from the Mixed-Up Files of Crystal

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought."
- Wallace Stevens
Oh, how I despair the end of summer! Do you think if I played Beach Boys tunes over & over I could forestall the onslaught of September?

Earlier this month, as school loomed in my horizon, I (quite literally) threw our stuff into a suitcase, threw the kids (you decide if that's literally) into the car and sped to Boise for a Summer Finale Visit. And what a Finale it was! I'm sure that just like a fireworks finale, when you ask yourself "Is this the last one?" after each display, my poor mother asked herself at the end of each day, "Is this the last one?"

WE WORE OURSELVES OUT!

The following are a few pics of our adventures...

Mimi spent a fair amount of time in the Naughty Chair. (The kids are accustomed to having no limits at Grannie's house.)


We began with a stint on the paddle boats, a time-honored favorite. I remember paddling around the pond on these when I was a kid! Deja Vu.

As a side-note, anyone care to tell me why boys between the ages of 7 and 32 are compelled to make faces at any camera pointed in their direction????

Next we went to Lucky Peak--the same reservoir we splashed around in when I was a kid! More deja vu! Max "helped" Sky & Heidi make the best sand castle ever. *

*(Please note I did NOT post photos of any adults in swimwear! You can send gratitude via comments at the bottom.)
We went to the fair later that week, where....

....Isabelle got to ride a horse, courtesy of Gramps & his $5 bill... (i heart gramps)

...we rode rides... (again the funny face!)
...Mimi missed all the rides because of a tummy-ache... (foreshadowing of the barf-at-the-fair moment which was yet to come)


...Sky rode two spinning rides in succession and ended up in similar straights as Mimi...

...we stayed until the lights were literally turned off and they kicked us out...

...we rode the Superman ride...

...and much to my regret, I have NO photos of Sky & myself on the dozens of rides we enjoyed (after a break lying on the grass to recover from a stint with centripetal force).

I think the most memorable moment of the fair was when Sky & I were locked in our seats, ready to be flung & spun in a most unnatural manner, and the carny worker pulls out a giant, 2-ft long wrench (which looked like something straight out of Looney Toons) and walks out of our peripheral vision--presumably to fix a giant matching bolt. Gulp.

Or maybe the best moment was when I asked another carny, running the Hammer, if my safety bars had a lock and he threw back his head, laughing uproariously. Again, gulp!

All frantic praying aside, I can't remember having more fun at the fair. Ever.