It's Fair Time!!!

Fair time means the infamous Lewis County Parade!  I think its just about everyone's favorite part.  Until I moved here I was used to a parade lasting about 20 minutes or so.  This parade starts at 7pm and ends around 9ish!  Crazy!  :)  The kids love it and of course all the candy :)  We usually sit with a family from church so this year was the same.  It was just the girls and I so we left a little early so I could get decent parking and went to find our crew.  

We taught Samuel how to ask the truck drivers to honk their horns for him...

The "girlies"

The whole crew!  They were so good!

This was Zoe's favorite part of the parade....Just kidding!  She was fine with it till one of the dragons lowered its head and starting walking her way!  It was the far dragon and it had its mouth open.  I'm thinking she thought she was about to be dinner.

Katie and Zoe <3

The Garden :)

We had a tough, slow beginning with our garden but its going like crazy now!  I think this is going to be one of our best gardens yet!  This year is the first year we planted Marigolds in our garden along the plants and this is also the first year we haven't needed to bring out the Sevin spray!  Usually we struggle with these little bugs that eat all our squash plants down to nothing and potato bugs get really out of control as well.  I'm hoping its the Marigolds and not just the season, but we haven't had any!  I'm so pleased!

Onions, broccoli, lettuce and celery 

Peppers and Tomatoes

Carrots

Beans and Potatoes...neither of which we have ever grown plants this huge!  They are so big and bushy this year!  I also learned that I can't plant a straight row to save my life ;)

Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Butternut Squash, and Cucumbers 

Baby Yellow Squash :)

We had our first zucchini last night and it was awesome!

We had to replant our cucumbers this year so they are a bit behind everything else, but they are starting to really come along in this heat and humidity :)

The tomato plants are loaded!

We planted orange bell peppers this year.  

Or at least we hope that is what they are :)

Our heads of broccoli look great!

We have been eating lettuce for a while now.  This is our second crop already.

Last year was our first time planting onions and while they were good, we planted them late and close.  This year looks like we improved quite a bit!

There has to be a monster onion under that :)

We tried Celery this year.  I don't think its going to amount to anything but we figured it didn't hurt to try!

Potsdam festival and a visit with Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Jeremy!

Aunt Chelsea came into town and so we headed up to spend some time with her!  It was a super busy time of the month so we just got one day with her, but it was worth it.  We all headed to the Potsdam Festival for some fun in the sun :)

The girls got their faces painted...

And then tried giving Mom a heart attack going down the giant water slide ;)

Climbing up... 

Sliding down...neither of them hesitated!  LOL  They are both together but you can only see Marissa I guess!  The sides were too high to see Madalyn.

There was a parade in the evening and one of our good friends was the Majorette?  I think that is what she is called.  Anyhow it was fun to watch her perform.  She did a great job!

The crew waiting for the parade to start :)

Chloe was still full of it at this point in time, but Case is shot!  LOL  He was OUT!

After the parade, they raced fire trucks down the road and sucked water out of the river and sprayed the crowd.  It was fun to watch :)  The kids had a blast and we took a sleeping car full of kids and dogs home to their beds.  I haven't seen any of them that beat in a LONG time ;)

Happy Birthday Dad!

I'm the worst daughter ever...I always forget to get a card in the mail in enough time for birthdays and Mother's day or Father's day.  At this point in time I have given up.  I figure I get in less trouble if I just don't send any than if I remember some and am late for others.  It makes me look like I love someone more or less!  LOL  

But...dedicating a blog post to them for the day is better right?

This one is for you Dad!  

Thanks for being my Dad....not that you had a whole lot of say in that.  ;)

Thanks for being such a good example of the Dad that I wanted for my kids, the husband that I wanted for me and the Grandparents that I hope we can someday be for our grandkids.  

I love you so much and hope you have the most amazing birthday ever.  I wish we were there to spend it with you, but if you close your eyes I bet you can pretend ;) 

:)

An afternoon spent on the new deck at Doug's parents house...

It was hot and bright so we improvised ;)

Homemade Dresses

I've had this pattern sitting around for a couple years.  I kept saying I was going to make them and just never got around to it.  I finally decided I needed to do it!  Doug's mom helped me out quite a bit, especially understanding the pattern and reassuring me :)  I was very stressed and fearful I was going to get them done and HATE them but I LOVE them!  I can't wait for them to wear them for the first time finally!  They are going to wear them to Doug's sister's wedding on Saturday.

We made little rag dolls to go in their pockets...maybe it will keep them busy at the wedding :)

I love the bottom ruffle, but let me just say, that was a lot of work!

Then I made these hair bows for the girls to wear to match their dresses.