The Fair and the Ferris Wheel

(From the first week in August)

For one reason or another, I usually end up spending a lot of time at the Clatsop County Fair. Ever since Synnove was a baby and we lived in Cornelius, I still ended up back in Astoria spending the week at the fair. We have a pretty small fair in comparison to fairs in Tillamook County, Washington County, or even Benton County. In fact, I would say that many would think our fair is pretty boring! We go to visit, watch the 4-H kids, eat some fatty food, and wander aimlessly through the exhibits. The kids love it, especially when Grandpa is there to take them on the rides!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful father...even more so, my kids are blessed to have such a wonderful grandfather. His patience, stamina, and knack to spoil are awe-inspiring. Dad was working during fair this year, but managed to find the time to take the kids down to the carnival for one of the days. The kids had been begging to ride the rides even before the fair opened...and they specifically requested GRANDPA. I told them that he might not be able to take them, so they were over the moon excited when he was able to on "buddy day" (buy one ride bracelet and get one 1/2 off). As in years passed, they would ride for hours, break for meals, and then ride even more.

Mom and I met up with them near dinner-time and I caught some photos. The kids even talked Grandpa into doing a balloon-popping game to get a prize. It's been a month since we were at the fair, and Soren STILL carries his prize around (a frog "buddy" with velcro hands that he wears around his neck).

Synnove jumping as she throws a dart...

Grandpa agreed to ride the ferris wheel after finally convincing Synnove to ride it...she was pretty apprehensive...

I just had to include this picture of dad texting while riding...is that legal?

Dad and Soren have their tongues out while Synnove hides from the camera...

Good Intentions

Today I woke up with nothing pressing to do. "Pressing" is a relative term...if you know what I mean. I decided that I would make myself some eggs and spend some time prioritizing my day. The kids were glued to the TV upstairs, and instead of kicking them out so that I could watch a quick Paula Deen, I escaped to the basement to watch it there (which I NEVER do). While perusing through the channels I found a chick-flick that was just rolling the beginning credits...what luck!! Of course, within 5 minutes, the kids had followed me downstairs. The basement has sort of been off limits for the last week for reasons I intend to share later...so I told them to go back upstairs and finish watching whatever they were watching. Of course, that all took much longer than just a few minutes. I resumed my movie and egg eating (now cold). A commercial break came on so I decided to pause and download some pictures from my camera and prep for some much-needed blogging. In the process of waiting for my dinosaur of a computer to do that, I got distracted and started moving files and cleaning and organizing my computer desktop. That took a good 30-40 minutes. Then I started searching for pictures for my next blog topic...until I get a text from a friend that she needs some help moving some furniture. So...because I already had Blogger open to the "compose" page, I decided to write my intention. Until next time...off to do life again :)

Camping Out at Home

I think bedtimes around our house began their summer schedules sometime in May before school was out. The goal is for me to get the kids in bed before 9, but that hasn't happened. Life on the coast can be dreary, and when it stays light outside passed 8, it's a bonus we just can't avoid. Much of July was dreary. The rain came, and when it wasn't raining it seemed like we had many gray days. Our outdoor fun was limited.

The kids had been begging to sleep out in the tent like they did with Adam last summer, but it wasn't nice enough yet. So, Synnove suggested they sleep in their tiny play tents in the downstairs living room. Once I finally agreed that it was a good idea, the kids went straight down to start prepping for their good night's sleep. They crammed their tents with pillows, blankets and every stuffed animal they could find. There was absolutely no room for sleeping when they were done. Because the tents are so small, I said they could choose 2-3 animals and have one pillow. They both had to sleep diagonally in order to fit semi-comfortably, and they certainly couldn't stretch out straight.

Before Adam and I went to bed, we went down to check on them. Surprisingly, Synnove (the wiggle worm) was still nestled diagonally, while Soren was stretched out with his feet out of the tent and under the couch. I quietly moved them out from underneath the couch so that he wouldn't break his little legs in the middle of the night trying to free them.

They woke early the next morning. I asked the kids how they liked it. Synnove had fun, but Soren said "I didn't fit!"


Later in the month, the sun finally decided to show up. Adam and I had been busy for several days down in the shop cleaning and organizing. I came upon my old tent still wadded up and unfolded from last summer's little camp out. I carefully folded it up and crammed it back in it's bag only to see it return to the house a few days later and set up on the deck...*sigh* Even though it was the middle of the week, Adam agreed to sleep outside with the kids. I suggested they take out the little TV and VCR so they could watch movies out there. It was already late, but Adam hooked it all up and settled down to watch "The Voyage of Sinbad" while eating popcorn. Adam was snoring long before the kids settled down. I checked on them again at midnight and they were all sound asleep.

That was about two weeks ago...the tent is still out there waiting for ME to fold it up...again.

One Month Ago Today...

...My dear friends Tonya and Chris welcomed Avyrie Noelle to their little family! Tonya was a week overdue, but it was nice that she waited until just AFTER our camping trip :) Tonya had the EASIEST birth considering it was her first child. I'm so happy for them.


We tried to come and visit before the actual birth, but Avyrie was just too quick! Synnove and I visited a few hours after she arrived and then visited again the next day. I couldn't get Synnove to hold her, but Soren was willing....

Congratulations Chirs, Tonya, and Little Faith! You and Avyrie are equally blessed to have each other :)

4th of July Camp Trip: The Creek

Maybe it was the unusual amount of sunshine, but for some reason I took a lot of pictures this camp trip. Hopefully, I'll get around to posting some more.

In the last couple of years, the weather on our camping trips has been less than desirable. We're happy if it only rains one or two days out of the usual four that we camp. This trip was perfect! It wasn't too hot, and it wasn't too cold...and we even put on our shorts! Ha ha! The kids are always anxious to get down to the creek, and it's even better when they can actually put on their swimming suits and take a dip.

Synnove, on the new 4-wheeler ready to go!

Chris, Tonya and Faith didn't actually camp overnight this trip but came for breakfast and didn't leave till after dinner every day. Tonya's baby was due June 30th and was very uncomfortable, and sleeping in the trailer wasn't the best idea. Faith didn't bring her swimming suit, so her and Chris just put their feet in...

Over the years, we've continued to rebuild a little dam and the built up water creates enough current for a fun little jaunt on a floatie. Somehow Soren suckered Lori into bringing him back up every time he went down...

Dam building...etc.

Soren was brave enough to go down river numerous times before Synnove got up the courage to do it as well.

Heather (aka "Herbie"), me, and Heidi (aka "FiFi")

Adam's Week Off

Once in a while it's fun to map out a detailed week-in-the-life....so forgive the length of this post.

When Adam takes time off, there is no rest at the Brown house. There is always places to go, people to see, and LOTS of things to do. Adam had planned to get a good handful of things done during his week off, mainly clean the embarrassingly messy shop. But, after evaluating his long list, he decided to do something else...[insert sarcastic remark here]. He actually worked really REALLY hard all week building a cool loft in the shop. No, building the loft wasn't top priority, but it was something he was excited to tackle. He did a professional job, and I'm quite proud of him. I don't have any pictures yet, but I will.

Adam's little vacation started on Saturday, June 25th. Adam worked in the shop while the kids and I went to a birthday party. Saturday was the beginning of a long trend of late nights. We left at 6PM for the 1.75 hour trek to Vancouver with a truckload of Adam's Mom's stuff that she has been storing at our house for the last 2 years. This needed to be done in order for Adam to start his loft project. Fortunately, the timing was perfect as Steve and my MIL's basement dwellers (Steve's son and wife) had just moved out and Patty had a place to actually put the stuff we were bringing. We made good use of the trip by planning to visit Home Depot just a mile away from their house on our way home. We didn't arrive at Steve and Patty's till 8 and Home Depot closed at 9. Steve and Adam went to Home Depot while Patty, the kids and I visited and played with sidewalk chalk. They got back from Home Depot a little after 9...just in time for us to head to Red Lobster for a late night dinner. The kids held up very well considering! I think we got home around midnight.

Sunday, June 26th was another very big day. Crossroads Church (the Svensen Friend's church) was having a 50-year anniversary celebration service just 2 miles down the road from our house. Adam and I don't attend that church, but I wanted to go to the celebration because my great grandparents (Warren and Ruth Thompson) started the church and eventually helped build the building. My great aunt and uncle (Naomi and Gene Brown *not the same "Browns"*) came up from Eugene for the celebration as well. Naomi brought great grandma's scrapbook from the start of the church and it was fun to look at photos and hear stories. Naomi and Gene were also celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary. They were actually the first couple to be married at the new church building.

After the celebration we all headed to Grandma and Grandpa Thompson's house for Grandpa's 76th birthday party for good food, family, and fellowship.

FiFi and Weesie...matching eyes

Musta been and good one! (Gene and Naomi in background)

I think, due to technical difficulties, Grandpa didn't get to make his 76th birthday wish...

On Monday, June 27th, we all spent the day at Uncle Don's cutting and splitting wood. Oh man...it was backbreaking work. My back was already sore from when I tweaked it packing furniture on Saturday. Adam worked ALL day, while I just helped from 11 till 5. It rained off and on all day and we worked later because Synnove's game got cancelled. I left at 5 to go home and shower before heading over to Kara's ("Miss Kara") house for a scrapbooking night. I got home at 1AM.

On Tuesday, June 28th Bible study got cancelled because of the poor weather. During the summer it's difficult doing BS on rainy days because all of our kids are out of school and having the kids play indoors would be insanity! I was glad because I had much to do at home to prep for camping. Adam worked on his loft. By early afternoon I had a pretty bad headache from working so hard the day before. I drugged myself up before being picked up by my mom at about 4:30 to go with Elise to Cornelius to pick up a nursery set she found on Craigslist. First, us three girls packed in Elise's oversized crew cab in Warrenton and drove 1.5 hours to Coastal Farm and Ranch in Cornelius before it closed at 7PM. We are all about efficiency, so it made sense to pick up 22 fence posts for the fence Adam and I will be building soon before picking up Elise's nursery set. After picking up the set, we headed to Walmart to pick up a few camping essentials and pulled into my driveway at roughly 10:30 to drop everything off. The nursery set was poorly painted, so I told Elise I would fix it up and paint it for her.

Wednesday, June 29th was mostly laundry and clean-up for me. The kids were always busy riding their 4-wheelers. In fact they had been riding non-stop since the week before when Synnove finally scored her "home run." Adam continued to work on the loft. At around 11:00 I headed to town to Elise's coffee shop to meet up with My great uncle Jim and his wife Corky. They were road-tripping the western USA visiting family here and there and everywhere. I don't think I left until 2. I had planned to go to the store to do camping shopping, but it was impractical as I didn't have enough time to get everything done before I needed to get back home to pick up my family and go to the movies to see "Cars 2" with my mom, Elise, and Chris. We got out of the movie close to 8PM...just in time to go to Home Depot to pick up more lumber for the loft. We closed the place down and arrived home just before 10. *Sigh*...another late night.

On Thursday, June 30th Adam headed out early to visit his Dad in Beaverton and make another trip to Coastal Farm and Ranch for more fence supplies. I was really dragging my feet. I really needed to head to town to do my camping shopping...but I wasn't feeling too great. My head was still aching and all I wanted to do was plant myself on the couch. The kids were perpetually outside riding 4-wheelers and using their imaginations. One thing I thought was pretty cute is that they made a storefront complete with signs and "inventory." This actually went on for several days and inventory ranged from huckleberries, to flowers, to tortilla chips.

Synnove's side...

Soren's side...

Adam didn't get back home till around 5. That evening I headed to Warrenton to do a MK delivery and finish my camping shopping. I was exhausted and felt pretty miserable. I was at the store for over 2 hours along with every other person doing last-minute 4th of July shopping. While I was there I called Kara to get a yummy dessert salad recipe. She didn't answer so I guessed what was in the salad. I didn't get home till after 9PM and she called me back when I was about 10 minutes from home. I had gotten every ingredient right except for ONE! Worst part was that it needed to be cooked, set overnight, then finished the next day! The store in Svensen closes at 8 and I wasn't about drive 20 minutes to the nearest store. So, I asked Adam to wake up at 8 the next morn to get it and I would try to make it without letting it set overnight. Being the nice husband that he is, he agreed. It ended up working out OK.

Friday, July 1st...CAMP DAY! The day started off without a headache...woo hoo! I hadn't packed a single thing and got busy right away. I thought we would try to leave early, but we found out that the road was being worked on so we wouldn't be able to get our trailer in for a few hours anyway. Adam was happy to stay home and work on the loft. The kids were soooo anxious to leave town and Synnove helped me pack things down to the trailer with her 4-wheeler. Amidst the bustle, I received 3 sales calls. Two were MK calls, while the other had to do with Young Living products. Those calls/consultations/deliveries sucked a good 2.5 hours out of my already busy day...however, I grossed about $250 in sales (WORTH IT!). Then, as if that wasn't enough, received two last minute t-ball calls where I had to contact all the parents with cancellation/game/picture information (I'm the "team mom"). I suppose it was a good thing we got delayed because I don't have cell service where we camp and there might have been a lot of angry uninformed people out there! We didn't get to camp till around 7.

Yes, it was quite a busy week. Adam didn't finish the loft...but he got the bulk of it done. Our busy-ness continued through last week and doesn't show any signs of stopping...

A Little Bit of June

• It's been quite some time since I've sat in front of this computer to do anything other than scour Etsy and EBay for treasures to adorn my freshly painted bathroom walls. Yes, I've started projects again! Oh how I LOVE projects! A couple of months ago I got the itch to paint something, so I painted a bookcase for our bedroom. That wasn't enough to satisfy my, so I started to brainstorm ways to spruce up my kitchen...but that's gonna take a while....so I decided I was sick of looking at my hideous guest bathroom/laundry room. I've been brainstorming, painting, collecting, shopping, and decorating for the entire month of June thus far. I suppose it's now finished enough for me to be satisfied for a while. In fact, I finished today.



• All of my other time has been spent doing various other things. For one, I've enjoyed many lazy days with my Bible study girls. Oh how I love these girls! One girl in particular has a house/farm that is in dire need of demolition. However, she's making the best of it and we're doing a makeover on her bathroom...among other things.



• The kids got a nasty bout of illness last week, and we're praying that's the end of sickness for a while...and if God answers my prayer...FOREVER! Wouldn't that be nice??



• Synnove started T-ball and it's a joy to watch. She REALLY didn't want to play t-ball, but I sorta forced her to. I told her that she didn't have to play next year if she didn't want to. Still, she cried and pleaded with me and said, in typical teenage fashion,"why are you doing this to me!!??" Turns out, she kinda likes it...go figure. Her Grandpa made her a deal that if she hit the ball passed the imaginary base line that she would get a spankin' new 4-wheeler to ride. The whole ordeal is kind of a long story...but she has yet to hit passed the line. We're hoping that tonight is the night because she only has two more games until our 4th of July camping trip! She got to ride it on Father's day, but wasn't able to take it home from Grandpa's house. Of course, she's thrilled...and loves that it has "reverse."



• Adam has been working a lot...this week in particular. He's been prepping for this week's chemical safety audit for quite some time. He's also been working Saturday's and has spent many late evenings at home on the computer. That, as well as last months 2-week annual mill shut-down has kept him away from home waaaay too much. We're looking forward to his week off next week!



• Hmm...what else? Well, last Sunday was the first Sunday since Easter that we were actually able to attend church! Birthdays, graduations, weddings, work, baby showers, sicknesses...you name it. Our May/June gas bill was horrific.

Last minute family BBQ... first weekend in June

Lighting off the burn pile while being entertained by the "kids" on their "toys"

Because of some sort of miscommunication, Knappa's t-ball teams are the only teams that aren't coed. So, unlike the other teams, we get pink and purple shirts! Synnove is #9 with the dark helmet on.


Another last minute BBQ at the Kinder's with their family and another family I met through preschool/bible study. From left to right...Jim O'Connor, Synnove, Breanna Kinder, Kade Kinder, Tucker Regier, and Soren.

I thought that this shot captured the Summer Solstice quite perfectly...