County Fair

Everyone,

This year we went to the county fair. Everyone at my church was talking about how much fun it was and we had a coupon from Butterfly's reading road trip in the library for a free ice cream, a free drink, and a free ride. So off we went on free kid day. Can we say, free?! It was awesome to spend maybe 30 dollars there and do so much stuff!

First stop was the community center with a 2 big bounce houses, games and balls and goats wearing John Deer baseball caps. Butterfly would not get out of the bounce house. I had to go in and get her. She is running from me, shrieking at the top of lungs and laughing at the same time. I was not amused. Especially since everyone was waiting their turn and I could just not catch her. Finally, I bounced which knocked her to the floor and I was able to scoop her up for a time out in the stroller. I love that she was having so much fun but I hate that I had to go and get her.

After the bounce houses, we went to see the animals. We saw a whole lot of cows, some more cows, and even more cows. There are at least 5 barns full of cows. Beef cows, jersey cows, little calves, bulls, heifers, and more. I met one of the fair participates and his cow. Chuck was about 6 years old and the little heifer he had was Patches. He let Butterfly pet her and was so proud of Patches. It was too cute.

From there, we wandered around for bit, watched a little bit of the dog show and then off to the horse barn. I love the horse barn. There was only 1 barn with about 15 horses in it. We petted the horses, and I drank in the barn smell. Man I miss riding. We watched the therapeutic riding demonstration which Butterfly clapped through and yelled "Yay horsey! You did it!" They talked a lot about what they look for in a horse and how the riding improves the riders life. After, they let us come out and feed the horses carrots and Butterfly loved it. The rest of my party left, so I went ahead and got some french fries and decided to go home for a nap.

We walked past a guy shearing his sheep so I had to watch. ("Mommy those sheep are cold!") and we saw the geese. We enjoyed a few cookies from the 4-H bake sale, and looked at all the drawings and entries from the kids. There was also a bus that was doing free eye exams for kids 1-6 so I thought why not? Juice and I both wear glasses and I imagine Butterfly will at some point too. She was an angel through this. She walked right onto the bus, sat on the stool, looked right in the lights, and smiled and said thank you after. They were amazed that she was just 2 years old. My child is amazing. :) She also got a free stuffed animal from it. I must admit, I picked it out for her because they had a Simba! Just like the one I used to sleep with for years and years. I won't let her hold mine, but now she has one of her own. So cute!

Finally, an hour after I decided to leave, I got out. I took the free shuttle to the mall and then the bus home from there. Butterfly took a 2 and a half hour nap. She woke up just in time for Juice to come home to change to go back. We wandered through the animal barns looking for food and ended up eating at a church sponsored booth. Boy it was not good. If we had walked 20 feet farther we could have had kabobs or something but Juice was insisting that we eat right then.

We ran into a few friends from church and Butterfly rode on the pony rides. She is old enough that I probably don't have to walk next to her anymore. What a big girl she is getting to be! Oh, we also met the queen of the fair! Butterfly loved her tiara.

We walked over to the rides and ran into even more friends from church. (Big family outing for everyone!) We used her free ride coupon to ride the Ferris wheel. It was so much fun! She kept saying 'whee' and enjoying the height. We walked back to the animals and got her free ice cream and Juice and I shared her free lemonade. I also bought a big bag of kettle corn. My favorite!

We didn't get home until close to 10pm. She had to have a bath because she was covered in fair dirt and grime. She went right to sleep but was up at her normal 6am this morning. I hope that she'll nap for awhile today. I need one too!

Butterfly held a dollar for me and wouldn't give it back. She kept saying, "My dollar!" She even noticed George Washington's picture on the dollar and wanted to know who it was. When I told her, she burst out, "I love George Washington!" She gave the dollar a huge kiss and hug. SO FUNNY!

We had a blast at the fair and I would love to go back this year and really enjoy the animals again. But there's always next year. I can't wait!

Safire