August Catchup

 Today was Emma and Elliott's last day of summer care. Needless to say, summer is almost over. Again, I am super behind on all things blogging. 

July ended on a really busy note. The weekend after the Black Hills we had our Bethel Softball Tournament. As predicted, we didn't do very well. We went 1-3 on the day. The three games we lost were really close, but we lost them anyway. So, we didn't win. It was a really hot day, so the kids stayed at grandma and grandpa's house while we played, which was for the best. We did stay for the championship game to heckle the teams a little. St. Michaels won again, big surprise there. 

The next weekend, I had Steak Out State Softball tournament in Huron. Huron is a pretty dumpy town. It was a fun tournament, but our hotel was pretty sketchy and it was a long ways to drive to just play three games. We won our first game, and then lost the second two. It was an ok time, but I think I was just ready for the season to be over. John took the kids to Diamond Lake to go camping and they all had a really good time. They had the carnival that they have every year, and the kids had a blast. I was kind of bummed to miss out on it. 

So, now softball is over and we have some time back again. But, we are really good at filling it back up again with stuff as well. The kids had a lot of fun at summer care this year. They did a lot of swimming, field trips, crafts, and met new friends. They were a little bummed to be all done for the summer already. 

This past week was an absolute marathon. Monday night we went to the Sioux Empire Fair. We had fun walking through all the animal barns with the kids. We even got to see a cow being milked, and a sow with a  new litter of piglets. We also walked through the commercial exhibits and then ate some fair treats. We finished the evening with a concert featuring Parmalee and Hardy. The kids thought the concert was loud, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We got home around 9:30pm, oof-da. 

On Tuesday, I brought the kids to Wild Water West and met up with Heather and Carter and Gavin. We hadn't made it to Wild Water West at all yet this summer, so the kids were super pumped. Emma and Gavin spent most of the time together going down waterslides, bumper boats, wave pool. and even go karts. Elliott and Carter mostly spent their time together. Elliott could do pretty much everything there. He even went down the tornado slide and thought that was pretty awesome. We stayed there from 4pm-8pm. We closed the place down. I had two tired kids after that, and one tired mom. It was a really fun evening. 

On Wednesday, we finally stayed home, but we were still busy. We went over to the new high school to play catch on the football field, and run around. The kids love that kind of thing. 

Last night, I brought the kids to the West Side Lutheran Block party. We have been to this party before in years past, and this year didn't disappoint either. There were food trucks, the bookmobile. a firetruck, kits, gaga ball, the zoomobile, parrots, crafts, archery, goats, wagon rides, a bouncy house, and a live band. We stayed there for the full 2 hours as well, and the kids had a really fun time again. 

Now, it's finally the weekend (what a week!!) and we are gearing up for the fair. The kids are bringing rabbits and bunnies, and a lot of projects, so we have our work cut out for us over the next few days. I think we are pretty much ready. I have a lot of baking to do with the kids tomorrow, and then we are packing up and bringing our clothes and food out to the camper to get that settled before we spend 5 nights in there starting on Sunday. We also have a lot of family time, volunteering, and fair schedules to keep track of over the next 5 days. It's going to be pretty crazy, but it should be fun. I have the whole week off from work, and John will be going back and forth. 

We also have school around the corner. We have open house for school on Tuesday (what!?) and then school starts the Wednesday after the fair. These next weeks are going to be brutal. 

Tonight, the weather is perfect. John and Elliott are playing in the driveway while I blog, and Emma is at the neighbor's house. The tent is set up and the kids plan to sleep in it overnight, and we are just having a nice, relaxing evening before the crazy week begins. 

Here's to surviving the fair!!

Steakout Softball Team 

Fair cleanup night

Long jump