The Summer blog!

Okay, I know its been a ridiculously long time since I have blogged!!! : ) Well I finally am done with all of my homework and have no plans, so I have time to recap over summer and then post about my sophmore year!

So on August 9th, I headed to IOWA to see Brandi, Josh, McKenna, and Rylee! I was sooo excited! I hadn't seen them since last Christmas! I got there just fine, no layovers, and perfect flights. I couldn't believe how big McKenna was when I saw here at the airport. It was hilarious, she had her sunglasses on and a purse that she carried like a grown woman!!! I also couldn't believe how much she talked!

Her big girl sunglasses!

It was great to see them! We just hung out at night, played Settlers and watched some SYTYCD!! I also had a great time helping Josh out at midnight with his website, keeping him company and giving him my opinions of color and layout options.

We had a blast going to the IOWA STATE FAIR! I could not believe how many people were there!!! It was crazy! We got there about 10 in the morning. The traffic wasn't to bad, but it was still very crowded. We went around to the booths; the food, petting zoo, and of course the Shawn Johnson butter statue. At the petting zoo there was this giant cow that would open its mouth when you walked by and waited for you to pour food pellets into its mouth! His head was twice as big as mine!! We stopped to have a giant funnel cake! It was delicioussssssss! I have never seen so many things deep fried! They even had deep fried Oreo's! : ) We also watched a chain saw carver. He was insane!!

Before, a stump of wood.

After, cattails!

It was crazy to watch him use chainsaws to make something so delicate! We took a tractor up to the top of the fairgrounds and rested at the fiddling contest. It was pretty neat. It was cute to see the old ladies dancing western to the fiddles! They also had people using old printing presses and wood working tools from 1800s.

Us on the tractor! What a cutie!

After the fiddling, we headed over to see a dog trick show! It was great, but a little out of control crowded! :) We had to squeeze through a bunch of people and then sit in a dead, flooded grass area, but it was worth it! We were right at the front, middle field! The show consisted of two hosts who had adopted dogs from all across America. They trained the dogs to jump, flip, and catch crazy amounts of Frisbees in their mouths! : )

The last thing we did was head to the horse stables. Luckily, I was able to find an IOWA sweatshirt! Its great! LOVE IT! We had gone to some other booths, but they were all out of the one I wanted. But they had one there! I love looking at all the horses, and this was great, because I have never seen Belgian horses before! They are huge, bigger than Clydesdales!

Giant horse! And McKenna being cheesy!

We left around 1, it was starting to get hot, and of course very crowded. By chance, we got to see the Budweiser horses as we were leaving!! They are very pretty!

Budweiser Horses

We got back home and everyone took a nap! I even took one, its rare, but I was very tired! :) After everyone got up we went out to Jordan Creek and had dinner at P.F. Chang's! Deliciousness! I got a great dessert! Sauteed bananas wrapped in rice wontons and served with caramel and ice cream! :)

On Monday, I slept in and got up around 10. Josh was at work, so us girls went grocery shopping! We got there and soon found out that the power was out!! We couldn't get anything in the freezer or deli section, so it was kinda a waste! :) We got back home and messed around a little and then headed over to a bouncy house for one of Josh's coworkers son bday party. I HAD A BLAST!! I could still fit in all of the toys, so I took McKenna up a few times until she was brave enough to go by herself. It was fun to climb around with all the kids, and of course going down the slides! :)

On Tuesday, Josh and Brandi both had to work, so I watched Mckenna. It was very fun, but I have never seen a child have to pee so much in my life!! I think it go to the point where she was just going so she could get candy! :) We played tea party, colored, made forts, played outside, and watched some Curious George! She is such a sweetie, and didn't misbehave at all!!

Building the fort


Tearing the fort down! LOL

I had such a wonderful time!! It was so sad to say goodbye!! It was great because the last time I saw McKenna she didn't want much to do with me because of a cracker incident! LOL And this time, she was saying my name and giving me kisses! It was wonderful!! Love you guys! Thanks for having me!!!

On August 22nd, I had my bday party!! It was sooo fun!! Austin and Drew came up from Spokane and Branden, Ian, Tia, and Sindhu came. We had a blast! Of course we had a giant water balloon and water fight, played pool and cards, ate lots of food and went to the fair!! The fair was a blast!! We went on so many rides, and the bumper cars were hilarious! The next day, Cari came up and we went shopping and hung out! It was amazing to see her again! It was one of the funnest bdays I have had!

Laughing it up!

AUSTIN!

DREW!

Aus and I!

On my actual bday, Uncle Rand was here for buisness, so we all went to Olive Garden! Mom got me a great banana cream ice cream cake from DQ! It was delicious!





Then Mom, Dad, and I headed over to Otter Crest to take a relaxing week vacation at the end of Aug. We first stopped in Portland to do a massive shopping trip for my school clothes! It was great, spent about 4 hours in the Clackamas mall! I LOVE SHOPPING!! Got about 20 shirts, couple pants, couple of sweatshirts for about $400! Everything I bought was on sale! THANKS MOM! :) I can no longer pay full price for clothes! LOL

The beach was wonderful! We went exploring everyday! Sunny and pretty warm. On a couple days we drove into town at Newport and Lincoln City and walked around and went in the shops. In Depoe Bay we ate at this restaurant called the Sea Hag! AMAZING!!!! I cant wait to go back! Most delicious halibut I have ever had! And plus they have all these hideous 70s and 80s prints on the wall! It hilarious!!! GOOD TIMES!!

Carved crocodile at Otter Crest

View from our deck

Mass amount of pelicans in the ocean!

Sea Lions at New Port

Mom and I on the beach!

6 legged star fish!

Side opening into Devil's punch bowl!

Crazy amount of star fish!


Mom and I inside the punch bowl! A little windy!

A pretty pic of the ocean!

SEA LIONS!!! We were on the same rock as them!

Otter Rock

Baby Sea lion, I cannot believe how close we were, we could have touched him!

The forest by Otter Crest! LOVE IT!

Bridge on the old 101 highway!

ME!

Mom and Dad!

Agate beach, lighthouse in the back!


Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Inside the lighthouse!

For moms bday this year, I came up with my idea while I was getting ready in the morning! It just came to me! We had such a blast at the beach and got some really cool shells, and we never end up doing anything with the shells! So I got an ugly frame at Value Village, painted it white, got some pics developed and made a SWEET frame!

Happy BDAY MOM!!!







Well I will try to stay more up to date on my blogs!!

Love,
Chels