We decided to take a quick trip up to Pocatello for Labor Day weekend. Well, "we" being "the kids and I." Drew's paragliding adventure was the same weekend. We drove up Sunday night and were awakened bright and early by a foraging Brock who likes to share.
Not everyone loves dry macaroni for breakfast, so we made some eggs. I like to wear my U of U sweatshirt in Pocatello, to bother BYU Joel.
After breakfast we drove up to Blackfoot, parked...
...and started exploring! I made the kids walk through all the art shows first, when they were fresh and there would be the least complaining. I love the crazy stuff people think to make, and that there's a venue for it at State Fairs.
We lost Merrick and Gabe in the photography building. "Bring panic to a boil and let simmer for 5-10 minutes of searching." Luckily Gabe knew McKenzie's phone number, so when they eventually wound up at a table of helpers they were able to contact us. The art shows were less fun after that, so we made our way to the carnival rides. Someone was very, very excited for the rides.
Someone else was very excited for the rides too. In the time it took for me to wait in line to buy ride tickets, Annie decided to strike out on her own. Yes, we lost 3 children within one hour. We combed the whole carnival looking for her, reported her to the fair security, etc. I finally doubled back, actually quadrupled back, to where we had noticed her missing to begin with and found her skipping off the swing ride, which she'd been able to weasel her way onto without ticket or guardian. Enter scary mom lecture complete with threatenings to leave immediately if anyone wandered off again and branding any child unable to recite mom's phone number with permanent marker. Then rides!
The Ferris wheel was broken at first, but after we'd ridden the swings and a couple other things they had it up and running again.
McKenzie and I rode the big, scary ride in the middle of the picture below. It's a pendulum that swings back and forth, higher and higher, until it goes all the way around in a huge circle, and while the pendulum is swinging, the part the riders are on is also...spinning! It was awesome. So much scream-laughing.
Joel doesn't like to be high or to spin. You can "Where's Waldo?" him in the picture above holding Brock while we ride the Ferris Wheel. He took the shorter boys for rides in the little kid section while McKenzie and I took the bigger kids around.
If we're being honest, Joel doesn't much care for the Fair. He was a good sport...
...but he had very little interest in walking around the animal pens by the time we got to the livestock portion.
That was ok, because it was easier to keep track of everyone through the open wire fences.
It's hard for me to pick a favorite part of the fair, but I do love to see all the different animals.
They are so funny.
There were some ladies teaching kids how to card wool. And by kids I mean human children.
We passed by a pull-up competition booth run by the Marines.
The different prizes were divvied out depending on how many pull-ups you could do.
All the kids gave it a try.
Feats of Strength!
And I think McKenzie did 8 or 9. Of COURSE! I don't have a video of her though. Here's those kids taking a well-deserved break.
On our way out of the fair we stopped for a funnel cake treat and ate it while we watched some acrobats on the stage. And that was where we lost our 4th child of the day. Brock decided to disappear into the crowds and go for a long walk by himself. McKenzie found him. That's it! Time to go! My children will be so sad when they finish developing the Richardson's neighborhood.
Please notice all the many squashes McKenzie planted. I can't even keep up with one zucchini plant. But McKenzie can!
Here's Joel standing in the S-bend phone-use posture McKenzie hates.
School started August 17th. We had a little finagling to do to figure out teachers. Annie had been assigned the teacher I had at Highland Elementary in 6th grade (not my favorite teacher as a child), and after her Kindergarten year of half homeschool/half online school we really wanted her to have a solid first grade year to get caught up. Drew and I had to go over to the school and meet with the principal to see if we could get her switched to a different class, which I really hate to do, but Mr. Killpack was cool about it and it all got worked out. Vivien and Rafe had taken the four hour A.L.L. test the week we got to Utah in July. Vivien got into the program right away, and Rafe was on the wait list until just a few days before school started, then they squeaked him in!
We went to Back to School night and met Mrs. Lewis for Vivien, Ms. Heinrich for Rafe, and Mrs. Christley for Annie.
"FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!"
Since we are living with Grandma and Grandpa, we are not in boundaries and therefore we have to drive the kids in every day. The first two days I walked in with them to help them figure out the new school layout. Breakfast and lunch are free for all students this year. This is nice, but also not nice, because then my kids are used to eating Captain Crunch and Trix for breakfast every morning. There is always fruit available, but sometimes it is two whole kiwis in a plastic bag, and all you have to eat them with is a spork. I know we're supposed to avoid processed foods, but I feel like we could "process" our less accessible fruits to be a little more user friendly.
I made a mistake the first day of school and described the wrong classroom location to Rafe as we were saying goodbye. It was his originally assigned teacher's classroom, and in the rush my brain got mixed up. He dutifully went where I told him to go and steadfastly stayed there the entire day, even though the classroom and teacher were not the same as we had met at Back to School night and the friend from our neighborhood he knew to be in his class was nowhere to be seen. I think the mistake might have been caught except Ms. Heinrich had gotten sick and missed the first day. He was very angry with me when we discovered the mistake after school. All was well for Day 2! You can hear about it in his own words, but you must suffer through some extreme closeups of me and my bad jokes.
In Annie's class they put tags on the backpacks so they know where the kids need to go after school. I had her in the "parent pick-up" category, but it's much faster to have the kids walk down the road a little bit to meet me instead of driving through the pick-up line, so I wrote her teacher a note and asked her to switch Annie to "walker." When I picked her up she was in tears. She thought that it meant she would now have to walk all the way home next to my car because I wasn't allowed to pick her up.
In addition to school, Annie and Vivien started ballet at the Central Utah Ballet Academy. They have very specific required leotards for their classes (which of course were back ordered), so we went to The Glass Slipper and got Annie something to wear in the meantime. She goes once a week.
Vivien goes two nights a week, which would have seemed like a lot but they originally told me to put her in the next class up which is THREE nights a week, so we'll count our blessings for now. The leos (this is what cool dance moms call them) Vivien's size and color were not as difficult to obtain, so she wore her old stuff until her blue one arrived. "It will match your eyes!"
We were late getting Rafe registered for soccer so he was on a wait list for a few weeks (this is starting to be a theme...), then he got assigned to a rec team, and then the Hollobaughs in my parents' ward needed some more kids on their competition team and invited Rafe to come on, so we went for it. His games look like real soccer. It's so fun! His uniform is super cool.
Here's all these busy kids.
Though Merrick isn't as busy these days as he'd probably like to be. He and I went to the splash pad while the kids were at school one of the days. Being the baby of the family is rough. When it was just me and Vivien, she did not feel the lack of people around because a) there had never been anyone around before to compare it to and b) she was so tiny she wouldn't have cared anyway. Poor Merrick.
Preschool starts in September!
We had a couple family events in August. There were a bunch of hot dogs left over after Annie's birthday, so we went up the canyon for a cookout one lovely summer's eve.
So many fair girls!
Sarah and Ronnie had moved to Tremonton already, but they were able to come down to join us.
Oh Viera. Yours smiles melt my heart.
But this sight actually does melt my heart. Anyone would be lucky to have Tia Kate for their aunt.
This is such a fun spot for a picnic. You've got the river option adjacent to the fire pit...
...and then it's quick access to a nice and easy nature walk.
Grandma Paula and Papa Mark have been much appreciated stand-ins for our missionary grandparents many times this summer.
Viera strikes again!
This GIANT boulder is a natural stopping point for the nature walk. Please to enjoy Lettie's face in this one...
...and also this one.
We also had the annual Frances Picnic. I had to go unpack my library at Mel and Isaac's to find my books.
There were many "goodies in the hamper."
And even more for afters!
Mom got to FaceTime in for the festivities. We miss her so!
Here is a Pulchritudinous Postprandial Haley in Repose
There was also a birthday party for Myra at the wooden park.
Not only did pregnant Sarah plan a party, but she planned a destination party, in a city hours from her house, for a large, varied group, and it was awesome! "Well done, Derek!"
One more, 'cause Jade!
How about some "Life at the Forbes'" photos? Here is a sneaky picture of Papa Mark in his Ecuador pancho, which he wears when it's chilly outside.
We harvested peaches...
...and canned them.
Or should it be jarred? We laid up fruit against the season.
The girls shared the orange room upstairs, the boys shared the room on the right in the basement.
Vivien has always looked very long, but Annie is starting to get that way too!
Mel and Isaac got a bike trailer, so sometimes they would all ride over...
...for dinner!
And sometimes it would be very tasty indeed.
Here's Rafe, being a strange sort of statue on the baby toy footstool.
He is settling in well, but he definitely misses Albuquerque.
So does this girl.
But one fun thing about being in Utah is our proximity to BYU and all the cool events they have for families. We went to a performance called Air Play one night.
It's a show by the Acrobuffos. I just have to paste their About here, because it's so amazing
.
Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone met at a circus in Afghanistan, became engaged while street performing in Scotland, married in China, and occasionally go home to New York City.
Since 2005, they have created seven shows together, competed in international circus festivals, performed in over 25 countries, headlined at the Big Apple Circus, and were featured on a postage stamp.
Seth spent his childhood in Kenya, India, and Sri Lanka. His college years were interrupted multiple times with national tours as a juggler and silent comedian. He worked extensively in Afghanistan with the Mobile Mini Circus for Children. Seth received his MFA in London for Lecoq theatre technique, and co-founded Split Knuckle Theatre, a 5-star physical theater company. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University, Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College, Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre, and LISPA (MFA). He has performed in 30 countries and 49 US States.
Christina grew up in Texas and has worked in 40 countries as a non-verbal clown, stilt walker, mask performer, juggler, puppeteer and acrobat. Previously a ballet dancer, she majored in Shakespeare at Princeton University and studied corporeal mime at the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre. For many years, she worked with New York City-based Bond Street Theater in multiple post-war zones. Other professional adventures include starting a social circus program in Egypt, creating curriculum-based comedy and teaching at universities.
Here's the preview for the show:
It was surprisingly deep and insightful, in addition to being beautiful and magical and fun. I goofed and got us tickets in the balcony, so we missed out on some of the stuff they did in the audience and some of the things that went up to the ceiling of the stage, but it was still really cool!
Last, here are Annie's new shoes. The shoe's she had gotten before school had laces. Ain't nobody got time for that.
Oh, I lied. Real last--here are the milkweed and hollyhock seeds from Rex's plant that I need to save for next year!
Those milkweed seeds remind me so much of Fantasia...
