County Fair

A couple weeks ago was our county fair. Who doesn't love a county fair?

All the boys enjoyed seeing all the animals. A kind lady gave us their extra feed when they were heading out- Dash took the cup and dumped the contents into a goat pen. Well, I guess that works.

They became expert cow milkers.

Babies looking at babies!

Aren't they cute fluffy cuddlies?

Now, when we were driving in, Liam saw the ferris wheel and was talking about it non-stop. It took a lot of convincing to eat and do the animal things first. But we did finally go down to the games, Liam pulling us along like a dog straining on a leash.

So we give them the choice of which ONE ride they want to do... and they pick the trucks!

I think they were pleased with their choice.

Grey made faces for us while we waited through the ride. There was this sideshow next door full of natural anomalies, like two-headed turtles and a eight-legged pig. The recorded advertisement was playing over and over- "spiiiiiiider pig" will forever be etched into our brains.

This was the phase where Grey liked to puff air through his lips. So many fun tricks to learn when you're figuring out how to work your body.

Now we can't wait for the state fair. Because you-know-who hasn't stopped talking about a ferris wheel...

Porch Pops

No matter where you live, popsicles on the porch is a summer must.

Sean's Birthday Bummers

Sean's birthday was on a Monday. His boss let him off early- this is the best rotation, we're getting so spoiled. Sean was anxious to visit the Science Museum, so off we went! And when we arrived, we found out it was closed! Yay!

So change of plans, we'd go visit the art museum at the UofMn campus. We parked, walked through campus, arrived at the museum, and it was closed! Yay! So we tried the university bookstore... also closed! Yay!

So we just walked around. You know what doesn't close?

The Mississippi. Always roaring, always mighty. Just like Sean.

The campus spans the river, so we got to stroll right on over it.

Also not closed?

This fountain. We were desperate.

But it was nice, Grey likes the water.

Dash liked getting splashed.

Liam just wanted to practice jumping.

We also found this batch of shoes hung up in the trees. Wonder what that's about?

We DID go to a restaurant where Sean ate the best Reuben he's ever consumed. So that's a success. Really, though, it was enough that we were all spending time together. Or so Sean says. Hope it really was a happy birthday!

A Purser Post

This is not my son. Though he kinda looks like Dash. This is Caleb. He's the son of Sean's missionary trainer. He and Nate (Yaj Pov) served together in the Twin Cities for seven and a half months and roomed together in college. Nate married a girl from northern Minnesota, so they like to come visit.

This is Russell. He smiles a lot.

We went to Hmong Fourth of July together, something they did as missionaries. There's several sports going on at the event, including Khatow (Sean made up that spelling) (I think it's officially called Sepak Takraw) which is a sort of kick volleyball with a ratan ball. CRAZY. We also got some yummy Hmong Sausage and purple sticky rice with kua txob sauce (a tasty condiment in moderation). Grey ate that rice like it was his last meal. Then we left because it was HOT.

We later went to an inflatables play area, so nice of them to invite us!

I got a lot more photos of Grey than his brothers.

Because when I photographed Liam and Dash, it was either their backs...

... or a big blur. Too much fun to be had to hold still.

Yes, this is much simpler.

Look, Russell can make balls levitate!

They had a bunch of little plastic settings all around, like kitchens and castles, intermixed with the big inflatables. It looked pretty funny to me, but the kids didn't mind.

And it gave everyone a chance to talk. Win win situation.

But then it was time to go. It's time to go? I'll have to think about that, hmph. And look, there's my ring, which I noticed on the drive home was missing a small diamond. Sigh.

None of them wanted to leave each other, really. Liam and Dash still talk about them now. They think every red car is the Purser's rental. It's good to make friends, even long distance ones. But they might be moving back soon, so it won't be so distant, yay! Come back quick, Pursers!