A Fairly Great Day!

Every year the girls get to spend the Sunday of Labor Day weekend at the carnival. The Prosser Chamber of Commerce sells all-you-can-ride wristbands for a discounted price if purchased in advance. They always have a great time riding the rides. I do my best not to think about all the people that have puked on the very seats they are sitting in. While we were there today someone threw up on three of the rides. They do a great job of cleaning up though. (wink-wink) They use a hose if one is handy or a bucket of water. I'm pretty sure that gets rid of all the germs. (wink-wink again)


Lauryn and her cousin Nico are having a water gun race. Nico won a little stuffed animal for his little sister, Ryli. Thankfully the carnival wasn't loaded with games that interested her. She loves to play and could spend a fortune to win a bulk stuffed animal. We've come home with some interesting "prizes" in the past. Today we came home empty handed except for the bag of cotton candy she conned her dad into buying.This is one of the pukey rides. You can barely see Jen behind her cousin Steve. She went on this bugger 5 times today.
Here is Jen upside down. I know she's in there somewhere!
Whew...they landed safely!
After early evening the girls tried to avoid #4 on the Tilt-A-Whirl. Yep...you guessed it. Someone blew chunks. Lauryn was really mad because "#4 is the fastest one"! It's clean though because the worker rinsed it out with a bucket of water. This isn't funny but...well, yes it's funny (now)! While my girls were riding the umbrella ride there was an employee welding on it. I didn't get a good photo but there were welding sparks flying all over. Boy...what they do to keep our kids safe;)
Jen was so happy to be able to spend the day with Ellie! She looks forward to riding with her every year. Lauryn and Nico finishing a ride. Lauryn had to sit on her flip flops so she didn't lose em'. Christopher and Lauryn taking a ride together.
Lauryn totally loves the bumper cars. I could sit and watch this ride all day. I know this doesn't sound right but it makes me giggle whenever I see kids smack into each other and their heads jerk.

The annual carnival day is over. We'll be marking it on the calendar for next year though.

Happy Plants!

I absolutely love this time of year...and so do the plants! I just wish I was home a little more to enjoy them. See that overgrown garden way in the back? Well Blake and I planted a bazillion (a.k.a. 180) bulbs last spring from Costco. Our plan was to hide the tomato plants because they aren't the most lovely to look at. Well...when green "things" started popping through the dirt, we had a hard time figuring out what was a weed and what was a plant. I think we actually pulled up a lot of flowers that we thought were weeds. (Oops!) We had one plant that looked awesome but we couldn't remember planting that many of one type in a certain area. My grandma came out for a birthday party in May so we asked her if she could tell if it was a weed or a plant. Guess what she did?! She tasted it! Yep...she took a bite and determined that it was a weed. We weren't so sure about her "technique" so my uncle Bill took a sample to the experiement station had had a weed doctor friend verify that - yes, it is a weed. I went out this morning to pick some tomatoes and discovered that not only are the plants happy, but the weeds are having the time of their life. It couldn't be that we have ideal conditions for growing right now and Blake loves to water(too much). I took a few bowls out and here is what I brought back.
I guess I need to work on my photo skills because this doesn't look like much but I have enough tomatoes picked to supply a small country. I still have more on the vine but I sort of got tired of picking. I'm sure I'll get motivated again sometime soon;
Mornings this time of the year are the best. Everything outside just makes me smile. I went out front to peek at my flower pots. I'm trying to decide what I want to plant in them for fall. I'm sure Teresa will have some great idea for me. Last year when I went out to Yellow Rose to buy my fall plants, her ideas were much better than mine. She is amazing! Blake and I have really come to enjoy working in the yard with our plants. We owe a lot of that to Teresa and her excitement. We spent a lot of time with her when we started our landscaping and she was so helpful. It totally cracks me up that our last house had like three different plants alternated around it. This one...I can't even count.

School Daze

Whew...what a day! I always forget how absolutely exhausting the 1st day of school is. Sleep is an event that rarely occurs the night before as our nerves won't let us rest. Lauryn and Jenna were still awake at 11:00! They tried counting sheep, counting leaves on trees, putting on sleep masks, turning on a fan, and who knows what else. Our morning getting ready went great until it was time to go out front to snap our yearly pictures. Jen promptly went to the front porch flower pots and waited for me so she could "get it over with". As soon as she was ready I turned my camera on and guess what? Yep...my battery was dead. Mom always tells me I need a back-up. I guess I should listen to her wise advice. I quickly had the girls get in the car and called mom on the way to town to see if one of her cameras were available. Phew...she saved the day. My mom not only has extra batteries but she has several memory cards and extra cameras. I grabbed the first one I could find, snapped a couple pics in mom and dad's front yard and dashed off to school. Nothing like adding a little stress to the morning of the first day of school.

The girls had a lot of fun shopping this year. Other than a few online purchases, we did all of our school shopping in one marathon day. It is so much fun having girls! They are slowly learning that sometimes when we pull into the garage we have to run in and hide some bags before Blake comes in. He sometimes just doesn't appreciate the value of a good shopping day!!

Jen and Lauryn's favorite back-to-school shopping spots: The Gap, Old Navy, Limited Too, Urban Outfitter, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Target, FootAction, Lady Footlocker,...

Jen started the 6th grade. I can't even believe that she is in middle school! It seems like just yesterday that she was starting 3rd grade at Heights. I was afraid that having me at school would totally embarrass her but I was happily surprised. She came up to me in the hall before school to give me a hug and tell me she loves me. She popped by with a friend between classes just to say hi. I am so lucky to have such a genuinely sweet daughter like Jenna! I'm still trying to figure out where she gets it?!

Lauryn made the big move up to Heights Elementary this year. She didn't even want anyone to take her. Usually Blake follows the bus from my school and walks her to class. They had back to school night last night so some of her fears were eased. She was able to find her room, meet her teacher (Mrs. Larson), and take all of her supplies. This morning she was tickled to be able to walk to Heights from the Middle School. There are a few of us middle school teachers that have Heights children so they will be able to walk together. (Except when it's really cold and Ellen lets them hop on the bus.:) Lauryn is always making us laugh. She totally has my dad's sense of humor. I am so excited for her to have another successful year at school!

Rah! Rah! Rah!

Lauryn had her cousin Kourtney (who is here visiting from Missouri) spend the night this week. They always have a blast together. I went to my room to do a little reading while they were playing. Kourtney found an old cheer uniform so they thought they better do some cheers. (What else do you do in a cheer uniform...right?) Well, they were having so much fun that Jen decided to take the camera in and snap a few pictures. All I could hear was a bunch of giggling! It is so fun to sit back and listen to kids. They totally crack me up!Lauryn and Kourtney grinnin' for the camera.

Kourtney making a goofy face.

Yabba Dabba Doo!

My dad like's to spoil my girls just a tad. He has been talking about buying a street legal golf cart for a few months...and the girls have really been encouraging him. Well last Tuesday he went to purchase one. He wanted to surprise the girls so he left about twenty minutes before me. I pretended that I was looking for an office supply store. I told the girls I must have passed it so I am going to turn around here (in the parking lot of the golf cart store). Lauryn then said, "This is the place where me and Papa looked at the golf cart. It looks just like that one right there. (pointing to the red dream machine). I had pulled up right next to my dad's pickup and trailer. I told the girls that it looked like Papa's pick-up. They both yelled "Pull forward so we can see the license plate!" They then realized it was his and were so excited they could hardly stand it. I had barely stopped the Tahoe and the girls were out ready to run to find Papa (who was still inside.) It was absolutely priceless. I will post more pictures soon but I keep forgetting to pull out my
camera.

These pictures are of Jenna and Papa returning from a trip to the grocery store for some bleach . They had to stop by Burger Ranch for an ice cream cone too!

Shhh...it's a beauty secret!

Some time back Jen and Lauryn decided to have a spa night. The green stuff smeared on their face and the cucumber circles on their eyes help give them a youthful look. They had a great time until it was time to wipe the guacamole type paste off of their faces! I should have just given them some tortilla chips...it would have been easier.