Our Day at the County Fair

It is County Fair season, and Wednesday we had a wonderful day at the fair.

The weather has been very hot this week, in the high nineties and even hitting a hundred at times, for us that is about as hot as it gets, so I knew the day at the fair was going to be warm and an early start was best.  This year we went with my little niece and nephew for their first year at the fair which was very fun.

We were all excited to spend the day at the fair, as we arrived we were met with all of the wonderful smells of fair food and earthy animal smells, as well as the sounds of rides and happy people, and lots to see.  We made our way down the path of food vendors, stopped to watch a very funny comedic juggler, and made our way to the main pavilion.

I was very excited to see all of the kitchen cupboard entries, I love all of the old fashioned baking and crafting portion of the fair.

It was interesting looking at everyone's canned foods entries.

The pies looked delicious too.

This was the display I was most interested in.

This year I wanted to enter the baking portion of the fair, I have wanted to for quite some time but wasn't sure how, so I went online and found all the rules and categories, and decided to make my Brown Sugar Bacon crumble Muffins .  I dropped them off earlier in the week, and was very eager to see how my first try at Fair baking would go.  I was so happy to see a ribbon for third place.  I am really looking forward to next year, now that I know how to go about entering, and all of the different categories, I plan on trying my hand at many of the classic baking categories.

The first place muffin entry went to a very delicious looking double chocolate chip muffin- yum.  I was also pleased to see entries in the junior competition from one of my Sunday school students who won ribbons,  and also spotted the handiwork in the craft and hobby area from some of our our friends, I look forward to congratulating them on Sunday.  Good work!  I love to know that their are young people continuing to learn cooking, sewing, and crafting skills.

There is only so long you can ask little ones to look at baked goods, especially when there are animals to be seen and rides to ride.  So next we made our way to ride a few rides before it got too hot.

My niece and nephew enjoyed some classic kiddie rides.

They were so excited it was cute.

Next Sarah and Joe went on a big kid ride.

Then the little ones enjoyed another kiddie ride, this was their favorite, they could move the helicopter up and down with their own control stick, they thought that was pretty cool!

Then Sarah and Joe had their own up in the air ride.

This ride looked like a lot of fun.

Then we decided a trip through a fun house would be a fun classic for the kids to try out.

After rides were done it was time for lunch.  Foot long hot dogs, corn dogs, and delicious cups of flavored shaved ice were the first treats of the day.  The shaved ice really hit the spot and really helped to cool us down.

After lunch we went to check out all of the animals.  

We really enjoyed all of the rabbits and chickens.  I spotted a Blue Indian Runner Duck that is now on my list of duck breeds I would like one day, and I always enjoy looking at the variety of chickens.  Of course we all loved the cute rabbits, from very large to small.

You can all guess what fairy tale I am inspired to share after seeing these three goats. :)

This had to be the cutest thing by far, these two little piglets were so enthusiastically nursing it was hilarious and super cute.

Here were the rest of the piglets, so cute!

We had fun looking at all the pigs and cows.

At the goat barn we had fun petting all of the goats, this breed was so friendly.

We only had time to barely glance at the sheep, the weather was so hot at that point that it was time for another shade and cool beverage break.

Sarah and Joe took pictures of their little cousins in the wooden cutouts.

We  all enjoyed corn on the cob with icy lemonade.

My nephew decided that he agreed with Uncle Gary and loved the corn on the cob!

Sarah and Lily were making each other laugh.

After we cooled down a bit, we walked through a butterfly house that was set up.

We were given q-tips to soak in nectar that allowed us to pick up the butterflies.

It was very fun seeing them up close.

We then made our way to the game area to play some classic fair games, we watched some neat dancers on the way, they did a wonderful tap dancing routine.

The little ones tried out a few of the classic fair games, like knocking over milk bottles.

and testing out their strength.

They had fun winning a couple of prizes and playing the games.

Joe and Gary were interested in trying out the crossbow shooting, and Sarah was interested in brother and Dad trying to win her a giant white tiger (her favorite animal).  Joe gave it a couple of tries, then Gary tried a few times.

And Gary got a bulls-eye!

Sarah was so excited to bring this giant fellow back home, the dogs aren't sure what to think of it. :)

We finished off the trip with a sampling of some very tasty fair treats along with lots of ice water. All six of us shared these very greasy, but oh so good curly fries.

We all had a little taste of this funnel cake.

And last but not least, split a few giant elephant ears.

It was an all around wonderful day at the fair, and I eagerly await visiting again next year!

What is your favorite part of the fair?