Weekend Fun

We went to Woodburn to watch Daddy race. Miri points out where he is, in One Hot Chili Pepper! (yes, it's far in the distance. What, you didn't want a shot of the back of these 2 kids' heads??)

The kids had a rousing good time. I tried to get a "smiley shot", but not everyone complied. So we went with "crazy shots".

Gramma and Grampa stopped in a couple of places on their way over to buy peaches, so we canned them on Sunday. It takes a while, but it's a great feeling to put up the harvest!



Lately

It's harvest time! The grass seed fields around the house have been cut, threshed, and baled. It's been fun to watch. It's not been fun to clean up after, however. (lots of dust blowing around)

Miri in a recent let's-go-feed-the-horses outfit.

Gramma Patty entertained the girls with many rounds of "This Little Piggy" on their toes.

Sharing a moment.

Miri had a dentist appointment, and she was a very good patient. She was allowed to pick something special from the treasure chest of jimcracks, and she chose ruby stick-on earrings. They don't last long, but they are fun!

Fair Fun

Miri's first go-to ride was the ponies! For some reason, Aleaha didn't want to ride this time....probably because she sees the irony of a pony going in a circle, when she has graduated to horses that she can steer herself.

They took on the big green dragon again this year. Miri loved it. Aleaha liked it too, but you just can't tell from her deadpan expression. She is a serious rider on these things.

Another view of Miri with a gigantic smile and Aleaha with her serious face.

Miri was all about the 4-wheelers!

More serious face. (But she swears she's having a good time.)

Gotta take in those spaceships. They studied the ride ahead of time to learn which ships are not fully functional. Cuz that's no fun to get in one that won't go up and down on command!

More of that serious face.

And here's what we get when we request a smile. (It's worse!)

The helicopters were fun for the kids....

But not so much for the parents! (notice the safety inspection tag expired over 10 months ago  - WTH??)

The honeybear ride has a turn bar inside to make it spin. Fortunately, our kids didn't make it go too fast. (Also, it takes a special tool to unlock the gate and get kids in and out. Bet that doesn't work well in an emergency, when a parent needs their kid out pronto.)

Facepainting is always fun. There was an interesting difference in speed between the artist who worked on Miri (who made 5 drawings) and the one who worked on Aleaha (who made 1 drawing in the same amount of time.)

This was the biggest hit of the visit -- the bungee jumping! While we stood and listened to Blue Oyster Cult, the girls spent all our money on this contraption. And they loved it!

Waaaay up in the air (funky colors because the sun was setting and I had to lighten the pic)

Hmm, how much do I entrust my delicate little 4-yr-old to a kid with blue hair?? Mommy was saying her prayers the whole time, naturally.

She didn't weigh enough to make it really go up like Aleaha did, but this was high enough!

Makeovers

The girls have been asking me if they could do "makeovers", like the fun that they've had when playing with cousin Ella. I have hesitated, because I don't want this Make-Up Thing to start too soon. But then, like the Princess Thing, I'm realizing that if I just let it run its course a bit, it might lessen the strength of the hurricane, so to speak. So, I dug out the little samples I've been saving (apparently for this purpose!), and I let them revel in playing together. Nicely. For 20 min. While I made dinner. Such peace!

The results are sometimes a bit interesting. Application is fun, so it often goes overboard.

Here, Piggie-Piggie!

We're back in business (I mean, pigness)!

After a hog-raising hiatus last year due to availability issues, we are happy to be hosting another set. Just hope the cost of the feed doesn't put us in the poor-house before they go to live in the freezer.

The new pen is ready to receive. We've hotwired it inside (to keep piggies in) and outside (to keep coyotes out).

Meet Elvis, the daddy.

Meet Big Bertha, one of the mommies.

And here are the Seven Dwarfs....ah, but not for long!

Local Wildlife

Mr. and Mrs. White Bird used to hang out in in the grass seed fields earlier this spring. Then they disappeared for a while. And now they are back, roosting in the trees by the pond.

We spied a couple of bunnies by the barn, munching on clover. Can you see them?

What's Aleaha been up to lately?

Aleaha has wanted to do "lots of different types of lessons" this summer. For now, we are doing our own riding lessons and she just started swimming lessons.....

 Someday we hope for a training ring, but for now, we can use the barn paddock.

First lesson was gentle and fun.

In this task, she was being asked to jump into the water. So first it's hands waaaaaay up.....

....then ready to jump....

...and then, uh, then she chose to just ease herself in slowly. 

She didn't want to make a splash.

(the other kid sure did, though!)