Mid-July, we took a much needed vacation to our Farm. Just us. No projects to come with us. Just lots of books, movies and the outdoors.

And a fair bit of nudity.

We made use of the little kiddie pool at the Farm and its two slides. There were slide competitions of every imaginable sort. It was a lovely place to stay cool on the crazy 100 degree days.

August faces off a competitor (probably Brooklyn) and prepares to make the biggest splash!

We didn't leave much room in the pool, did we? 

Wyeth hangs out with me as I pour myself some coffee.

August went crazy with the Lincoln Logs - building a pretty awesome house that made us all want to move there.

Despite the heat, we couldn't keep Wyeth indoors except for naps. He was a crazy outdoorsman! He ran around with all the push toys, riding toys, sat on the 4 wheeler when it was parked, played in the pool, chased bugs, probably ate some bugs, and miraculously managed not to get bitten or stung.

He ended up brown as a nut by the end of the week.

Don't tell me you can't vacuum out here. Just watch me!

Dorien braves the initial chill of the water as the pool fills up!

Dripping wet and having a ball!

Brooklyn was as content as Wyeth to play outside for hours. Mostly in the pool.  She and August can entertain themselves indefinitely. It's amazing.

My sweet girl loves my other sweet girl. 

During the hottest parts of the day, we'd force them inside to keep them from over-heating. It was insanely hot on some days. They were zapped from the sun, anyway, and a movie would just about put them all to sleep.

Hanging out with Dad before the nightly baths. 

Crazy nuggets.

Making progress through one of my library books!

Wyeth eats a snack while staring at the photo montage on the fridge.

Here's the upstairs room in the Farm. It has 3 sets of bunk beds, a twin bed, and 3 double beds. And lots of floor space for acrobatics. During nap times, it was an incredibly peaceful place to be. 

I love all the old signs my parents have used to decorate the room!

Kyle and Dorien have some special reading time.

Kyle and I were trying to keep up with our training schedule as best we could in the heat, and Brooklyn decided to write up a daily workout schedule for the kids. It started with push-ups. And everyone participated, even Wyeth. They also did lots of lunges and a variety of warm-up moves that August has learned from his tennis lessons. It was pretty hilarious. 

One evening, we drove to town for dinner and on the way back, noticed a rodeo setting up. It was about a mile from the Farm, and definitely something we've never seen before, so we pulled in and watched for a few hours. We all love horses, so the kids were really excited.

What we discovered was that rodeos start around 8:30pm and go until midnight. They start late and end late so the animals (and people) don't get over-heated. 

We claimed a spot on the bleachers! We were clearly "city folks" among a bunch of country folk. It was fun, though. I love country folk. There were horses everywhere, Wranglers and boots, spurs, cowboy hats, lots of thick Southern accents and it was kind of a new world for my kids to see.

The rodeo started with barrel racing, and there were some little-bitty kids out there! One little girl was accompanied by her Daddy on a much larger horse. 

After a few people had raced, they re-graded the corral, which meant that a big John Deere tractor came and drove strategic circles all around the dirt, smoothing it out. Let's just say that every time the tractor came out, Wyeth perked up! He would yell and clap and get so excited! He liked the horses, too, but not as much as the tractor. He called the horses, "dog-dogs!"

Here's his favorite part. It quickly became our LEAST favorite part as it seemed to take a good 10 minutes and happen at least every 10 minutes. No wonder rodeos go so late! The big dirt Zamboni has to do its thing repeatedly!

Gleaming with sweat, my boy and I soak up a sweet summer July evening at a rodeo in the country.

Not a bad way to pass an evening.

Kyle and Wyeth share a bowl of food. 

My three boys swinging together and just enjoying being brothers!