Deschutes County Fair

We spent the day at the fair yesterday. Please ignore the previous post as it was all worthwhile. See their happy faces:

Lauren received a blue ribbon for her Ada art! And so did Sam for his oil pastel drawing of a lighthouse. The reflection in the water is pretty cool, but you can't see it in this photo.


The fire department had relay races and gave out prizes. Even Jonas participated.

Quinn and Jonas both did some mutton bustin' (riding sheep for you city folk). Jonas fell off before I could even snap a picture, but Quinn got a pretty good ride.



Then the pony rides....


Sam was in heaven when he found out there was a juggler/entertainer performing. During the afternoon the juggler was teaching kids how to juggle. He was getting pretty good and I caught some on video.





What would the fair be like without the carnival rides? Or the funnel cakes? (that I forgot to take a picture of)





I don't remember ever going to a county fair when I was a kid, but this is an Earnest family tradition that I intend to continue with our own kids. I draw the line at raising pigs, though.

It's official...

We are done with diapers!

Another one of my less brilliant ideas...

This is what I spent my ENTIRE day doing:


You see, the Deschutes County Fair is next week (anyone want to go with us?). The kids love to go, and it is a fun day, but it gets expensive paying for 5 kids + myself to get into the fair, if we get hungry $$$, if we can't walk by the carnival rides without the kids noticing $$$... you get the idea. So, I realized last year that if the kids enter an art project into the fair displays they get a wrist band that gets them in free. I thought it would be so easy - they could spend some time creating something beautiful and I would glue it onto poster board and they would get their wrist bands. Why do I always underestimate the time and energy (and patience) it takes to have 4 kids doing art projects especially the one child who is all Earnest in his perfectionism???

Letterboxing

I received a couple of e-mails about letterboxing several months ago so when summer came, the kids and I decided to give it a try and have an adventure. Letterboxing is similar to geocaching without the GPS system. There is a website on which people post directions to the letterboxes they have hidden. Inside these boxes are a log book and a rubber stamp. Following the directions and armed with your own log book and rubber stamp you set off on a hike. When you locate the well-hidden letterbox you stamp your rubber stamp into the log book and stamp your log book with the rubber stamp in the box, then hide the box back where you found it. I know it doesn't sound too exciting, but to the kids it was like a treasure hunt. So I looked up some letterboxes in our area and the kids and I set off in search of treasure.


The first time we tried letterboxing we failed to find the box, but we did find a furry caterpillar and a scorpion. I really didn't feel like the outing was a failure - the kids had fun, got some exercise, and found some fascinating creatures.


So after doing some research, I located some more recently placed letterboxes and we set off again. We hiked through the Redmond Dry Canyon and found 3 letterboxes! It was very exciting especially because these boxes were placed by friends Quinn went to preschool with.



The girls stamped and recorded their success.


Jonas didn't have his own log book, so he improvised.


If you are interested in a treasure hunt of your own, check out the website (www.letterboxing.org). They are all over North America (but not Korea :( - sorry Annee & family). I don't want to sound like an advertisement - just wanted to share a fun activity for summer with all of you!

Summer Fun

We have had a busy month so far. Just a quick rundown of the first half of July. We ended June with the girls' dance recital. They all danced beautifully. Mattie and Lauren were in two dances - one tap and one jazz. I didn't get a picture of their tap costume - it was pretty much just a baseball uniform with tap shoes on, but they did look pretty cute. Quinn performed a tap dance to "Cruella deVil" so she was a dalmatian.

Next came my 38th birthday! Chris asked me what kind of cake I wanted and I said an ice cream cake. He took the easy way out, but who wouldn't be happy with Haagen Daas?


The 4th of July brought the traditional parade through downtown Redmond. Our cousin Ben invited the kids to be on the Les Schwab truck and throw candy. I'm not sure if they threw as much as they ate, but they sure had fun!





Then came the mandatory 4th of July bbq and fireworks with family. It's a tradition at the Madras Earnest's to use a blowtorch to light the fireworks - effective, if not entirely safe in the hands of a 3 year old.




The next day we celebrated Great-Grandpa Loren's 90th birthday party with many of his old friends and all the family we could gather. He is a great grandpa in every way.



With Brooke and her 6 children visiting we have to spend every minute we can with our California cousins. Yesterday I was asked approximately 13 times 'what are we doing with the cousins today?'. They just couldn't believe that the house needed to be cleaned and we were not going to see them for one day. We spent two days at the lake - a favorite summer acitivity for us all. I somehow didn't get any pictures the day grandpa took the boat out and pulled all the kids behind on the banana. (Even Jonas who loved it and made me so nervous back there despite the life jacket.)







I also came up with this idea that sounded like fun - digging for geodes at Richardsons Rock Ranch. Ten kids, digging in the dirt, finding cool rocks. It really sounded like fun.







Unfortunately it was 8 miles of dirt road driving 10 mph, when we got to the dig site it felt like we were at the dump, the ground was solid rock so it was less digging, more chipping, and everyone was unhappy. Not my best idea, but we can look back and laugh now that it's behind us. Sorry, Brooke!

So, we've had a fun two weeks. We've loved having our cousins and aunts here. This summer is going to be over before we know it. We have to pack all the fun and activities into it we can!

The Earnest California Adventure

We got home a week ago from our trip to California for the Earnest family reunion - it's probably time I updated the blog. We decided to break up the drive by stopping in San Francisco for a day. Lark and Steve made the crazy decision to travel with us for which we were so thankful. (Really - who would volunteer to travel 700 miles with 5 kids?) The three girls rode with grandma and grandpa and Chris and I traveled in peace and quiet with just our two boys. It was the best road trip - not a single argument or complaint. Thank you, Lark & Steve!



In San Fran, we visited Fisherman's Wharf for lunch, rode the trolley cars, and visited Chinatown. Then we headed over to Golden Gate Park before leaving the city.





When we finally got to San Luis Obispo, we stopped at Brooke's house (Chris' sister) before going to the hotel. Jonas got reacquainted with his cousin, John, who was a good sport and let Jonas drive the Brundage kids' jeep. They were hilarious - driving up and down the street, knocking over garbage cans, trying to run down people, and laughing together the whole time.


We headed down to Avila Beach where our hotel was right on the beach and was equipped with a pool/hot tub, lifesize chess set, putting green, and a playground. All of the family was soon together and hanging out at the pool. The cousins hit the pool first thing - can you tell which cousins live in AZ?


The best part of the trip was catching up with family we haven't seen for a while: Annee, Todd, Amber, and Chris visit by the pool.

Quinn and Ellie were inseparable the entire week. They were easy to find - we just had to follow the high pitched squeals and giggling.

How do you feed 39 people? Pizza, of course...

After a few hours of being in the pool with Jonas the first day, I decided a flotation device was necessary. He spent hours kicking around in the pool with his floatie. (I was waiting for him to fall in through the middle, but he never did.)


Here he is with John and Emma.


On Wednesday evening, we had a bonfire on the beach. We roasted hot dogs, made s'mores, played football, and visited some more.


Chris and Todd took the boys on a hike Thursday afternoon where they found some tide pools. These are the "cool" cousins - Joe, Jackson, Sam, Chase and Cameron.

On Thursday evening, we went to the San Luis Obispo farmer's market for dinner and then to Cold Stone for ice cream (thank you Brooke and Joe). Friday was another day spent at the beach. The water was COLD, but it didn't seem to bother the kids. Jonas had a blast running from the waves.


Lauren and Mattie looked for seashells, played in the water with Quinn (those girls are so sweet) and tried boogie boarding.



Sam spent most of his time boggie boarding with the boys. It wasn't easy to get a picture of him.


Chris got Joe, George, Sam, and Chase to stand still for a minute for a picture, then they were off again.


We ended the week with family photos, dinner, and a talent show by the Earnest grandchildren (who are all very talented!) We had a great trip and want to thank everyone for being there. We know it took a lot of time, effort, and sacrifice for everyone to make it, but it wouldn't have been the same if any of you were not able to be there. We love every one of you! Happy Anniversary, Steve and Lark! Trying to raise my own children has made me aware of how amazing you are to have raised 7 capable, generous, caring children of your own.