July - Fair and Lake

Our county only has one year of mini-4H, but Mimi's fair has two.  So this summer Alex was old enough to do his first year of mini-4H, but we entered it in Elkhart county.  Alex did his project on bugs and chose spiders.  It was a learning experience for me since Andy put me in charge of helping Alex do his project.  I never did 4H as a kid, so I really had no idea what we were doing!  But we managed and Alex enjoyed getting to see his project displayed at the fair.  (In the picture below, his is the middle paper in just black and white.  It's very hard to see!)
Erin's favorite thing at the fair is the pink tractor.  They have a bunch of battery-operated tractors that the kids can get on and ride through a course. They have to stop and pick up veggies and put them in the wagon behind their tractor.  Then at the end they get a piece of candy, although Erin just wants to ride the pink tractor. :)
Adam likes to see all the farm equipment the dealers have on display.  And he likes a couple of the kiddie rides.  This year we also saw some guys do tricks on pogo sticks.  It was pretty cool actually!

Since we were home, we also stopped at the Lake for a visit.  Stu and Barbara were home so we got to see them for the first time in two years.   Phil and Chelsey also make the trip so it was nice to have everyone together and relax by the lake.  We all enjoyed the water slide and the kids had fun playing with aunts and uncles.  Also, Adam had to show off his new skills.  The week before, he had learned to ride a bike without training wheels, pump on a swing by himself, and chew gum!  Oh yes, he's big stuff now. :)