Memorial Day

We're headed out to the lake for the weekend. Have a great Memorial weekend and remember the real reason we have this holiday. God bless our soldiers!

And Then It Was Over

Hard to believe another State Fair has come and gone. At the time of this post, we are just getting ready to head home to see some dogs who will be very excited to see us (a good friend has been caring for them for us).

Since this is the end, I thought I'd finish up with some leftover random photos to share. Some were taken just today, and some are from the past couple of weeks that I found tucked away saved in the wrong file (anyone else ever do that?).


I'm hoping when we get home that I can lighten this picture up on the other computer, because it really is such a cute picture of Chelsea and one of her cousins, other than being too dark.







There was a pig sale towards the end of the fair, and well, you know how it goes with those darn pig farmers...you can't turn down a good deal. But, Jay had told me before the fair "You know, I don't think I'll buy any pigs this year." I gave him the "Yes dear, I totally believe you" look, knowing full well that he was full of baloney. Sure enough, I was right because we came home with not 1, but 4 pigs. *sigh*



Before having kids who exhibited at the fair, I had been to the state fair once, and on that day we walked down the main concourse (at that time it was mostly a flea market), and we went to the midway and rode the rides. With our kids, we'd walk through the midway, and they would maybe ride one or two rides, but that's it. This year we never even went into the midway area.




This is a shot of Jay and the kids standing in line at the Cattlemans restaurant on the fairgrounds. This is where Jay gets his favorite "Hot Beef Sundae". This place is so popular that there are two long lines that wrap around the outside of the place. Thankfully the line goes really quick, and yes, the food is so good that it's worth the wait!




Ashley is the dare-devil in our family. She loves rollercoasters of all kinds, and nothing seems to faze her. Her cousin wanted to ride in the air force jet simulator (remember the movie Top Gun? It simulates riding in one of those...sort of). Well, Ashley said she'd go. This shot is right after they were done with the ride. Both loved it and laughed so much they both had tears in their eyes!




I came into the camper one day and found Ashley & Chelsea like this. When asked why in the world they were doing that, they replied "We're bored". Well of course.






Well, there you have it. Some insight into the Iowa State Fair. I hope you've enjoyed my little pictorial tour of the fair over the past couple of weeks. Sara, please consider these past photos as my contribution to the previous 2 weeks of Project 365...LOL.

If you ever decide to visit the Iowa State Fair, be sure to hike up heart attack hill and stop by our camper!

For now, I'm going to sit and reflect on the past 2 weeks of family fun and memories, and then we'll finish getting things packed up so we can head home to lots of wet kisses, and I'm looking forward to going to bed early tonight!

More Random Shots From The Fair

Here's the exhibitor camping area. We are packed in pretty tightly, as you can see. If vehicles park mostly paralellel and get very close to their campers, there is room to get through, but it can get pretty tight.





I went up to the next level to get a shot of the tops of our campers. Our camper is the second one from the right on the bottom row. We are close enough together that no one puts their awning out...there's no room. We do have our patio rug out (as do most people), but that's mostly to protect from the mud when it rains.





This is the home of the worlds greatest cinnamon rolls (according to Austin). A local church has run this stand for many years and it's a great fundraiser for them. They serve meals all day, and congregation members sign up to work 1 hour shifts.






The cultural building houses 4-H, FFA, & open class art works. Everything from photography, paintings, sculptures, woodworking & dollhouses that have been judged.








All items are divided into youth and adult categories, but no matter what the age, I'm always amazed at their abilities. I'd love to have talent like they have!








I always enjoy the dollhouses the most. These people have worked so hard and no detail is too small. Right down to working clocks on the wall, or lights that turn on and off,






They have lace and linen, wallpaper an paint, linoleum and carpet. They really are so fun to look through. This year there were even a few entries that were campers, or buses made into campers. So creative.





Well I'm off to walk around again. I hope you all are having as great of a Thursday as we are!!

More Randomness From The State Fair

I made my way to the fairgrounds flea market today and was pleasantly happy to see that there is no shortage of thing-a-ma-jigs, thing-a-ma-bobs, whats-its, an what-cha-ma-call-its.







After you pick up your do-dad or do-hickey, you can also get the special lady in your life a plastic (no, not silk - 100% plastic) rose wrapped in cellophane. You're sure to win her over with one of those. Shucks, they are only $1.00 each, splurge for a dozen! So many nice things can be found at the flea markets.






After the flea market, I went to the Ag building to see the famous "butter cow". While it has a wire mesh body, the rest is entirely sculpted out of low-moisture butter. The Iowa state fair has ha a butter cow on display every year since the early 1900s.






This is Ashley with cousin Jenna who was competing the state fair talent competition. She and a friend did a dance routine and they did an awesome job!!







While making my way back to the camper for a rest, I noticed 3 different hot air balloons floating above the fairgrounds. Their bright colors are so beautiful, and I wish I had the courage to actually try riding in one. However, huddling down in the basket with my eyes closed, practicing my Lamaze breathing probably takes away from the overall experience.

Fair Updates - Tues & Wed

PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FAIR - TUES & WED

"KILLER HILL!" It may not look bad from this shot, but it's looooooong and steep, and looooooong. Long & steep enough that my little scooter will only make it about 1/2 way up. Then Jay has to give us a little push to make it the rest of the way. Dumb hill.




This is inside the hog barn and these are our pens. The kids do all the chores on their pigs, however Jay is caring for Ashley's pigs in this picture because she is on the college dance team and they have daily practices. Thankfully, the coach is allowing her to miss practice on the days when she actually shows her pigs, so she's excited about that.



Chelsea & Ashley recently got new phones and both were concerned that the metal structure of the hog buildings would make it hard for them to get a good signal to text. Both were delighted to find they can still text as well as get on the internet and most importantly - Facebook. :)




This is one of the many outdoor restaurants on the fairgrounds. This particular one is popular with our family because it's right outside the hog barn, which makes it extra convenient.






Austin and the son of some friends of ours took one of Austin's pigs for a walk around the barn. They try to get them all out walking every day.






You are assigned a number when you check in, and when your number is called, that's when you bring your pigs to the scale to be weighed in. While waiting, playing cards is a popular way to pass the time.





Our kids have met many kids from all over the state over the years. As our girls have gotten older, they have had an increasing amount of attention from the guys...not something that totally thrills their dad. :)





The last thing they did tonight was to give their pigs baths so they will be nice and clean for the show tomorrow. Some pigs do pretty well with baths, while others squeal and run around, pretty much guaranteeing that you will be as wet as they are.


That's pretty much been the excitement around here so far. The fair officially starts tonight after the parade and the crowds descend upon the fairgrounds starting tomorrow morning. Our first day of showing will start at 8am, so I'll get pictures of that to share.

Tuesday 8/11 At The Fair

We woke up early this morning and sorted out the pigs, who seemed to be as thrilled to be up at 6am as we were. I'm still not sure who grunted more - me or the pigs.

We weighed them at home, to be sure we chose the right pigs, and then we trimmed up some of the long straggly hairs that were on the pigs (sort of like when we ladies have to tweeze those random chin hairs that show up). It helps the pigs look their best and what lady doesn't like that?

When that was finished we loaded them onto the trailer to make the trip to the state fairgrounds swine barn. We bought a wagon to haul our "stuff" (feed, bedding, pig grooming items, chairs, small fridge, table and decorations) because Murphy's law says that which ever entrance you are directed to pull up to, the pens assigned to you will be on the exact opposite end of the building. Loading up a wagon goes much faster than making 20 trips carrying everything by hand.

Today the pigs get weighed in. This is the time when everyone stands holding their breath and crossing their fingers, hoping their pigs have met the minimum weight limit allowed, or not exceeded the maximum weight limit allowed. We've had a few close calls in the past, and I'm told this is going to be another one of those years (so if you think about it, could you keep your fingers crossed for us please? Just until noon. We should be done by then).

After that, lots of fresh soft bedding is put in the pens for the pigs. They are given some food and lots of fresh water and then they are left alone to recover from the stress of the day. (AKA: nap)

The kids in our FFA chapter will decorate our area of the barn. There's a competition among chapters and we have a rivalry with one, where we seem to alternate years on who wins.

Usually you try to stick with the state fair theme, but years like this year make it hard. The theme this year is "It's State Fair Time" (Seriously? That's it? Okkkk) So we went with a luau style decorating plan because what do they serve at luaus? Pork of course. So our theme is "Its State Fair Time and That's A Great Time For A Luau" We even found a picture of a pig in a grass skirt, so we knew it was meant to be. Anyhow, that'll get all set up and then we can relax the rest of the day/evening.

Actually, I'll be up at the camper getting our campsite all set up. We will have to haul everything up "heart attack hill" again this year, which is way up past the clearing spot in between the trees up at the top of that picture. The wagon will definitely come in handy this year!

So anyhow, that's our Tuesday. Come back tomorrow and bring a long a stick. It'll come in handy when I give you the entire list of food items you can find on a stick - only at the Iowa State Fair.

Monday At The Co Fair

We're here!! We're at our County Fair for the week.

Do you like the picture I made of Jay and I? I laugh every time I see it, but I know Jay would wring my neck if he saw it. Good thing it's a busy week for him. HA!

It's definitely odd for me to have nothing I'm obligated to be doing here at the fairgrounds. For the past 9 yrs I was one of the 4-H leaders and today is exhibit room project judging, so I would have been getting kids to where they needed to be going to be judged, helping to arrange judged items in our booth and just basically monitoring things for our club. None of our kids even did an exhibit item this year, so we are able to just relax and visit with friends. Different, but very nice!

Two Times The Fun

A couple of weeks ago Jay said to me "You know, they have a jet ski for sale on the radio (our local radio station has a buy/sell live call-in show every day at noon)." I just said "Oh really?" ....curious as to where this was going, but that's all he said. The next day he mentioned that it was for sale again on the radio, so that meant no one had bought it yet. The 3rd day he said "I think I'm going to call on the jet ski." He mentioned that he had talked to good friends of ours and we were each going to buy half and share it.


This is good in theory, but let's think this through..... we have 3 kids. They have 3 kids. That means 1 jet ski for 6 kids and 4 parents. One jet ski - 10 people. Yea, that's never going to work.

Trying to be a good wife, I didn't say anything. But in my mind I kept thinking "I wonder how long it will be before we have a 2nd jet ski?" I didn't have to wait long to find out. A friend of Jay's mentioned he had one for sale, but hadn't used it in a long time, and would we like to test it out for him for the weekend to be sure it runs well. Why sure. We'd love to!

6 kids and 2 jet skis was much more fun, and by the end of the weekend, we were 1/2 owners of a second jet ski.


It really has been so much fun, and had we known it would been such a good way to get Ashley & Chelsea to come home from college every weekend, we would have bought them last year! They have been home a lot, and even brought college friends with them. Although this past weekend, 4 guys came with them and I'm not too sure how excited Jay was with that. LOL

They were great guys and I had planned ahead and had 12lbs of BBQ pork loin in crockpots all day and oh wow were they appreciative! They kept saying I was the best cook in the world, to which my family kept replying with "You don't know her very well do you?"


It's been a fun couple of weeks at the lake (which is conveniently only a mile from our house) and I'm sure we'll have many more this summer. Here's some pictures of our fun so far:


This is Chelsea and a friend



Ashley with one of her friends



Chelsea




Austin & Jay




Jay & Austin





Ashley & Chelsea



Austin & Ashley





While the lake we are on is a small lake, it's not the size of a bathtub, like it may appear in some of these pictures. We have a super zoom lens on our camera, so I am able to get really close while still sitting on the dock.

Oh, and in answer to your question, no I haven't been on them yet. Why?


1. Up until 2 days ago, we hadn't had any days even in the 80's yet, so the water was still very cold. I don't do ice cold water.


2. I've never been on a jet ski before, and have never been one to be too excited about trying new things. Especially things that could involve me falling off.


3. I have 3 kids that are way too eager to take me for a ride...which tells me they are betting on who can dump me off first.


I do plan to ride it, but I told Jay I want HIM to take me out there some evening during the week, when there won't be hardly anyone out there. I don't need a crowd around if it ends up I make a fool of myself. LOL

Camping Promotes The Hotel Business

We finally got our camper out, dusted off and packed up for one of many weekends we'll spend this summer at the lake nearby. We actually pulled it over there earlier today. Jay & Austin are talking about staying there tonight, but it depends on the thunderstorms that expected to roll through and just how severe they will be. I'm not quite ready for 3 full nights of "cramping" yet. I am not a camper by heart, so I kind of have to ease into the whole camping thing each year.


I recently found out that there's a name for people like me: "glamper". We glampers like the idea of being with nature, we'd just prefer to do it with a soft mattress, indoor plumbing, and maid service.



I love the family time, and because we camp at a nearby lake, the majority of people camping are people from the neighboring towns, which means we know most of them and that makes it a lot of fun. As a matter of fact, I know we will have two families who are good friends of ours camping right next to us. Super fun!



If only we didn't have to pack the camper, do the cooking, do the dishes, then unpack the camper, clean the camper and then do it all again over and over every time. There's never enough room, and the dirt....I have yet to find a campground with concrete slabs to park on, and thick luscious grass everywhere else. Nope, mostly dirt. And no matter where I sit, the smoke from the campfire comes directly at me. Guaranteed. I'm not kidding...I'm a smoke magnet!



And don't even get me started on campground showers!! Anytime I feel the need to wear flip flops in a shower to avoid the risk of catching something, that's not a good thing in my book.



As I said, the fellowship part IS a lot of fun, but I could have just as much fun if we were all sitting around the pool at a 4 star hotel. Seriously, someone else does the work, and there's no campfire smoke.

I have always said that my idea of roughing it is staying at a motel with only one outlet in the whole room and I have 3 things to plug in. That's about as rough as I like my life to ever get.


The one thing I am looking forward to is the chicken kabobs I made for the grill. Yum!

Have a great weekend!!