{What's FAIR, is FAIR!}

Ah, the Idaho state fair. That special week each year where one can brave the amazing rides, people-watch the crazy hicks, smell the super-stinky animals, and eat, eat, EAT! What's not to love?

Let's start with the rides. First, the "nail biters" like this train o'death. Todd is really putting on a brave face -- Louis had to do some mighty persuasive talkin' to get his daddy on board.

Thanks goodness Laura has Elyse's bear securely fastened with that super strong rope! Safety first!

Adam chose to face the "Careening Carousel" instead. Now that's the face of a brave man.

Here's Todd and the girls waiting in line for a "real" ride on the roller coaster. The girls were giddy with anticipation!

Then they braved the dragon alone. Everybody knows the last seat is the best one!

Now, Adam really is scared of this one (I believe "flimsy" is his favorite adjective) but Laura and Elyse were not daunted by the Farris wheel! Look Ma! No hands!

Now I didn't take any pictures of the crazy hicks, but I think next year I may have to start. Where do these people hide the other 360 days of the year?!? There was this irresistible cardboard cut out of John Wayne that demanded a little love!

...and while we're on the subject of love, check out this handsome couple!
Louis isn't quite as cooperative as his daddy. But my super-cheesy-extra-enthusiastic smile makes up for his bad attitude, don't you think?

Next up, the animals. We started out small with stuffed bears,

...and then a little visit to Kuzcotopia. Now these guys are adorable! Awww....

Then we ventured into the animal barns. This is where a little self-discovery happened on my part. As much as I want to claim my born-and-raised-Idahoan-farmer-roots,

I just. can't. do it.

These animals are big and intimidating and stinky and dirty (they just poop anywhere they please!) and scary! Elizabeth just barely is taller than the kneecaps of the best of show horse. He's huge!

Now this is better. Nice safe goats.

Turns out my mother is a bit of a horse whisperer. What happened to me?!?

Finally, we get to the food! Now this is the real reason why I come to the fair! We have all the major food groups:

Cotton candy (eaten like father, like daughter!)

Vegetables (this one really is a bona fide food group)! Corn:

The Partyson's really love their roasted corn.

Elyse licks hers like a popsicle!

...and Maren just digs right in!

Somehow I didn't get a picture, but I feel it needs to be documented that Todd likes his corn Nacho Libre style, complete with mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, and chili pepper. Not fibbin'.

Moving on.

Pretty sure this will break all of Laura's rules on "appropriate" photos to post of her. Have you ever seen a gal enjoy her Greek food group so much?!?
While we're add it we might as well throw this one in. I {heart} hot candied almonds! They remind me of my days in Germany, and Laura of her time across the pond in dear old England. A fair "must have" for these two sisters!

{Mama Trauma Day 2009}

Why is the first day of school so stinkin' hard for me?!? I was seriously more of a wreck than the girls were, which I guess is a good thing. This isn't about me, it's about them -- and they had a wonderful day!

Elizabeth was first to go, she was up and ready early and was so excited! She had her whole outfit picked out, all down to the matching earrings! Are third graders even allowed to be this pretty?!?

Caroline is in afternoon kindergarten, so she had to wait.... all.... morning..... long.... until it was finally time for the bus. She wore her backpack all morning. We played Candy Land to kill some time and I seriously wanted to freeze time right at that moment when she was still my little girl, all mine.

...but I can't. She is so adorable! I just wanna squeeze her!

Here's where the serious amounts of Mama Trauma kicked in. Those of you who are faint of heart may want to look away.

Ugh, I know. I can't even look at that picture without getting all misty! She looks so tiny compaired to that giant bus!

At least I had this guy to keep me company.... until he wimped out on me and took a nap. Two-year-olds! *sigh*

So I was left to watch the clock alone. Finally, it was time to go pick them up from school, and we all walked home together. They were so excited about their days, they just chattered and talked over each other and grinned and skipped and giggled. My heart was happy. They were mine again, and I couldn't be more proud of them! Love you girls!

{Splish, Splash!}

I wanted to take the kiddos to the splash park just one more time before school started. Where has this summer gone?!? To me, this is just the perfect way to spend a summer day! Besides that, the photo ops are just to tempting to ignore!

I love these fat little feet!

...and then I remembered why I don't take my kids to the splash park. Because Caroline always does this. Every time, without fail. Oh, the terror of tiny droplets of water. I am a cruel mother. What kind of person would subject innocent children to all this splashy fun?

Then a wonderful thing happened, my heart still gets all warm and fuzzy thinking about it. My beautiful Elizabeth came to save the day and managed to do what I cannot. Somehow she got Caroline out there and actually enjoying herself. She even ran under the curtains of water to go down the slides. This is why everyone needs a big sister. Love them (my sweet girls, and my big sister!)

Proof! Wet and happy!

I love my big sister because while we made the kids eat boring peanut butter sandwiches, she brought us Greek pitas! Oh, delicious!

And we ate, and we played, and we splashed, and we soaked up that wonderful sunshine!

Louis has discovered the wonder of plugging his ears. He does it everywhere -- completely cracks me up! La, la, la!

Duck, it's gonna get you!

I guess I've gotten so old that I just don't remember the thrill of sitting on fountain of freezing water... I really just don't understand the thrill anymore. But it seems to be universal fun -- the big kids were teaching the little kids!

And just like that, our summer vacation was over...

{The Last Hurrah!}

I'm in denial that summer it over. Say it ain't so. We did squeeze in one last trip to end the best summer ever. We got to go home -- our other home, to Washington! It was exactly a year from when we left, but I was so happy that everything was just the way we left it. We pretty much just invited ourselves to stay at Immer and Jeremy's house, and they were so kind to let us come. Amazing hosts! Our families just work together so well, we're all such good friends. Once-in-a-lifetime kind of friends. Friends that might as well be family kind of friends! We are so blessed. It was so good to be there, and I was having so much fun I got totally camera lazy, and now I'm kicking myself. The one day I was in the mood, I forgot to take it out of our dive bag and Todd had it out on the boat. So most of these shots are from Jeremy (thanks!) and Immer will send me hers any day now -- hint! hint! : )

The road trip... we started out strong with the future looking so bright we had to wear shades. I love these three grinning kiddos!

They did great and we made it in a mere 14 hours -- a record for us! ...I also discovered why they call it "Big Sky Montana" There is nothing else to look at.

Nothing. at. all.

Except there was a cut out silhouette of a buffalo perched up on a hill. Louis says it "bull-a-fo." That kept me entertained for a good while!

Rob and Rachel even waited for us to get there to have their baby. Oh, what makes an amazing trip even better? A newborn, that's what! Congratulations you guys, Rebecca is so sweet, and it was so great to see you again! Thanks for letting "us" bring "you" dinner!

Then there was the diving. You knew you were going to have to hear all about the diving!
Todd and Jeremy did 12 dives and saw 8 ship wrecks in the 5 days we were there. Do the math -- they were exhausted! Todd was such a happy man, I think his gills were drying up! Jeremy has a friend, Jim, that took the whole week off of work so we could go diving off of his boat. He is a super great guy and Todd also dubbed him a "Red-neck Jedi" after he replaced the starter on his truck in the parking lot with a cheap little tool kit. Some guys can just fix anything -- especially when they want to go get wet!

Todd and I on the anchor line (I'm the one in pink, in case you were confused).

Immer, the dainty diver!

We saw tons of these Black Rockfish at one of the barge dives. It's amazing to look out and watch them all swimming -- I can't describe it!

Don't let this big grin fool ya, I was FREEZING!

SEE!?! I really wanted to do two dives that day so I stayed in my wet suit with my little teeth chattering and me a shiverin' and a shakin' while we drove to the next dive site.

Immer was smarter. She's more of a one dive a day, then wrap up in four hoodies to stay warm kind of gal. She also does an amazing Kenny impression!

Ryan was my fellow wet suit popsicle friend. They boys are always trying to give him hypothermia! Last year they talked him into diving with only one glove.... brrr!

Todd and more Todd. He's so comfortable in the water. I seriously need to do this more than once a year.... *sigh*

He's also made himself quite the reputation for grabbing and poking everything he can get his hands on. Here he's managed to grab a hold of a great sculpin! I think Jeremy named this picture "He'll never learn." : ) He's so fun to dive with, though -- I hadn't noticed any sea cucumbers until he threw one at me!

Jeremy is an amazing diver and underwater photographer. These are just a few of super cool sights they saw this week...

Yellow Margin Dorid (hey, I don't name the things, I just watch Jeremy take their picture and Todd poke them!)

Nudibranch -- I just love how tiny and glowy these little things are!

Quillback

Kelp crab

Anemone

The weather was a bit cloudy, and our kids took their turns passing around the 12-hour flu (nothing is more fun that seven kids with the flu!) so we were having a hard time getting out of the house. We finally felt confident that no one would ralf in the pool, so we took them to the Federal Way Community Center. This place is great! It had a water slide, hot tub, splash park, wave pool, and a regular swimming area all in one room. Fun for all!

I'm so glad Jeremy brought his camera... their kids are fishies! Mine, not so much. He had Elizabeth doing things she would never have tried on her own, and she had a blast!

Andre, Elizabeth, and Ariana. See, they are fish!

Caroline is more of a tube, wave pool kind of kid.

Life is good!

Louis loved it all, as long as dad was there to hang out with. Still such a daddy's boy.

The water slide!

It was so amazing to be back there. I can't believe how fast a week can go by. We saw so many of our good friends (Kristie, will you make me a big bag of cookies every time we come for the ride home?) We even drove by our old house and it is for rent again! Oh, the temptation! Thanks everybody for the good times! We love you and miss you all so much!

{Four!}

Last Saturday, Todd set up a 7:00 am tee time for a work party... and turns out he works with a bunch of party poopers! We were the only ones that showed, so it turned into a great morning date for the two of us! We haven't golfed in 5 years, but it's just like riding a bike! No sweat! Harr... harr... harr. I'm as horrible as I ever was.

This is the story of my golf game: So close, but so far away. I did not set this shot up. It really (sadly) happened just like this. *Grrr....*



It was a gorgeous morning, and I was so happy that I had decided to throw my camera in last minute. The lighting was amazing, and it felt so good to be taking pictures of something new and different. Just had to show off my favorites of the day!

This one just cracks me up! "Where'd it go? Where'd it go?" I missed the enthusiastic "YES!" Napoleon Dynamite elbow thrust that followed -- darn it! It was classic.

This last shot is just for preservation of a classic tradition. This golf course is just a small 3 par one, and off of hole 5 we always stop to pull out the "big dogs" and drive a few balls off into the sage brush! Man it feels good to just let them fly! (Insert dueling banjo music here.) What kind of rednecks are we?

Do rednecks even golf? Oh well, we had a blast, anyway!