Saturday, September 19, 2009

state fair celebs: boyz II men, little lina and david archuletta




this post can be most enjoyed by opening this link in a new tab for background music.

we ventured out to the state fair this weekend to see all the sights. i grew up going to this fair and it has such great memories. i think 90% of all the bullough pets were purchased at the fair-and if you are familiar with the bullough's pets, you know that's a lot of livestock. i was pleased as punch to return to the grounds. i felt just like templeton in charlotte's web as i enjoyed the smorgasbord of fair festivites. what a night!!!
for starters, we arrived a little later than we planned only to find out the boyz II men concert was sold out. what a bummer! regardless, we bee-lined it over to the grand stage to listen in as they boyz, now men, sang to a crowd of screaming and crying girls. we all danced outside the gates and looked longingly on as the hits rolled in. i must have looked extra desparate because as this cute, old couple was walking through the crowd, the granny stopped and asked me why i wasn't inside enjoying the concert. i explained it was sold out and we couldn't get in. she elbowed her husband who pulled out two tickets and gave them to cade and i. joy is an understatement. we thanked and thanked and then ran through the gates just in time to scream along to motown philly. whoever you are, old couple, i love you.
next, we were off to the big yellow slide. we all climbed to the top in anticipation with our gunny sacks in hand. the slide usually sends down 5 people or so at a time- yet somehow we conviced the carnies to let us send down eleven of us at once (well-technically twelve, this baby sure is growing). if we weren't a sight enough, somehow the boys all broke out into the chorus of "up in here" as we started our descent. here are the boys in front of the big, yellow slide.

the fair doesn't stop there, my friends. it keeps on giving...

we saw the animals:

we saw the tattoos:

we skipped out on seeing this lady (it costs 2 dollars to talk to her):
but in the end, we just couldn't pass up little lina. i still have moral dilemma about this, but i will admit i actually paid a dollar to see the smallest woman in the world. i don't quite know what i was expecting, yet somehow the experience has left a small emotional scar. we were debating on whether or not we wanted to go in- after all the controversy surrounding this little lady, how could we resist. as we approached the carney money taker, there were some people yelling out their protests.

"this is unamerican" "slavery is over" "let the little lady go" etc. etc.

now, protesting is nothing new to me- i've been to general conference, but this situation was ulta uncomfortable. we handed over our cash and walked around this half wall to find this teeny, little woman from the west indies sitting on a little stool which had been propped up on a table. she had a strange smile plastered on her face and she spoke no english. i said hello, looked at cade, and walked out. did i seriously just pay a dollar for that weird of an experience? my whole life i have been taught not to stare and then i go and pay a good dollar for valid staring rights and can't bring myself to do it. is paying to see little lina wrong? i still can't decide...

finally, we didn't have to pay for this experience, but we were fortunate enough to run into david archuletta. what's that? you don't think that looks like david? well, that is because it really isn't but this kid thinks we were fooled. jason and sam stopped him on the street. he posed for the pictures and did the shy giggle- but in the end, when we asked him to sing a few lines, he took off. the best part of this whole experience is we had a few people in the crowd convinced it was actually him. they were pulling out cameras and stopping to stare... let's be honest though, the closest thing this kid has to david archuletta is that leather vest. still a fun time.


post david, we spent the rest of our time looking at the photography, crafts and booths. i truly love the fair. it is such a great celebration and i look forward to bringing my kids there (however, we probably won't see little lina next time).

Friday, September 11, 2009

labor day at rancho cherpablo



my grammy and grandpa invited us all out to their property this last weekend and here is what we did:

we played on the tire swings

we caught stuff...

we played the guitar...

we laughed quite a bit...

we climbed stuff...

arts and crafts...

we shot stuff...

we played a heck-of-a-lot of horseshoes...

we got competitive...

we read lots of books...

we relaxed...

we went on hikes for a better view...

we ate...

and ate...

and ate...

we discovered stuff...

we roasted stuff...

and laughed some more...

we went fishing...

and played cards...

we played in the dirt...

we were a big, happy family...

and a small, happy family too...

Thursday, September 3, 2009

um, where did august go?

it is weird to look back and see a month pass so quickly... here are the highlights in no particular order:


the okkervil river/iron and wine concert:

standing for 4 hours straight isn't really my thing these days.
but the company was good and the music was fabulous.
we are really packing moments like this in because there is no way i am taking my children to concerts where weed abounds and there is no room to breathe.



hiking:

somehow cade convinced me to take a hike with the youth in our ward. don't get me wrong- i love hikes but carrying around this extra weight is a little difficult at times. nevertheless, the hike provided some fabulous views.


the ulcr
cade entered another race- this one 100 miles around utah lake. using his single speed once again, cade had a great ride.


baseball:

cade and i returned to uvu after all these years to see an owlz game. i love baseball in the summer.

raging waters:

we had a blast at raging waters with some friends. public venues like that are fun- but they always force me to wonder where all these interesting people are 364 days a year. granted, they may be at lagoon or cherry hill but if not there- where are they? the slides were fun (yes, i was careful with the babe). sure, we were attacked in the wave pool which resulted in being kicked across the face- but overall it was great. cade and jason invited marcos, a special needs friend from high school, to join us at the park. seeing him enjoy the water park was as much fun as the rest. kudos to you, raging waters.

babysitting:

we spent four days with cade's sister's kids in heber. they pretty much took care of us for those four days. they always had dinner ready when we got home from work and we spent the rest of our time playing games, doing pedicures, playing basketball and going to the farmer's market. we love those kids and miss them already.

so there you have it: august.

now on to a crazy september!