Still busy

I just don't have as much time free time as I used to.  We've been busy the past several days.  I took the kids to the fair on Friday and Buddy took them on Saturday.  On Friday we looked at the animals, food, and the 4H projects.  Saturday was rides day. 

Monday we had to pick up Bohdin's pillow and then we went to the zoo.  The splash park will be closing soon and I thought the kids would enjoy it one last time.  Since school has started here the zoo was very lightly attended.   All three kids had fun at the splash park for the first time.  Normally only Bohdin likes it but this time Nyla had a lot of fun also.  Cora had a few fun times as well but it took her a while to warm up to the place.

Deer and the drought have decimated most of the garden this year.  We had a few squash and we get a couple of cherry tomatoes.  The raspberries looked bad earlier in the season but they've begun producing and every day there are a few raspberries.  The competition for them became pretty intense so Cora would go out in the morning to pick them all before anybody else had a chance.  She shared a bit but I think she kept most for herself.  In the picture below she is coming back from harvesting.  She picked up two ticks in the process so we may need to put down another tick treatment. 

I went through the list of county fair categories for next year and told Bohdin to pick three.  He chose bread, cookies, and he's undecided between jewelry and candles.  When he chose candles he remembered the good job he had done in the past with the hand dipped candles from the maple syrup festival.   The goal is that most weeks he will bake a loaf of bread and also make cookies on Tuesday to share with Lego League on Wednesday.  Earlier in the day he had asked to make cinnamon rolls so that became his first bread.  He has helped me bake in the past so he had some knowledge going in.  He made the cookies last night and that went really well.  He's assisted on so many cookies it wasn't a big deal for him to take over and do it all. 

Cora has been better about quiet play this week.  She can go off by herself and not do something destructive.  The other day she took a few books off the shelf and looked through them.  She also wants to play in the front yard by herself.  She is able to open the storm door and slip out quietly.  Yesterday when I was making dinner it was too quiet and I found that she had went outside to collect leaves.  She thinks it is ridiculous that she can't play in the yard without someone watching her.  

Nyla has been complaining that even though she is "almost six" she doesn't feel any differently than she did as a four year old.  Logic has no place in any argument with Nyla but I tried anyway.  It didn't work and she continues to feel let down.