The 'Ol State Fair

I hadn't yet recuperated from our camping trip and Jimmy starts talking about going to the State Fair. When I was less than enthusiastic he accused me of wanting to be lazy and sit around and watch TV.

Ok, okay, I said. We can go. Who doesn't love the State Fair, after all?

He said he'd be home by 2:30 on Friday. I made some noise about that being kind of late, and he assured me we'd only be there for 3 hours anyway.

It turned out to be more than 4. That's what I love about the State Fair. There's so much to do! We looked at livestock, sat on tractors, ate junk, watched Chinese acrobats, rode rides, and ate more junk.

The kids LOVED the petting zoo.

I was surprised that James wanted to pet the animals. But he was in 7th heaven.

And when it came time for the rides he really wanted to get on. Too bad the only thing he can ride is the merry-go-round. He loved it.

Last year DJ wasn't tall enough for most of the kiddie rides, but this year he was. Unfortunately it was going on 9pm so the kids only got a couple rides each. Can you believe the carousel was $4 each? Man, rides are expensive.

Hey look! We saw Obama! Couldn't pass up the chance for a photo op.

And then they all fell asleep on the way home and got to go to bed in their clothes and without brushing their teeth.

So. A trip to the coast was had. It was a...trippy trip. Why oh why did I ever think it would be a good idea to take my 3 kids on a camping trip? Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for taking the dog while we were gone. If I'd have had to deal with her as well as the children I might have returned with no hair.

So we headed to Florence, SUV loaded to the gills and just this side of Mapleton I hear from the back seat, "Mom! DJ's throwing up!" Oh yes, he did. We stopped, cleaned him up, and then the baby started screaming. So we stuffed food in everyone's mouths (except DJ) and got back underway.

We had just enough daylight for Jimmy to get the tent set up, and we had to go with sandwiches instead of steak for dinner because of the time. Then of course we had to do s'mores. So now it's going on 10 or so and it's time to get ready for bed. I knew I should have gotten myself ready first so I could deal with the children, but Jimmy jumped the gun. When he took the baby in the tent he started screaming bloody murder (James, not Jimmy). I'm trying to take out my contacts, by lantern light, brush my teeth, and batten down the hatches for the night, and all the while James screams on. Finally I'm done and then the screws really turn. Helen is unahppy with the sleeping arrangements and becomes disagreeable. DJ starts screaming because everyone else is screaming, and he ends up with the me and the baby, who is finally starting to calm down, and then the baby starts up again because DJ is invading his space and oh my god will it ever stop? Jimmy ends up scrunched under DJ's youth-sized sleeping bag because he's trying to keep the peace and we finally all drift off.

I wake up just and hour or so later, butt on the ground, because the stupid air mattress is leaking. We just bought a brand-new one because the old one leaked and this wasn't any better. Sidebar - the air mattresses that cost over $100 tend to keep their air. We obviously didn't spend that much. Then you all know me. I had to pee. Stupid bathroom lights are turned off. Have you ever gone to the bathroom while trying to hold a flashlight? Tricky!

Next day, showers. Jimmy and I spent all week trying to figure out how this would work. They had a handicapped shower stall, fairly big, and we all crammed in. Soaped, rinsed and dressed each kid seperately and tried to keep them away from the water afterwards. DJ falls in a puddle first thing after he's dressed.

We're all cleaned up and ready to explore Honeyman state park, and the baby falls asleep. The two big kids and I rode bikes to the playground. That was fun. Came back to camp just in time for baby to wake up and we went for lunch at Mo's. Gotta have some Mo's clam chowder when you're on the coast, you know. Then it was time to go to the beach. And the boys fell asleep. So Helen and I hiked over the dune to the beach (we were at North Jetty). It's been awhile since I was at that park, and I'd forgotten that there were some sand dunes to cross. We jumped a few waves then Helen wanted to make sand castles. And guess where the sand toys were? The back of the truck. I was so excited to make a real castle with our molds, and then I forget them. I'm not crossing that dune just to get a few toys. I think we did all right though.

Next was a stop at Freddies. How great is it that Florence finally got one of those? We filled up with gas and Jimmy got a sleeping bag, and the indgredients I'd forgotten for French Toast. (Monday morning conversation -"Are all the dry ingredients packed?" -Jimmy. "Uh, I think so... just a minute..." *Sena gets distracted by something or someone* *Jimmy assumes all is well, but ingredients for french toast and pancakes are left behind*)

We had Jimmy's yummy steak that night and left the dishes to go on a family bike ride. That was probably the highlight of the trip. We rode until it was too dark to see. A much better evening routine followed, except for the part where I was up twice to pee and the mattress still lost air. I decided to get up after I had a dream that I was back home in my comfy bed with the bathroom not 10 feet away from said bed. My grand plan was to make a fire, make some coffee, and sit down with my book. Great plan, except for the part where it started raining right after I built the fire. I instead showered, and returned to camp to find 2 out of three children awake. Jimmy and decide to break camp, but then the drizzle stops. I made breakfast (after all, we did buy stuff) b ecause I knew the kiddos couldn't make it until after we packed up. I started raining in earnest while we ate. DJ and Helen abandoned ship to return to the tent, but James and I finished our food. The rain tapered off and the kids and I walked the garbage to the cans and wandered the park while Jimmy put almost everything away. By himself. The man's a saint, I tell you.

A stop at the Gingerbread Village for lunch and respite and Mom and Dad's for a few hours, and we were ready to come home. No one fell into the firepit, but James fell off the picnic table bench about 500 times. DJ finally got the hang of riding his bike, except for using the brakes. For stopping he uses his toes. We need to get him some steel-toed boots. I told Helen how happy I was that they were riding their bikes so much (they rode in front of our site all the time) and she said it was because there was nothing else to do :)

Was it worth it? You tell me.

Summer Olympics - BMX racing

I was furious when I heard that the International Olympic Committee was dropping baseball and softball and adding BMX racing. And I thought synchronized diving was a weird sport.

But then I watched a race. And another. And another. And I kinda changed my mind about it. I think it's because it reminds me of playing Super Mario Kart. I kept expecting to see the bikers do a trick when they caught air and get a speed boost when they landed :)

Here's a link to a montage of great jumps from this year's competition.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0820_SD_CBB_MN_L1033

I'm off to watch a video of the spectacular crashes next.

But first I have to take another opportunity (some of you have heard this already) to complain about the bikinis worn by the female beach volleyball players. Now I'm no prude, but those skimpy things just seem wildly inappropriate. Lest I be accused of gender bias, let me also point out the skimpiness of the male divers' speedos. Good thing those are cinched on tight or we might be getting a peep show when they land in the water.

Debut post

I've decided to take the plunge and try this blogging thing. I thought this would be a nifty way to keep in touch with friends and family (actually I got tired of googling myself and having nothing show up).

So how 'bout I start with a picture of me and the kids at the Coast last weekend? We (Mom, Dad, Christi, Laurel, Tommy, Andrea, Ted, Jimmy, the kids, and myself) went to Florence to spread Lisa (and Marty's) ashes on what would have been her 48th birthday. It was almost 100 degrees in the valley and the Coast was foggy, dark, and stormy. It was like Lisa special ordered the weather for us!

Laurel booked this nifty executive suite at Driftwood Shores for everyone. We stayed down the road a piece at another motel because Driftwood Shores is NOT PET FRIENDLY! Lisa used to sneak her kitty in when she stayed there, but we didn't think we could fit Kelsey under our coats.

Our little family is headed back there next week for a 3-day stay at Honeyman state park. We had to buy a new tent (14'x12'), a sleeping bag for DJ, and another air mattress. I hope we can fit everything in that sucker. Jimmy and I got bikes and we had to buy a 5 bike hitch for his Yukon. We are going to be loaded to the gills. I'm sure we'll be getting about 5 miles to the gallon this trip.

There you have it. I hope some of you will join me in the blogosphere and we can have a party. Creating an account is FREE and then you can leave comments and such - maybe even start your own blog!