Fair

Here are some pics to finish up August. We had a little get together with Andrea, Mickey and Hunter to celebrate her birthday. Which included cake!

And of course August here means the fair! Which I was kind of excited for, even though it is associated with hicks. I remember working there years ago with our youth group, and it was loads of fun.

I don't remember when it was, but to kick off the fair festivities they had a parade through downtown. I thought it would be fun to go (even if it was pretty hot). Once we picked a spot, it was pretty neat. We saw the random people running for office sitting on the back of a convertible, cars advertising for stuff, the random groups of horses, the poo crew and the like. They actually had a couple really cool floats - must have taken a while with all the flowers, decorations and moving parts. Most were lame, but a few were fantastic. They also handed out candy and pop, and helium balloons (Z held on to his [kite knot!], but there were many a balloon that succumbed to gravitational pull). We also got to see Amie with her baton group, something we weren't expecting. We had to leave early because of Z's nap, but as we did we saw lots of firetrucks staged to finish the parade. Z liked those, of course. A fireman even came over and gave Z some candy.

Amie had a performance one day at the fair, so I made a point to go to that. The bus and fair teamed up to make a combo ticket, which saved a buck on bus fair, several bucks on parking. So I took the bus there. While waiting for her I wandered around and watched what I can only describe as a dog show but for cattle. It was really weird. These high school kids would walk their cows around, then turn and go the other way, all the while prodding them with a stick. Then the judge told them to switch cows, and each person went to the next cow over. Just odd.

Of course, it ended up raining that day. Batons were dropping left and right. It was kind of a bummer but also a little funny. Not to be mean, but just because there was nothing they could do - how can anyone hold onto wet metal spinning and flying around? Several girls did their own routine, and Amie did one with one baton and another with three.

They also did a group thing with these twirly things. Actually looked pretty neat, even if it wasn't very technical.

A couple days later Jeanie and Jason took Z to the fair. I wanted to go with him the first time he was there, but it didn't work out that way. But he had fun, even if he was pretty tired. Even though in this picture he looks like the sheep is trying to kill him :).

If you're set to not ride rides, there isn't a whole lot to do but wander around. We got a free bouncy balloon and looked at several vendors, but nothing that we needed to buy. They also had art stuff and a food exhibit - kids made sweet things, decorated things and the like. They had a staffed booth in that tent talking about canning, but even though I gave them my info they never contacted me. Humph.

We also pet a fair amount of animals (didn't intend on that pun :)). The foals were just super cute, and Z got a kick out of them. Though I did have to force him to pet one.

We also saw a super fat pig and calves and ducks. There was also a chick with a goat by the goat barn that was just for feeding and petting. He was pretty aggressive! Z actually did manage to feed him, though I don't think we got any good pics.

We also took a little tractor ride out to the stalls. Which for some reason I remember being a little more interesting, but I'm not sure why. We looked at some horses, read their info and pet a few. Again, I'm grabbing his wrist to make him pet the horse :). He likes to pet animals, he's just scared.

I thought this was a pretty cute picture.
After checking out the random vendors and the animals, only one thing left to do - fair food! I had a teriyaki rice thing from the Young Life booth (I figured it was the least of all evils) while Bob, Eva and J had more traditional fair food. Then we got an elephant ear. Mmmm. I had been jonesin' for it for quite a while, and I was not disappointed. It was so good! Though we didn't manage to eat it all. Zach enjoyed it, too.


The last thing I must have at any fair - cotton candy. Again, I bought this at the Young Life booth, trying to be nice (it was also the closest to us, though not the exit). I didn't have any 'till I got home but it sucked!! Tasted like it had been sitting next to the grill all day seeping in the flavors, including the char taste. I guess Z didn't know any different because he really enjoyed it.

I mentioned something about the rodeo, and Eva said she likes to go to that but doesn't usually have anyone to go with. So the boys went home and Eva and I stayed to watch some rodeo. Guess I'm just not cowgirl enough, because I didn't really enjoy it. I was expecting barrel racing and poles, but this was mostly trying to ride animals that were strapped in the wrong way. I remember a friend in high school thinking it was a form of animal cruelty. It's definitely not nice. There was a younger girl sitting behind us, and it was clearly the first time she'd been to a rodeo because she didn't think the calf roping was very fun to watch. I don't know - I just can't really appreciate the riding part - I'd much rather watch the things that involve skill and happy animals. It's a wonder they don't break the calves necks. And of course, advertising for sex makes it into the rodeo, now, too. Don't remember that. We had the "Saloon Girls" who rode around in 17th century hooker attire with flags of the sponsors. Give me a break, people.

The only really interesting thing about the rodeo was the sheep riding - though I wouldn't let my kid do it! They had 3-5 year olds on sheep, trying to stay on the longest out of the gate. The sheep weren't kicking, but running out of the gate is enough when there's no saddle. It was pretty cute. They also had a family do a lasso thing, which was alright. Takes talent, so I gave him some props.

One weekend we went over to Jeanie's for some cinnamon rolls. They were tasty, if completely unhealthy. But here's a cute picture of Z.