The Fair

 All summer I have bemoaned the fact that we hadn't done any of the important things that make summer fun.  With Ike making his appearance right in the middle we have missed the camping trips, the holiday fireworks and parades.  But now we are reaping the rewards of making our Utah vacation in August.  It has been years since I was here to eat all the fresh veggies from the gardens and to make salsa with my mom.  It also means that we got to take the kids to the fair.  This year they had a petting zoo that was much more exciting than usual and we spent way too much time there.

 The pot-bellied piglets were by far the best part.

 And the best part of the fair is getting a snack.  Previously after a certain incident I had sworn that I would never let my children have another sno-cone but they got Oma on their side and in honor of the fair I bent the rule.

 The rest of us went for lemonade and churros.  Could anything be more perfect?

 Maybe I will have to permanently remove the sno-cone ban because this was just too cute.

 Another tried and true summer tradition in the Howard home is popsicles.  Usually we actually sit outside instead of in the garage but a lovely summer rainstorm had us under cover.  The door was open so we could watch the raindrops and even more importantly smell them.

 The new part of this tradition is that Rosy is too stubborn to have any help ends up every time in a sticky melty mess.  She ruined enough shirts that now she just has to strip down.  It is a lot easier to wash red off skin.  Shanan sent me this photo that she took from next door.  After they finished their treats they went and roasted marshmallows over there.  In other words it was a perfect Sunday night.

The other day Daisy came in crying.  Someone had left and entire Costco box of Creamies out and they had melted.  I thought she was worried she would be in trouble but after careful questioning of everyone involved she and both her sisters confidently blamed their Opa.  He admitted that it may have been him because he had been trying to take care of all my kids and the neighbors too.   Daisy was crying over the loss and when it all got sorted out I almost cried myself.  We don't mess around when Creamies are involved.
Opa, of course, made a quick trip to the store to replenish the debt and was immediately forgiven.

Ike is kind of bummed out about the whole scene.  Next year buddy.  You will see.