Fair Week: Part V "Mooching off Uncle Kohl"

Everyone knows that the best part of every fair is the food. We all definitely ate our fill last week. Hale was no exception.

Hale is a little bit of a beggar. He likes to try everyone else's food. He seems to have good luck with Uncle Kohl. Apparently, Uncle Kohl has a soft spot when it comes to feeding his nephew.

Check out Hale's work on this turkey leg.







But don't take these photos as evidence of any favoritism. Uncle Kohl also has a soft spot for his niece. And when she arrived she was quick to take advantage of the free food as well.





I told Landon how much I admired Kohl for being willing to swap spit with his niece and nephew. Landon also admires Kohl's generosity, but is not certain that he actually continues to eat once his food is hijacked by one of the toddlers. True. Either way Kohl, thanks for your sacrifice.

Fair Week: Part IV "Rocklyn comes to the fair"

Fair week was so exciting for Hale. Saturday Rocklyn came to the fair and she was like the cherry on top of the whole week for Hale. He loved having an accomplice.

(PS - matching outfits not planned)

Rocklyn's arrival


Chasing after the favorite toy


Running up and down the stairs in the barn

Fair Week: Part III "Congratulations Mim and Poppa"

Landon's grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary during the week of the fair. We were able to honor them on their day with a party in the cow barn - it could not have been a more appropriate venue. We are so thankful for their commitment to each other and for the wonderful example they have set for the next generations.



Hale and Landon cool off with some punch.


A few weeks ago, when the family was all together, I took some pictures of all the Van Dyk great-grandchildren. We framed these pictures and had them for Mim and Poppa on their day.

Fair Week: Part II "Fair Business"

The last post showed, in a nutshell, what the fair meant to Hale. And it basically shows what I did most of the time as well. But for Landon and the rest of his extended family, the fair revolves around the cow show.

Monday was a fun day to watch because the 4-H kids competed in the Start to Finish event. The Van Dyks brought in a group of calves and the kids fitted (washed, clipped their hair, etc.) and then showed the calf. They were then evaluated on their fitting and showing skills.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to document the Open Class cow show. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Landon showing! It was a little difficult to watch the show, keep track of Hale, and take pictures. It was all I could do to keep Hale from running into the ring! The Van Dyks were happy with the way the show went this year - the heifers showed especially well.

Here are my pictures from the Start to Finish day:


Lily shows her calf


Steven and his calf


All the calves lined up in the ring.


Liam was on the first place team - the judge gave his team a perfect 10 on the fitting.

Fair Week: Part I "Hale"

One of the highlights of every summer is fair week. It is the most exciting/exhausting week of the year. This year was a special year because it was Hale's first real fair. He attended last year, of course, but this year he was finally old enough to enjoy it. And, oh man, did he ever love it!

We set up on Sunday and Hale tracked every movement of the wheelbarrow. It will be nice when he is old enough to help - or at least old enough to know how to stay out of the way!



Last year, when Hale was just a baby, I imagined this year's fair with him. I knew he would enjoy looking at the animals, and I thought of pushing him through the fair in his stroller, waving at the animals and at people that we knew. This dream greatly underestimated his current energy level, physical skills and stamina. He looked like The Flash running up and down the barn aisles. Fortunately, Landon and I have had lots of practice running after him the last few months (crawling under racks at TJ Maxx and such) so we weren't too shocked. Here he is at the fair:

exploring


playing in the barn (this sandwich sign became a favorite hideout)


helping dad and grandpa with barn duty


just hanging out with dad and grandpa


bonding with the show cows


banging on the show cows (De La Renta was so tolerant)


staying cool and playing with his new toy from the fair
(They were handing these balls out for free somewhere. A boy walked by bouncing it and Hale reached out and grabbed it and didn't let go. I finally got it loose from his fingers but the boy took pity on Hale and let him keep it. It didn't leave his hands the rest of the week)


having a meltdown


shouting just to hear the sound of his own voice


and the best part of every day: crashing
He plays hard but he's sure a good sleeper!

More berry pickin' fun

Here's a few pictures from a small group gathering we had last weekend. Thanks to the M family for hosting us!





Cute little N snuggled up in her car seat.



The A boys...or should I say J boys? I once told my mom that these two were the cutest boys in the whole world and she said "what about Gaard?" (my nephew). I had to concede a three-way tie. I think now I have at least a five-way tie...



...when you add Hale...and this little guy too. So cute!



A very diligent berry picker

A milestone

Something kind of exciting happened to me this weekend! I was editing pictures and noticed that the first photo was called "IMG 0036"-which means my numbering has rolled over- which means I have now taken over 10,000 pictures since I bought my beloved Canon in October 2006. I thought it would be fun to share my 10,000th picture with you all. Because no matter what it was, good or bad, the picture represents a milestone for me.

But you know what? I erased it. I rarely ever erase a photo. But before my photo shoot of the Van Dyk great-grandchildren I took a bunch of test shots while setting my exposure. And then I cleaned off my card before I started the real shooting. So it's gone.

Oh well. Stay tuned for some fun pictures. I'll put up the best of the great-grandchildren shoot soon. And it's fair week this next week - so hopefully we'll have lots of fun news.

The cutest blog post in history

A few weeks ago Hale spent the morning at Libby's house. Though playing with Libby is always fun this morning was particularly special because Hale got to play with her kitties too.



I was pretty impressed by how gentle Hale was with the kitties.



Most of the time anyway...



We thought it'd be fun to try to get a picture of all four kitties together. Look how cute it turned out.



It wasn't easy to get them all to stay on the bench. Landon called my cell phone right after we got them all lined up and I think I snapped at him. Something like "I can't talk right now! I'm photographing the kittens!"

It was hard to catch them all at the right moment. Most of my shots turned out like this:



Here's the sweet girl with her pets.





Here's the whole crew. Hale had a great time with Tom and Libby that morning! Thanks guys!

Blackberries!!!

Last night, upon Landon's suggestion, we went out in search of blackberries. At first I thought he was in the mood for a fun family outing, but I think he was actually just craving cobbler. Either way, it sounded fun to me!

As he is with any activity that involves eating, Hale was enthusiastic and caught on quickly.





He stuck with his daddy.



Who let him eat berries out of his cup while he was picking them.



And passed him the sweetest berries when he thought mom wasn't looking.



Sometimes daddys don't understand the consequences that come from eating too many berries.
And I'm not just talking about this dirty face.



But even if we pay for it today, it sure was a beautiful evening!



And the cobbler was delicious!