Benton Co. Fair

It was finally time for our fair. Read: time to spend too much money on pony rides, carnival rides, and fair fare. To their credit, our fair organizers did have a better rides for the kiddie set this year.

Gotta put hard-earned money onto the overused, tired ponies. It's bad enough to calculate the cost per ride of our own horses, but these really hurt the wallet. But hey, it's once a year, and I griped about them not having ponies last year, so you better believe your bank account I shelled out too much for some rides this year.

The girls got to pick their rides, and they both wanted to ride the big green dragon rollercoaster together.

Miri had fun, but had quite a grip on that safety bar. Um, more on this later....

The spaceship was popular. Yes, they have seen Star Wars. (And yes, they think Princess Leia is one helluva fighter-girl.) 

The carousel never fails to make them happy.

For the big slide, Miri hooked up with one of Aleaha's friends from Muddy Creek, who helped her down. So very nice!

Went back the next day, and of course hit the ponies, and...

...the carousel...

and the spaceship. However, they agreed to swap positions. Not so cool in the end, because Miri didn't know how to make it "go up in the air". So they rode it Skywalker-on-Tatooine-style (4 inches off the ground).

That second day, Miri insisted she wanted to use one of her tickets to ride on that green dragon again, but Aleaha didn't want to. So Miri rode it with some other little girl (not Aleaha). It didn't go well. She was panicked. The other girl was not so thrilled to have a little scared girl next to her.

They got their faces painted, which was a big deal. You can't tell they were happy - what's up with that?

Putting on a Show

We were treated to some after-dinner entertainment the other evening, with the girls dancing and doing some fancy bike-riding on the back deck. They had even done a rehearsal for a few nights. It was quite a show.

There was a lot of action on stage....

A few near misses....

Some trick riding...

(no hands)

Lots of interpretive dance...

A little drama (what? with her? nooo!!!).... 

A big combo for the finale...

And a bow.

Helping with Hay

We need to put up a lot of hay in the barn each year to feed our critters. Summer is the season when we are working hard to bring it home, stack it, and ensure it's preserved for the whole next year.

Miri and Aleaha like move the last bale. These bales average 125 pounds each, so it takes a bit of work to move them.

Afterwards, Aleaha was in a funk, and Miri was purposely copycatting her (which drives her crazy, of course).

Linn County Fair

It was fair time for our neighboring county, and we are all about county fairs. We bee-lined for the ponies, first thing. (The expression on the pony-leading-kid's face is unexplainable....what in the world is he doing?)

Miri had a grand time. Aleaha began to wonder why she had the Weirdo Wrangler Kid walking with her pony. Totally not necessary, because, as she said, "Where could that pony have gone, anyway, Mom?"

Next up was the airplane ride. They could both go together, and it seemed to meet their expectations. Aleaha was clearly not quite as thrilled as Miri or as much as she was for this ride three years ago and two years ago.

This shot is a reminder of what happens when you try to use a camera with too much shutter lag and you don't predict how far in advance you have to depress the button before you will actually capture a view. You get a shot of the airplane behind the ones your own kids are sitting in. Nice. But this shot also serves as a preview to the "ride" they wanted to head to next....that giant structure in the background with the wo towers, the wooden swing bridges, and the long tube slide. Here's what happened there...

They started out together.

Aleaha was showing Miri how to get going.

Aleaha scrambles up the rope-ramp pretty easily, but Miri decides this isn't her cuppa entertainment. Fortunately, the Really Nice Ride Attendant refunded Miri's ticket. 

Aleaha kept going. And going. It was a little hard to watch.

Miri suggested they go instead on the motorcycles...

...and the cars. (Yes, Daddy, you have a speed-baby.)

Aleaha spent her last ticket on her overall fave, the classic carousel.

Many Moods of Marys

Marys Peak (I'm told there's no apostrophe, as it's not supposed to be a possessive form of "Mary") is a favorite view from our barn. I happened to catch this the other night, at about 9 o'clock.

And then 3 days later, at exactly the same time of night, we had quite the thunderstorm (unusual around here), and I snapped this.

We missed her!

She's back with us. It was a long 8 days for Mommy & Daddy & Sister to be without her. Special thanks to Aunt Jodi and family, Aunt Kelly and family, and GrammaBon and Grandpa for hosting her.

  

(Photo courtesy of Aunt Jan.)

Miri Loves to Frolic

With Aleaha spending time with family in EO, we had the unusual circumstance of only one kiddo over the weekend. We made visits to the Frolic on Friday and Saturday evenings, mainly to visit Pablo, aka Miri's Most Absolute Favorite Pony in the World.

She rode him last year at the Frolic pony rides.... and she did not stop talking about him all year. Every opportunity she got to name a new horsie, it was to be called "Pablo".

She talked Mommy into buying a new hat. Oh, what the heck - it matched her shirt. How long will they be this doggone cute?

Back again the next day, atop good ol' Pablo. (Yes, Mommy asked if he was for sale. No, he's not. It's probably a good thing, because I coulda walked him home right on the spot!)

She didn't have Aleaha to show her the ropes (literally) on the play structures, but she was rearin' to go anyway. Here she is, making headway up the Really Tall Climby Thing. It was lookin' good, for a moment....

...until she slipped.

So she started back up again.

But she made the mistake of looking down. And, like so many other things in life, if you look down, that's where you'll end up. She plummeted to the bottom again, and was DONE, thankyouverymuch, with that structure.

She spied one that had a more gradual climb, then a giant-ass relatively controlled, intentional slide back down. We didn't think she would do it, but by golly that brave little thing rode it out all by herself.

She's a character.

I had the lucky opportunity to see my cousin Jennifer, who was riding in a Cycle Oregon event where I volunteered at a break station. Very cool to catch up with her!