Bun's birthday party

Well, it was inevitable. Bunny celebrated yet another birthday. This year she chose a Scooby Doo/dog theme surprise surprise. After a nice dinner of spaghetti we discovered that we had a mystery on our hands! Daddy read the note: the Hillsboro Jewelry Store had been burglarized! Can The Mystery, Inc gang help solve the crime?



Using GPS coordinates, we found the loot bags down by the barn, but we still had to find the jewelry. The next note showed that some of the jewels were hidden in the back yard so back we went:


They found candy rings! And a note that gave more clues, including the last coordinates.


Some Very Valuable necklaces were hidden in grammae and papa's car...they must be the criminals! But as in any good Scooby Doo mystery, things are not as they seem. In this case, it was really some local diner owners that stole the jewelry. Grammae and papa are off the hook!


Time for cake








All partied out:


Fun presents and cards


Party favors for each family to take home:


And a lot of dishes for us. But it was worth it! So much fun! Happy birthday, Bunny!


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State fair

One of our (many) annual traditions is going to the Oregon State Fair at the end of summer. Monday is our day of choice, because rides are half-off and kids are admitted free! Add to that a packed-at-home dinner, and we get a lot of fun for not much money.
This year we first went towards the rides, and let each kid pick a ride to start the afternoon. It was interesting to see their choices; they are kids of habit and they all chose little-kid rides, even Bunny. Mariposa loved the motorized cars:


James chose the helicopter:


And Bunny wanted the super slide:


We headed to the garden area for lunch. Marcus had packed sandwiches/chips/cheese and the like, and we bought a big fresh-squeezed lemonade like we do every year.


Gemma enjoying dinner:





Then we headed to the 4-h barn, one of my favorites. They always have a simple kids' activity that allows the kids to decompress after so much activity on the midway. The kids played in the corn while Marcus rested his ankle and I looked at the exhibits.


At one of the commercial buildings a chicken hatchery company had an incubator with eggs and chicks! The kids loved this! What an amazing thing, to see a chick hatching right before your eyes.


Then off to more rides. Gemma wanted to go in the canoes and James and Mariposa were happy to help.


Bunny always likes riding the tiger roller coaster. This year she even convinced James and me to take a try.


Marcus took the big kids on the Ferris wheel while Gem and I stayed on solid ground:


Bunny wanted to ride the big swings with Marcus, like Aidan had done earlier with his dad.


We finished our night like we do every year: with a giant "road kill" elephant ear. (and yes, we finished it all!)


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Tomato, before and after

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Sunflowers

From our garden (pole beans in front):








The birds love us!

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Church BBQ

Every year at the Dad's BBQ the kids wear the tie-dye that they created at the campout:





Here's the whole family at dinner. We had a special guest: Rue from California, who is grammae's new business partner. What a good-lookin' bunch!


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Twins

The twins love each other. I love that older kids include little Gem in their play.


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2nd tomato harvest

I'm thinking that the first harvest pictures were the third week of August, and these pics are from late August. We have Cherokee Purple, Rose, Taxi, Early Girl, Green Zebra, Red Zebra, and Juliet:


Yes, this one is supposed to be green:


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My garden

Our first harvest of "real" tomatoes:


This yellow one is called Taxi, and it is out-performing the Early Girls.


Yum yum yum strawberries, love this variety...we get fruit into autumn.


Cheery black-eyed Susans from my neighbor.


All the dahlias are doing well. This one is the most successful of them all:


The kids like making bouquets for me, and I like receiving them.


Mariposa and James with one of our smaller zucchini. :o)


A good year for potatoes.


Blackberries are ready! This is my favorite invasive species (sorry Erica).








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Backpacks

Helping with the backpack project at church.











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