn't lose them in the crowds. They were super excited about the fair.
Sawyer trying out the big tractors. |
I think Mr. Billy had a crush on Aunt Tia! |
And the part I was most excited about...I let them try cotton candy for the first time! I remember loving it as a kid. Aunt Tia found some fresh cotton candy in all these flavors I hadn't heard of and she got them each their own. Aspen, surprisingly, didn't love it - but Sawyer thought it was. They shared some with me, which I enjoyed as well (I've had a sweet tooth lately and I really should watch it, but hey, how often do you get cotton candy at the fair?)
I bought a book of tickets for the kids, thinking that the kiddie rides would be less tickets so they would get more rides - but surprisingly, they were just about the same as the big rides! Oh yeah, that's one reason I don't go to the fair often - it's kind of a rip off! But oh well - we were having fun! So, we got some tickets and I was going to divide them between the kids...until we went to the first ride and we found out Aspen was too little to ride all but one ride. I kind of forgot about the height restrictions - and Sawyer barely made it himself (my kids are small). Aspen was kind of disappointed, but was a great sport about it. We let her ride the one ride she could a couple of times - and since hardly anyone else was on it, the operators let them go around several times more than usual. The canoes. Aspen was thrilled! They would wave everytime they came around, and Grandpa would give them high fives. Their excitement was contagious!
Sawyer, who is usually hesitant about jumping to try new things (he's a bit more cautious, in general, which has both it's advantages and disadvantages at times) surprised us all and was super excited to ride all the rides he could! He let me go on the roller coaster with him, and I was surprised he wasn't nervous, just so excited! It was really cute. I think he liked that Grandpa, Grammie, and Tia were watching him, too.
While Grammie and Tia snuck off to ride a "big kid" ride, I sat with my dad and the kids on a bench. The kids ran around, and I sat and was nursing Hazel. A nice lady (probably close to my age) sat down on the bench and we started talking. I am fairly certain she was eyeing my dad and thinking "wow, he robbed the cradle" until I explained how I was visiting my parents and that was my dad - not husband. It was kind of comical. Aspen really loved Grandpa - and I have to say I think she's a bit of twinkle in her Grandpa's eye, too. She's not only a cute girl, but her personality is so easy going and fun - who can help but love the girl? It was so much fun to spend some time with my parents, my twin sister, and my brother Dan and sister Jamie as well. I wish it happened more often. Of course, now that we live in Texas, it might not happen as often as we would like. Which is one reason I took the trip and we stayed almost ten days. We had a great time! AND I survived the long-ish drive solo with three kids. Having now driven all the way to Austin, 6-8 hours in the car seems like nothing. I'll post more about our looooong drive soon - and keep catching up little by little in the next few days.
Thanks again, Grammie and Grandpa - we sure had a great time with you, and at the fair. I guess next time we visit we'll have to make our visit coincide with the fair again because Sawyer has asked several times if when we visit next we can go to the fair again. It was a fun evening - thanks!
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