Oh, summer break, how you fly so swiftly! Well, actually, the school years are flying by quickly too. Maybe this is just time in general. I cannot keep up with it! Remember when time used to creep slowly? It may be doing that now for Michael. He is doing his civic duty - jury duty - this week.
This summer Valerie kicked it off with a back country back packing trip with a couple of friends up at Mt. Lassen. She was generous enough to share a few photos of said adventure.
Just as soon as she came back from her camping trip we were off to Eugene for the annual Black Sheep Gathering. Valerie showed more of Carol's champion Shetland Sheep. Valerie also placed first in showmanship this year. That was a treat to see.
While working the Black Sheep event, we stayed in a trailer on the fair grounds. It was a sweet deal. We made it very cozy. Coffee and tea were brewed and I brought my essential oil diffuser to make it smell nice. We sat around in the evenings and crocheted together, Valerie, Madelyn and I. We shared meals at Carol's trailer with her family. She brought meals for everyone. We provided a few desserts and brought some flowers from home to be a center piece on the table. It was a very nice time.
Here are Hailey, Valerie, Madelyn and Meghan with Carol's grandchildren, Alaina and Alex. It was a lot of work the last few days so now it's time for the gang to collapse on the straw bails and wait for the signal to load out.
Back at home Rex was making a batch of popcorn on the stove. It's inevitable that some popcorn will spill when tipping it from the pot to the bowl. Rex thought of a genius way to clean up the popcorn.
Rex really enjoys the poultry. He and Michael are in the process of selecting 2 roosters to keep for our flocks. They will be keeping one of the white rock roosters to breed out more meat stock. And then Rex has chosen his favorite rooster from our tax day hatchlings to be our breeding rooster for the laying flock. This guy, below with the fluffy cheeks, is Rex's favorite. He is training it to be a nice rooster. He's got it perching on his arm here.
My friend Crystal likes to call this "FFF" for "Forced Family Fun". We packed up the kids and took them to the cabin at Donner Lake for 4th of July. It's always such a scene up there and so crowded. But we expect it and manage to have a good time each year. The crowds are kind of fun to see and hear. It's a real festival atmosphere. Here are the kids trapped in the car on the way up the mountain. They are all snacking and listening to their tunes. Rex is cooling off after a paintball practice in Davis.
Once up at the cabin we settled in and trotted over to the lake. Amira was Michael's little buddy the whole weekend. Here they are enjoying the cool mountain weather by the water.
There was many a game of table tennis on the beach. Michael was the only one who actually swam in the water this year. I am a notorious land lubber. So my book and I sat on the beach. Well, I did get up for a game or two of ping pong. My main goal was to stay cool, relax and see some fireworks. Mission accomplished.
Following our weekend at Donner, Valerie was back on sheep duty. She is in Sacramento for Part 1 of the California State Fair. Michael and Amira and I came down on Sunday to watch her show. Then we went off to enjoy some of the fair. Each year this is an awesome petting zoo set up behind the barns. Here is Michael with his new alpaca friend (with the crazy Dr. Seuss salon job) having snacks.
Well, the alpaca was having snacks ... not so much Michael.
Our favorite animals to see at the petting zoo are the wallabies. They spring around the place and always appear so happy. They have little joeys in their pouches (which cannot be seen here). When they get tired of the crowds, the zoo people hang bags on the fences and they jump in and relax.
Amira was up for the rides. Sadly, I cannot tolerate them anymore. Amira went on most of the spinning ones by herself. But she got Michael to go on the roller coaster with her. What an awesome dad!
Amira and I both enjoy sitting in those chairs that give the vibrating foot massages. We decided to take a selfie in our happy moment of foot massage and lemonade. Valerie and I will be back at the State Fair in two weeks for Part 2 of sheep showing. So, maybe I can get another footsie massage?
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