County Fair

By January, when the excitement of Christmas has worn off, Zeke begins asking when the fair is going to be. We pass by the fairgrounds often, and without fail, we hear his question. Ryley usually pipes up with a not-so-nice response that it's not until August. August has become a big month for us in the past few years. It means the fair, Quin's birthday, and Zeke's birthday. This year, it also included our Fresh Air visitor from Brooklyn and a camping trip.

So, back to the fair. The first full week of August means county fair, the largest agricultural fair in Vermont. The fair, affectionately known as Field Days, is only a few miles away. I've noticed that the people who love Field Days the most are those who grew up here, who have memories of piling into an old wood paneled Station Wagon, trying to be the first to notice the lights of the Ferris wheel, those who have memories of watching the same events over 20 years ago.

The fair means demolition derbies, tractor pulls, candy apples, horse and cow shows, carnival rides and games, corn boxes (think sand box with kernels of corn instead of sand), rainbow ice, free chocolate milk, children's barnyard, maple milkshakes, fried bread dough, bloomin' onions, more jogging strollers than you've ever seen in one place, and so much more.

JD and I started hanging out at the fair 12 years ago. A large group of young people were hanging around the FFA food booth, when all of a sudden, everyone disappeared, either to the "pit" to finish getting their cars ready for the demo derby, or to the cow barns to take care of their cattle. Only JD and I were left, and the rest is history.

We love the fair, the kids love the fair, and I'll sign off with some pictures of the fair.

Ryley's fair experience obviously included horses.
She was able to ride in a cart class behind my aunt's horse, Macey.
I think I have a horse-lover on my hands!

Zeke loved the rides, stilts, farm equipment, and ice cream cones.

And Quin loved corn, freedom from his stroller, and Caroline!

Camping Trip #1

The morning after returning from Maine, I began unpacking and repacking. Our next destination was a state park about 20 minutes away where we'd be camping for 3 nights. For the most part, it would be 4 moms and 17 kids (with some of the dad joining us in the evenings). It was crazy, fun, and I'd do it all over again. The days were spent swimming in the pool and biking around the campground. The weather was beautiful, the kids were well-behaved, and the skunk didn't spray anything/one!

Mom of 4 Kids, Mom of 5 Kids, Mom of 5 Boys, Me
Baby JJ was our youngest camper at 4 months

Instead of planning meals for the 20+ of us, we separated into two groups for all meals which worked really well. Julia and I camped together last summer, so we planned meals for our families. Melissa and Sarah joined us this year, and took care of theirs.

All 4 families are represented here--Lots of little blondies!

Next camping trip is less than 2 weeks ago!

The Anniversary Post

10 years. We made it. Next goal- 20 years! JD and I recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We had a low key today which included calls from all of my siblings, most of them joking that they couldn't believe JD had put up with me that long. We took the kids out to the local creemee stand as we'd be leaving them for the weekend. The next morning, we headed to Maine. I had never been, and JD hadn't been since he was a kid. We had a great time outlet shopping, going to the beach, checking out different little towns on the coast, eating seafood, and even mini-golfing. It was really nice to be free from responsibility, but we were both ready to come home after we'd been gone for two nights.

10 years have brought many changes. When we got married I was 20 and still in college. My dad was alive and wheeled me down the aisle. He passed away 8 years ago. JD has had a few different jobs, but is now back with the same company he was with when we were dating. We've lived in an apartment and three different houses, three different towns. We have three kids that we're responsible for. Some things are the same; JD is still my best friend. Marriage is hard work, and things haven't always been easy, but it has truly gotten better with time and I love him more than ever.