Fair Time!

It's that time of year again - the Western Idaho Fair is in town.  We took the kids Sunday afternoon/night. It was hot out, but that's just part of the fair, in my opinion. I set out with the goal of getting some detail shots this year, but there were just a bazillion people there and I wasn't able to set up a whole lot of shots like I would have wanted. So I settled for what I did get, blurred shots and all.

 

Our first stop was in the llama/alpaca building. We had never been in there before, so we figured why not? The little alpacas sure are cute! 

 

 

 

 

Then we walked to the livestock building. Kendall wanted nothing to do with those animals. She didn't want to pet them, talk to them, interact with them, zilch, nada.

 

 

 

 Carter, on the other hand, was all about the animals

 

 

 

 

 Some prizes

 

 

I have no clue what this ride is but you can bet I won't be on it.

 

 

One of Carter's favorite rides is actually the big slide. He was quite disappointed in the rides since we recently went to Disneyland. But he still had a great time.

 

 

 

Eric talked him into going on the bigger swings this year. He had a blast!

 

 

 

On of the shows was all about monkeys. We wandered over to it twice and finally ended up catching the entire show the second time around.

 

 

 

 

I love spin art. I remember doing these at the fair when I was younger. Carter has done his own before, but I wanted him to show Kendall how it was done.

 

 

 

I also let him feed some of the animals in the petting barn.

 

 

Watch out, that goat is quite focused!

 

 

Of course Pronto Pups were on the menu!

 

 

 

My loves.

 

 

Kendall really didn't have any interest in the rides - we convinced her to go on one. We thought she would sit with Carter, but it wasn't happening. Eric had to squeeze into the little ride with her at the last minute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really wish this shot wasn't blurry because Mr. Personality was out in full force!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went on the water roller coaster with Carter. We got soaked! Not nearly as soaked as Splash Mountain, but pretty close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kendall's First Haircut

It was finally time for Kendall's first haircut. Her baby hair mullet had extended beyond "cute" and I needed something done so that I didn't always have to put her hair up in a pony tail or pig tails. I had Eric's sister, Ashley, come over to do the honors. I had to promise Kendall that we would paint her toenails purple (her favorite, of course) while Ashley was doing her hair. Carter had a terrible time with his first haircut, so I was sure to have the bribery in place this time around. Kendall actually did really well - I didn't really have to paint her toes because she was behaving. But we painted them anyway! She was certainly pampered!

Life is a Mystery

Over the course of the last month, we have all been on a rollercoaster with my grandma. Her health rapidly declined to the point where she was in the hospital, given just days to live. Family was visiting - gathering around her, and around each other, prepared for the worst. Since the beginning of July, she has been up and back down, and back up again. We are all quite baffled by this stubborn woman. 

 

I have been over to visit her as often as I can - sometimes days in a row for hours at a time, other times every other day.  Sometimes I take the kids, oher times, I just want to be alone.  Last night, I took Carter with me. Grandma was wide awake when I got there and her smile when I walk in the door is all I need in the world. It feels similar to the first time your baby smiles at you on purpose. Carter and I sat down and chatted for a little bit, and then Carter brought in all of her photo albums and we went through those. He climbed up into bed with her and they snuggled.  She has also been going back and forth with eating/drinking. Sometimes not doing either for days on end. Yesterday was a day of pigging out for her - smoothies, yogurt, chicken, pudding, etc. She wanted a yogurt while I was there, and she and Carter sat there in her bed and shared the entire thing. It was so sweet to watch.  My son has such a kind heart and I love that he is getting this time with her.

Baby A {newborn}

I did this newborn shoot about a week and a half ago with one of my regular clients. Her little guy was sound asleep for about 95% of the shoot. What a cutie!

Kendall's First Camping Trip

I finally decided to get away this weekend. Our trip for last weekend was rescheduled and I really needed some time to get into the fresh, mountain air to clear my head. It was time to introduce Kendall to camping! We also took Kya, and this was her first camping experience as well. The entire experience was not exactly what I had in mind.....first, we had heard there was some sort of burn ban, but didn't realize that it included all forms of fire. No campfires whatsoever. This makes for a lame camping trip once the sun goes down. Second, our main spot was turned into the headquarter camp for all of the fire crews battling the forest fires. So we had to scout around for a different spot. Fortunately, since we got up there Thursday, this wasn't an issue. We camped closer to the cabin, up Ten Mile. Kendall had been battling some sort of stomach bug the entire week, we were changing diapers pretty much hourly. Then, Friday night, she was up throwing up a few times. It was not exactly the best camping trip, but we still managed to have a good time.

 

Here is Kendall, chilling out while we set up camp.

 

 

My cuties

 

Making dinner....the first night, we needed something simple and easy. The kids voted on chili dogs.

 

We noticed Kya was chasing something around so Eric went to investigate - a toad!  Carter named him Jimmy. We put him in the river so Kya would leave him alone.

 

 

 

 

I fully expected to come home without a dog. Kya is a runner and is notorious for running off at home the second she gets out front. So I honestly figured she would run off into the mountains and never return. I was wrong! She stayed closed to camp the entire time, venturing away to explore from time to time. But she always came right back when we called her. I think the unknown of the mountains kind of humbled her and she stayed close to us.

 

Making breakfast Friday morning.

 

 

It was definitely chilly overnight and first thing in the mornings!

 

 

Shooting his BB gun.

 

 

Eric and Carter went to Stanley all day Friday, so Kendall and I had a girls day around camp. We set up the shade "tent" because the main tent was so hot in the sun. We had a good lunch, and then I took her and Kya down to the swimming hole.

 

 

 

We took a nap in the shade tent as well - it was nice and cool in there, with the breeze coming in from time to time.

 

 Since Eric had his truck, Kya had to run along behind the 4 wheeler to get to the swimming hole - maybe about 3/4 of a mile total. When we got there, she jumped right into the river and stayed there for quite some time.

 

Kendall must have felt a calling in her blood because the first thing she did was pick up rocks to throw into the water. The water at the swimming hole was actually really low.

 

 

 We stayed at the swimming hole for about an hour (the only reason we left was because Kendall had yet another dirty diaper).

 Once the guys got back from fishing, Carter and I played some baseball. He actually broke his bat!

 

 

We also went up to the cabin to get the dirt bike. My cousins, Matt and Brian, were also up to the mountains this weekend, with their own group of campers. We ran into Brian at the cabin and Matt came down to see us a little bit later.

 

 

 

Of course Carter had to take a ride on his 4 wheeler as well.

 

 

Since there was a burn ban, our only light after dark was the lantern. We didn't want to risk a campfire at this spot because the highway is across the river and you can actually see our camp. Didn't want to risk a ticket from Forest Service.

 

 

Packing it up Saturday morning.

 

 Hey, they do get along!

 

 

All in all, despite Kendall's stomach issues, it was an okay trip. She was very concerned about the amount of dirt in her shoes, but I kept telling her over and over that DIRT is a major component of camping and she needed to get used to it. I don't think she ever did, but she will get there someday.