Late Summer

Gotta enjoy that sunshine while we still can.....

Let'er Buck!

After missing last year's Round-Up, we were all very ready for 2012! It's a pilgrimage of sorts....

Cousins Tyler, Ella, and Hank waiting for the parade.

Miri, Ella, and Aleaha.

"It's coming, it's coming!!"

Cousins Ira, Sam, Tyler, and Hank stand for the parade of Ol' Glory, carried by the beautiful Horse-Indian team from Happy Canyon, Chinook and Bryson Bronson.

Miri loved watching the 102 American flags go by.

The animals were amazing. Here's a 6-up oxen team, which was pulling a tripple wagon. Same team later performs in Happy Canyon, negotiating a very tight turn-around. Hail to the beasts and their trainers!

Daddy spectates from our Friday seats.

It was hot, so we put up Aleaha's mop of hair.

Our Saturday seats are totally rockin'. This was the view, with a bull loaded and awaiting his cowboy. 

The cowboy is mounted and the chute-puller is ready. 

They are out of the chute!

And for a moment, he's still on!

And then suddenly, he's eating a dirt sandwich. Sorry, man.

The bull looked right at us and almost winked.

He had to be encouraged to leave the arena.

Great view for the barrel racing, too.

This shot shows just what distance these horses have to cover. Could barely get all three barrels in the same shot.

Mommy and GrammaBon took all the kids to see Happy Canyon. Aleaha had seen it, but she didn't really remember details. Their favorite part was when the outhouse blew up and the rolls of TP went sky-high and fell into the orchestra pit. They are still laughing about that days later. They also have a rudimentary understanding that the White People were "not very nice" to the Indians, and that was "very sad". They also felt the treatment of the deer and rabbits (who were, uh, expired), was notable.

First Day of First Grade

 Aleaha really missed her teachers and her friends, and we all missed the routine.

She is ready to go back!

All About Them (all of the time??)

Aleaha is all about doing things that are challenging and fun. Mostly fun, of course. And that wuold be fun according to her, naturally. She's been working lately on her hand-eye coordination with Super Mario Brothers (hmm, not so sure that's a skill that needs to be sharpened, but she's focused, at least). She gave Mom some help recently by peeling carrots, and did a great job. Now there's a useful skill 'round these parts. Get thee to the chores!

Miri is....well...Miri is her own little person. Can you tell just by looking? If I posted audio, you'd know, for sure.

 

Above is one of her favorite outfits lately. An easy-going dress, paired with her cowgirl boots. At least it's all easy-on, easy-off. She definetely a livewire. Not much mellow going on with this one.

Ending the Summer with the State Fair

The last fair of the year....and the biggest! We missed Smokey Bear (ahem, Smokey, we talked you up a lot, and you weren't around....what gives, man?!?!) We had to scarf our overpriced dinner while standing/kneeling in the grass and blazing sunlight. Oh well. Then it was on to the rides! Wow, you can blow through $50 too fast....

 

First stop, the Flying Tigers. Because they know all about those from Lane county.

Then onto one of the kiddie roller coasters. Miri was not a happy kid...we were afraid they were going to have to stop the ride. Those shrieks were pretty bad.

Glad to get off the danged thing. (And to think she later insisted on going on the HUGE swing ride that takes people way up in the air! We told her you have to be 25 years old and weigh about 225 lbs to do that ride. From the other people there, that would seem to be the requirements.)

The canoes were a smart next stop to calm the nerves.

And then we took in a new ride, fashioned something like a hot air balloon.

For her "solo" ride (they each got one), Miri picked the cars that were hooked together like a train. She wanted to be in front. And boy, was she happy on this one!

It was sort of a rough start due to operator error (it's not good PR for them to shout out, "But I never got trained on this one!!"...). Miri was big smiles all through it.

She worked really hard to keep that car right on its track. Uh-huh....yeah....

Before we left, we promised to visit the face painters. These were the real deal! Stage-worthy, for sure. Of course, Aleaha's pick was to be black and purple, her favorite colors.

Cute? Maybe slightly freaky? Lookout Circque du Soleil.

Miri wanted a zebra. She even told the man, "like the shirt of dat wady dere" (the lady in line behind us). I think she thought her face would be painted in a sort of an all-over zebra-camo.

What she got was an actual zebra on her cheek. Not terrible, but not quite what she envisioned. (And what zebra has a tail like that?) Still cute though.

Pics with Daddy made everyone smile.

Cuties!

Our First Visit from the Tooth Fairy

It's been a long wait for Aleaha to lose her first tooth. In the end, she chose needlenose pliers to help it along. She was truly quite brave, but then she broke down a bit over it actually being out. Maybe the anticipation was more fun than the result. In any case, the Tooth Fairy visited last night, and she's thought of a hundred things to do with that dollar bill.

It was a veritable lifetime wait for her to reach this milestone, but a short time for us as parents, of course. We still remember our toothless grinner baby.

Polk Co. and Lane Co. Fairs

We were fortunate to carve out time to hit the Polk County fair and Lane County fair. These kiddos never tire of the rides, the food, and even the checking out of the chickens and rabbits and sheep and all other critters. (Yes, fellow parents, the Fun Fund is about broke by now!)

Riding the ladybugs makes Miri smile...

...but it's a little pedestrian for Aleaha. (We have concluded that, after several carnivals this summer and seeing that same expression, even when she is loving a ride, this is her game face.)

An opportunistic shot of a full mouth of teeth....we are expecting she'll start losing them any day now. One is gross-me-out wiggly.

The Lane Co fair had some new and awesome rides. The helicopter was fun (terrible shots, I know).

And the carousel.

(This is what most of my shots from that night look like! UGH!!)

There was a cool Flying Sharks (or Tigers or something like that) ride, which went slowly on the straight stretch and whipped the kids around the corners. Yikes - Parents were scared, but the kids loved it.

Mommy spied a canoe ride that just might make Aleaha smile. At the beginning, she gripped the boat tightly.

But she did eventually crack that smile.

We all downed some yummy ice cream confections before driving home.

Can't resist a crazy cat pic. The Juicer sleeps on this pony (in our livingroom) each day. He often burries his face into the pony's mane. Miri and Aleaha have made us promise we will keep the pony, past when they can't use it anymore, "because the cat needs it!"