Mommy-cation

I'm back! I mean, um, I've been back for a week now. I know I am just getting back in the action. I have an excuse, but that's a completely different post that I may or may not get to tonight. Ugh! Anyway, I went to Oregon way back (in blog time it seems like an eternity!) last weekend to attend a festival that I have been going to for 23 out of the last 24 years of my life. I also attended in my momma's womb, but I don't technically count that year in my stats!

My parents were (in dad's case still is) fun loving hippies who started going to this festival from its inception, 40 years ago. It is like a second home to me. I have lived in so many places that it has really been the one constant in my life. The place I would return to every year to see friends and family and pick up where we left off for 4 days before returning to the real world. Now I don't exactly think of myself as a hippie. Don't get me wrong, I would love to not shave my arm pits, wear tie dye and patchouli (I just threw up in my mouth) oil and live a carefree lifestyle. Wait, nope, I don't really dig any of that, so I just go every year to visit the magical place that this small town in Oregon has become for me over the years. The festival is called the Oregon Country Fair. It is a 3 day event with all handmade items, delicious food, wonderful music, entertaining acts and random $h*t that makes it one of the most endearing places to me. This is one of the many fanciful things you would see if you walked through the wooded loop where the OCF takes place.

The best part for me is seeing my friends and family. My sister's family recently moved up to Oregon from So. California and she and my niece came down for the day on Friday. We ate yummy food, got Meg's face painted, her hair braided and watched an acrobatic act with my friends. Of course, no visit to Oregon would be complete without a picture of my tie dye wearing, motorcycle riding, goatee sporting, tattooed teddy bear of a daddy. I miss him a lot and only get to see him a couple of times a year, so it was nice to spend some quality time without the distraction of crazy Natey!

I attend the OCF to work. Yeah, I know, it doesn't sound like much of a vacay now does it?? We work traffic crew and do 4 hour shifts each day parking cars in dusty mowed down hay fields. Well, that's what I USUALLY do when I go. Thankfully when you are preggers you get what we lovingly call "Fair Welfare" in which you get to sit your bloated self behind the traffic desk and answer the phone and radio shift supervisors when retards park their cars in the wrong place or lock their keys in the car with it still running (yes it happened). I met one of my best friends, Darcy, at the fair when we were 15 and we have been friends ever since. She and her boyfriend still had to work out in the dust bowl, but if you have to direct traffic for 4 hours you better look festive while doing it!
I didn't have computer access, but did manage to get some tweets out while I was there. And I wasn't kidding when I said I saw a man powered Hippopotamus go by. Can you see why this place is so much fun?? No, well you have to go to get it!
There are some really talented people out there in crafts I rarely think of, like metal work. There were so many metal sculptures placed around the fair this year, I only captured a few though.

There are all types of vendors there from handmade clothing, pottery, food (have I mention the food alone is worth going for??), jewelry, candles, blown glass pieces, artwork, etc. I could go on and on. One of the booths I remember seeing since I was a small child was a midwifery booth where they have info for natural births. My mom had both my brother and I without drugs and she inspired me to do it with Natey (and again with baby girl). At this booth they also paint pregnant bellies. No, that's not a typo. You tell them how far along you are and they paint a baby true to size for your gestation, with any design you want to go with it. It was one of the things I have been enamoured with since I can remember and I always said, if I were ever pregnant come fair time, I'd do it. Well, this year I was so stoked to go and get my baby girl painted on for the world to see. Since the moment I found out my due date was the day my mom (and grandpa) passed away I knew she had angels watching over her. I asked the woman to paint angel wings on my little girl to symbolize her guardian angels.
All was well...until the sky opened up and rain drenched everything on Sunday. It has only rained like that during the fair one other time in all the years I have been going . Thank God I was parked under the covered traffic desk with my fleece, a cozy blanket and my surrogate mommy Suzie to keep me warm during my shift. It didn't stop me from pouting since I felt like my rain cloud had followed me all the way from RI, but I survived.
Too bad I can't say the same for my shoes.... It was nice to see everyone and have some alone time, but I cried on Sunday because I missed my boys so much. Well, that and it was finally freakin sunny in RI and they were on their way to the beach without me. Six planes, 22 combined hours of flying, 3 nights sleeping in a tent, one rain storm and lots of good quality time with people I love later and I'm back in RI! Staye tuned for Natey's 25 month post and the recap of my sewing and balloon festival adventure.....if I ever get the time to finish them!