A day at the Fair

Kate and I by the biggest pumpkin (weighing in at 1,312 pounds)


Kate was obviously enjoying her bite of the corn dog

The "two little farmers", picking their apples at "Little Hands on the Farm"

Ben is not so sure about reaching in for his eggs

I LOVE going to the Iowa State Fair. Mr. Cairney and I met, about 12 years ago, talked many times about all of our hobbies, interests, favorite foods, sporting events, families, traveling, church, kids, work, dreams, aspirations, etc.,... but not once do I ever remember talking about how much I love the Fair and how much he does NOT Love the Fair???? (-: So, now that we have children, they get the extreme pleasure of going with me. Kate is starting to show some signs of having memories year after year of where our favorite "foods on a stick " are located, where the famous "butter cow" is, finding the "biggest boar" ( which by the way this year was called "BIG D, and weighed in around 1,212 pounds ---which Kate then pointed out was less than the pumpkin!!!) I cannot believe that I did not get a picture of him. There is always next year right?? Anyway, it was a beautiful day last Wednesday, we rode the shuttle from the capital complex, and started our trek across the fair grounds. Our many stops included the food center (where we enjoyed looking at the cake contest winners), the baby animal barn (where we were able to watch baby chicks hatch out of their shells and the birth of a new calf and some baby pigs). I was in heaven (-: it just really brings back so many of the memories that I have growing up on the farm, playing with the 100's of baby pigs that we had, watching my ducks and chicks hatch out, etc,.,.. I just loved all of that! We then headed up to "Little Hands on the Farm", harvested the little crops that we planted, took our eggs to the market, picked out a treat from the general store, and enjoyed a corn dog for lunch. The rest of the day was spent walking thru a few museums, the old school house, watching a "grape stomp", taking a peak at the butter cow and butter sculptures of Dr. Seuss and friends, watching a few horse shows, getting as many tattoos as we could find, and of course, sharing a "Wonder Bar" - the ice cream bar of the Fair....

We had such a wonderful day. Miss Kate and I are already looking forward to next year, Ben however is contemplating staying home with his Dad (-: how could the boy that runs around the baseball bases 100+ times, dripping in sweat, complain that his "legs were tired" of all of the walking??? I guess this story is to be continued until next year???? I hope that he decides to join us --- who knows, maybe Doug will come along too!