The Yard and The Fair

 The fair was in town this last week.

I did the thing I always say I am going to do and got the 12 dollar wristbands for all you can ride all day/night passes for the kids.

I am pleased that I did that but this year I learned that I need to do something else too.

I need to not go to the fair when it is 90+ degrees.

Next year I will get the wristbands and I will wait until closer to sunset to take the kids.

This is harder on Megan as her bed time is earlier but I think its going to work out better.

Here is Kiernan on his favorite ride.

Here is a basket of vegetarian wonders. My town is not a huge fan of veggie food. 

We got fried and fried pickles and pizza.

Also cotton candy may have been purchased and enthusiastically consumed.

It was very hot. We went into the shade to eat. It was super stuffy in the shade and Megan turned into a little beet.

We made the kids drink and drink but sadly for Kiernan it was not precaution enough.

Megs and her beet red face stayed at the fair with daddy. She rode the Loch Ness roller coaster 3 times in a row. She did lots of kiddie rides and she had a really good time.

I am so glad David took pictures and I so wish I could have seen her in action.

Kiernan barfed and fell to sleep.

He woke up feeling better and crying to go back to the fair.

We went back to the fair.

He asked to go home by the time we walked across the parking lot.

He threw up a ton more and fell to sleep again.

I think this was just the heat but it could have been so many things...

I need to call the pediatric gastroenterologist.

It was a humid hot week. There was a good deal of reading indoors.

There were walks in the evening.

There was Pokemon hunting.

I went and worked on the garden in earnest. I weeded and was rewarded with a handfull of tomatoes and potatoes and onions just from the weeding.

I made myself a tasty breakfast from the garden.

I have decided to cut deserts and sugary drinks out of my diet for a month to see if that helps some of my anxiety symptoms.

I have been having a lot of chest pains and it occurred to me that it might just be heartburn. So I will try a healthy easy dietary change to see if it helps.

To that end I will eat a lot more tomato/potato breakfasts instead of the usual toaster strudel types.

David told me last week that the reason things aren't getting done around the house as much as I would like is that I am scheduling too many things on the weekends.

To that end I will now schedule at least one work day for every weekend henceforth.

This weekend was supposed to be deck painting weekend.

Mom and the kids moved all the toys off the deck and drained the pool.

I moved off the plants and the pool and the dog stuff.

The weather forecast did not cooperate.

David therefore painted indoors and I worked in the yard between torrential thunderstorms.

These storms threw down buckets of water on us and did sever damage in Ellicott city (24 miles from our place).

The mowing was the hardest because the grass wouldn't dry out. I still haven't finished that part.

I did finish the blackberry/raspberry trimming finally though.

I tackled the hosta dividing and the relocation of the lavender.

I dug and dug and raked and split roots. It took me 2 full days.

Two full days of yard work for me and two full days of painting for David is very tricky when trying to give the kids attention.

by the 2nd day they were really chafing at the "go watch a video or something" school of parenting.

They wanted to help but then put paint in places it shouldn't be (touching wet spots primarily) or terrifying each other and me by trying to wield sharp yard tools.

Next weekend we will have house guests and there is a lot I want to get done before that happens. 

I want to split myself in two to have time with the kids like I know they want (and frankly I want) and the other me could go to work and work on the yard and the laundry and the cooking and the cleaning up for company.

I am usually better at this than David is because he is such a focused guy that once he gets started he only sees the task at hand. I am so unfocused usually that I notice minor things like hunger, thirst, and children.

Ha

I finished the transplants and cleared up the tools and the detritus.

I got out the sprinkler and dragged a tarp full of plants to my neighbors as he had expressed interest in a few.

The sun was going down and I loaded three wheelbarrow loads of mulch before my pitchfork (always use a pitchfork for mulch...you will thank me) struck the yellow jackets nest.

Ouch!