Last Sunday At The Great Kern County Fair

Awweeee..Fall...and good ole Fair days here in Bakersfield...
We took a little trip out there last Sunday (and I am sure it will not be our only one this year)... and I just kept saying over and over what a beautiful day it was to be out at the fair :)!!! .... SOOOOO----
When we first entered the gates...I almost thought I was stuck in one of those "People of Wal-Mart" time warps...AND I had to capture this on film cuz I thought how ironic is this?????
Notice the arrow ----------------------------------------------

Obviously people do not get offended out at the Great Kern County Fair for the not-so-politically correct choice of words on this huge sign ---"BIG FAT SAUSAGES"--(For some reason I myself wasn't quite hungry enough to jump in the line and get me one of those big-uns tho)..hee-hee----I had just entered the gate after all and had to muster up my appetite :)
Anyways----my niece Heather, my son,my daughter-in-law,my grandkids, and my hubby had a lovely time----
here are a few pics of our first day at the fair this year---

My favorite thing about the Fair is seeing people you haven't seen in a long time---seeing people you just saw recently---and yep---seeing people you hope you will never see AGAIN until  possibly the next year at the Great Kern County Fair LOL!

I was really happy Heather got the day off and got to go out and spend it with us!

WITH Some of my FAVE girls Heather,Lexi ,and Sarah :)

                                           

Lexi with her Hello Kitty Face

Riding the Elephant

Heather with her bro Kyle...my awesome nephew who was showing his pig out there

Hubby and "Lick" a family friend since he was just a little tot---teasing my man about his "bald spot":)

My favorite pic of Chloe on Sunday just kickin' back and having a good time :)

                              
                                  Chloe keeping an eye out for her "Sista" on the rides
 

            WHOO HOOOOOO! WE LUV THE FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)  
It was definitely a beautiful day in the neighborhood and it was so nice to see so many people I hadn't seen in quite awhile-----
We will more than likely go a couple more times this year---but our first day was so wonderful----I can't see how the next trip could get any better :)
Memories of my Fair days gone by---..cotton candy, corn dogs, gold fishes, a cameleon lizzard to wear on my shirt ,scary rides ,the house of mirrors, FFA ,sheep chit, baby pigs ,RODEO days ,pitching dimes ,carnies,clowns both real and paid performers,...etc. etc.----
The things kids will always remember --- me thinks :)
The County Fair----what a fabulous family orientated tradition-----!
<3 <3 <3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Dog Days Of Summer...2 many dogs or what? LOL!

I don't think I have shared my "dog family story here" LOL..(but my friends and family) know about how much me and my hubby are crazy about our doggies!
Soo....
trying to make a long story short here..
When my son was 19...and we had no dogs in the house (he had bad alllergies as a child and we never had a gaggle of pets) anyways----he rescued a "weiner dog" who had been dumpster diving--and named him "Bill Dance" after his then most recent hero (my son "the fishing dude"... often got in trouble for skipping classes to go fishing).
So we loved Bill Dance and gave him a good home..but when we took him to the vet we found out the reason he had been abandoned...he had liver and intestinal problems that were too far advanced to be operated on-- but we wanted to give him a good loving home in the time he had left here---and OMG! he puked a lot..but damn! He was sooo happy that someone was treating him good and his freaking tail wagging made it worth all the extra baggage that he came with! 
About 3 months later Mother's Day rolled around and my hubby surprised me with "Brownie Boy" (cuz I had been saying that I thought old Bill could use some company. )  Naturally I fell in love at first sight and I can honestly say that my Brownie Boy is the best present that I have ever received in my lifetime :)

Bill Dance was a happy camper with little Brownie...he actually got a lot friskier for awhile and Brownie licked and loved on this old guy all the time :)! and then came the day when we had to put Bill to sleep to put him out of his pain .

My son was sooo depressed and cried sooo much..it really shocked me about how attached he had become to this old weiner dog!  So I searched high and low..and then found a puppy for sale who looked like a little "Mini-me Bill"..I bought him and brought him home...and his heart was suddenly healed from losing old Bill---Kevin named the new puppy "Bill Dance Jr."

And seriously...we were all "good in the Hood"...two dogs...Kevin was happy and I was happy lol!....
So then one day my mom tells me that she is getting rid of 2 of her dogs because they were being mean to her new "little dogs"..and I was all "No! You can't give Molly and Candy to strangers! Let me have them!"
And guess what? We had two weiner dogs..and now we had two chihuahuas :) hee-hee
And then ...Candy was preggers and I simply had to keep one of her babies  (our "Nugget" who I have posted on here about his subsequent  disc operation)
Then Molly had a litter and I simply  had to keep "Hairy Puffy Potter" cuz we took him to the bowling alley one night after giving the other pups to friends and no-one at the bowling alley took him home.....! I told the little guy that night "Don't worry..we will love you always!"..Am I crazy or what????.. I think my problem was naming all of them as soon as they came out of the womb :)!!!
So at this point I tell hubby..."We have to get the dogs fixed before I end up like that hoarder lady who has all those dogs " LOL!
So now  we have 2 daschunds, 2 chihuahuas, and 2 chiweenies...although I sometimes call them weiner-wah-wahs :)!!
And then guess what? My mom dies...and in the letter she wrote me with her specific instructions to be followed out..she says "promise me you will take care of Cookie and Muffin"
So in the summer...my dad tells me he thinks he is going to find a home for Cookie and Muffin because he is going traveling and does not want them to end up locked up in his RV all the time with no-where to roam..and I was all "OMG!!! NO!!!..you can't let someone else have them! Let us dog-sit them for you and if you can't care for them when you get back..me and Mike will take care of them always...
SOOO...hee-heee
Hello!  We now have 8 dogs lol!!!... But God!!!---I can't say how much these 2 little ones have touched my heart and have given me sooo many smiles!  Dad is back now and in a few weeks his baby girl doggies  are gonna go live with him again..and all I can say is I am so happy they were with us and are now a part of our doggie family!..it feels like every time they "kiss" me that momma is smiling:)...they know we love them and they really blended in well after a couple of days adjusting with the other dogs here....
SOOO...
my dog days of summer brought me many many smiles..and yet I will be soo happy to know that these little girls will soon be back with dad and giving him the love that they have shared with me and my hubster :)....here are some pics of them out in the yard last  Sunday when I was sitting on the porch enjoying a cup of coffee---
This is mom and dads' Cookie

And here is Muffin

And it is sooo funny to me that "Muffin" who was always such a "scaredy cat" ended up hanging out mostly with Bill Dance Jr...our 30 lb biggest dog who watches out for Muffin and treats her like the toy that he doesn't chew on:)

here are all the pics I took on Sunday of my crazy eclectic dog family and I smile because it fits me to a TEE LOL!

Labor Day Weekend,Racing..Solvang..AND! Missing Momma

Labor Day weekend doings....
My nephew Bobby Hood (who just turned 13)
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Hee-hee...
I am soo proud of this little man! :)!!
He races these mini dwarf cars...
and he won the points championship at Bakersfield Speedway 2 weeks ago (even tho there is still another race he locked up the Championship)...and his race at Santa Maria on the Labor day weekend  determined whether or not he won the points championship there as well....
There was No Way (since the race was on Sunday) that I could miss this one :)...So I made up a gaggle of "Bobby fan" jewelry...booked a room @ Price-match---hubby and I invited my son ,daughter in law ,and grandbaby---and we were there:)!!!!


Here is the glass tile jewelry I made to take with me (and wore some of course )and gave the rest away :)


 
I got several compliments on these "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!"  Feather Earrings :)

So Bobby drove a heck of a race and Won HOLLAH!...I had tears in my eyes..I am  sooo dang proud of this little dude for winning 2 points championships and what a great race it was!

So for the trip ---I had booked a room in Buellton (a few miles from Solvang)...AND!...we left waaaay early and had our map quest in hand--the plans were to check into the room and then arrive at the track for qualifying---but for some reason the map quest told us to turn right when we were actually supposed to turn left and it delayed our plans about 2 hours behind LOL!  We were calling the hotel for over an hour and no-one was answering.  So of course I was telling myself

"Great ! I freaking reserved a hotel room on Price Match from a place that is obviously out of business!"

When we finally find the dang place we walk in and instantly my hubby calls the number we had been dialing and we hear no phone ringing----we get to the counter and he asks the clerk what the  # is----she verifies that we had the right #--he tells her we have been trying to call it and she says "Oh..I shut off the phone lines for a bit because someone was harrassing me." LOL..Just my luck :) We are lost in the middle of bumchuck nowhere and the gal at the desk has the phone turned off!

This was at "Days Inn" by the way and I wouldn't mention the name at all cuz the room was nice but if anyone out there is booking a room there and relies on Map Quest---I would say just have a few "Back-up" plans in case the hotel clerk decides to shut the phone off :) Or maybe this kinda stuff only happens when I am lost LOL....Yah.. it's funny now but hubby didn't think so when I was chewing his arse out :) Hee-hee

Anyways..it was all good in the end :)...We spent Labor Day in Solvang,Ca.   And it is a lovely quaint Danish town with lots of shops and restaurants and I had such a relaxing time and smiled over and over...the shop keepers were so nice and friendly...the weather was beautiful and we had a great time.  Here are some pics of our day at Solvang...

Chloe enjoying green beans for breakfast instead of an Aebleskiver

AKA Danish Pancake :)

outside "The Little Mermaid"

                                         There are so many cool buildings houses and shops here!

Me and Mojo  happy to be vertical LOL!

                                               Inside some of the shops------

                               A Car on the street-----

                     Chloe trying on a couple of hats :)

                                                Dang it! ! You know I hate carrots!!!!!

So ....it really was a nice weekend. :)   Those of you who know me know that Sept 5th last year was a terrible day for me (my momma's birthday and the first one I spent without her) I still miss her soooooo much but on this birthday weekend of hers--This year---I really think it was more of a celebration of life...and yes.. I still had some tears (mainly knowing how much she would have loved to have held Chloe and smothered her with kisses)..but I smiled a lot of times on Sept 5th 2011, this year and I know that my heart is healing :)
                                 It was a great weekend <3 even tho We miss you momma and always will!!!
                                                           RIP Linda Darlene Hood