survival

 

We survived another fair.  I love the county fair.  I love having time with the kids, taking off work.  I love making memories, seeing old friends, and playing around with the critters.  I love carnival food, and crazy events and the lessons it teaches.  I love seeing the kids take pride in something that they accomplished.  It truly makes me happy.  One thing about it though, when we are running and trying to keep up with the schedule, and the stress of keeping things alive and cared for in a strange environment, it seems like literally everything else takes a backseat.  The house, the laundry, the yard, the garden, work,  keeping up with people.  All of it slides into the abyss.  Which is why, although it was fun and rewarding, it was also a relief to have it finished.  

We attended the last event - the fair ground clean up, and packed up all of the equipment and junk until next time.  The girls were very helpful.  Even Wren did some of the heavy lifting!  

 

Mallory had to go back to work last week.  She has had a pretty difficult summer, and has not has much of any resolution to the health issues she has been having.  I know she wanted to wrap that up and start the year off feeling better.  The American health care system let her down.  As usual. 

But she is strong, and dedicated, and she will get her answers in time.  She will muscle through and be the best 1st grade teacher to her kids!  She is excited about teaching and getting a new year underway!

I am proud of her.  I hope she has the best year!

With the fair being over, we spent our Sunday doing a half-way job of putting things away, catching up the laundry, cooking actual meals, and relaxing a little bit.  Jim and Andrew went fishing.  Jim came home excited because they had a great time, and they caught lots of fish.  It was not quite as hot as it has been, so that was a good thing as well.  

Preston and Sunny hung out with us, and we spent a little time floating in the pool with Evie and Wrenley.  It was a good day.  

And now, just because I can, I am sharing my fav photos and things from the last week.  

I love that Evie got to have her first fair with Harper and Saige still in 4-H.  I love that they helped each other, worked together and had some fun together.  

I love photos where Harper smiles, but you can still read the "hurry up and get this done mom, because I hate when you take my photo" on her face.  She makes me laugh.  

My babies!  It is insane how fast the time flies by!  These girls are all growing up way too fast.  

I love fan clubs.

And being successful at hard things. 

And hot, sweaty smiles. 

And little bitty kids controlling animals that are bigger/stronger than they are. 

And small sweet smiles that tell more about how a person is feeling than they are letting on.  

And although controversial, I love the carnival, it changes the atmosphere and makes the fair more fun.  It brings carnival food and weird people to town, but I sort of think the world needs more weird in it.  At least it spices up the stories a little!  

I love seeing kids learn to be responsible for another living creature.  And I love watching that animal love them back. I love that kids are learning to love agriculture, and learning to do things for themselves.  

And I love time with family. 

And seeing my girls rock out in the marching band. 

And witnessing the generosity and hard work of a community that I love being a part of. 

Funny photos.

And a redneck good time at the demolition derby.

and now, back to school, schedules, early mornings, and less fun.  

Last day

Saturday was a busy but fun day at the fair.  Easton brought his parents down to watch the pet show, parade auction and  demolition derby.  

Unfortunately, Easton got a little tired of the heat and the excitement and had to miss the derby!  He also got to stop at the new Quik Trip in Emporia.  The boys have this back and forth going about whether Quik Trip is better than Casey’s.  

 

I  am always happy to see my people.  

The pet show was Wrenley’s long awaited debut for showing her goat.  She was beyond excited about it.  We were so proud of her. She marched in, talked to the judge and got her goat a first place ribbon!  

She made it look like so much fun that next year Easton wants to try it! 

I have never seen a kid who latched onto a goat the way Wrenley has latched onto this one.  She absolutely loves Tighty Whitey.  And I know goat’s are strange creatures, but I believe he loves her too.  

We hung out at Mallory’s for a bit after the pet show - to cool off and then let the girls get ready for marching in the parade.  It was nice to sit down for a while and just visit.  

It was Saige’s first marching band event.  I don’t know if she was super impressed, but the band did a great job!  I am proud of my girls, they have worked really hard and spent a lot of time practicing.  

Cameron and Tatum, Preston and Sunny all joined us for the parade.  Tatum’s nephew also joined the fun, and picked up a lot of candy with Evelyn and Wrenley.  

Our 4-H club float took first place in the 4-H division.  (It might have also been the only float in the 4-H division). 

GG and papa Larry got to hang out at the parade and then we all went to the auction and they gave away a belt buckle to an exemplary 4-Her in my brother’s honor.  The recipient happens to be from our club and is an amazing kid.  I was tickled to see her honored.  My brother loved fairs - he would help Clayton at the Douglas county fair and then turn around and show up to help my kids at their fair.  I hope he knows that we appreciated all the help he gave us over the years.  I hope he is proud of the way we are trying to honor his memory.  

Harper, Saige and Evelyn all sold goats in the premium auction.  They have a lot of very generous people that supported them and I am so touched by the generosity that seems to show up for these kids every single time.  

Premium auction means that we bring the goats back home.  Andrew and Madison got them loaded up in Jim’s truck.  But I didn’t know they had gone to load them.  I went into the barn with Harper and our pen was empty. They were loading the ones who went through the terminal sale to take to the locker plant.  I admit I panicked a bit, thinking they loaded Stitch and Whitey. I was headed over to pull them off the terminal trailer when Harper realized they were already in our truck!  Whew!  I don’t think Wrenley or Evelyn would have forgiven us if their goats went to the locker!  

The girls and I were going to go to the derby, but then we realized that it was too people-y and we would never find a place to set up chairs where we would be able to see.   The fairground was hit by some monster storm earlier this summer and lost their big bleachers.  From the looks of it, that didn’t stop people from attending.  Rednecks love a derby!   I’m happy the fair board made money, but I was equally happy to sit in the recliner.  

One more trip in for clean up day and we will call the 2026 Overbrook fair a wrap!   Good memories, fun times with family, proud moments, and gallons of sweat!  

Fair is over, guess I know what that means.