The State Fair

We headed to the Illinois State Fair on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. We missed the fair last year, so we were really hungry for fair food. And the Butter Cow. But mainly the food. Let's be honest, why else do you attend the fair? If it is fried and on a stick, you can bet that there is a long line waiting to purchase one (or two).

First off, the cotton candy. It is best to find freshly made cotton candy, and it is even better to find a VERY generous vendor. Maybe next year we will specify to keep the ball of candy smaller than Olivia's head. And, yes, she ate every last bit.

The Butter Cow! A tradition that has to be viewed no matter how silly it is. This year there were also butter skunks on display.

Oh, yes, there are also animal exhibits at the fair. We made our way to those while walking to more food vendors. This is Ethan in the FFA petting zoo. He loved the lambs and the bunnies, but he was pecked at by a baby chick and didn't really like that too much.

The Milk a Cow exhibit was a first for us this year. Olivia was old enough for us to justify spending a buck so that she could milk the poor cow (as a mother who breastfed 2 kids, I had sympathy for the cow). She thought that it was great, but she was really confused about where the milk came from - I don't know that she had ever paid much attention to a cow's udders before.

Maybe next year Ethan will joing the milking fun. For now, he had a great time mooing at the cows from a distance.

Who is that celebrity dad pushing his celebrity baby????

What seems funny at the time of the fair now means that we have a carved coconut pirate head sitting in our house waiting for us to do something with it.

Olivia sharing her ice cream with Ethan. Olivia enjoyed a corn dog, cotton candy, lemon shake ups, ice cream, and some mini donuts. And was still asking for more. She is a natural at the State Fair! While the adults munched on fried oreos, fried Do Si Dos, fried Key lime pie, corn dogs, pork burgers, pork chop on a stick, lemon shake ups, vinegar fries, taffy, donuts, and fried cheese curds. I told you that we eat our way through the fair! However, with my mom along to watch the kids while Joe and I attended a concert at night, that food was (sort of) split 3 ways.

Dancing to an Irish jig at the Ethnic Village.

Another first for Olivia...carnival rides. Previously, she was too hesitant to ride any. This year she enjoyed the train and these cars. She was begging to ride on more, but it was getting close to 8pm and time for the kiddies to head home.

I had intended to post a nice picture of Joe and I with good friends Curt and Kelly, but the picture turned out horribly (Kelly and I had our eyes closed) so I decided to not post it. We joined them for the Joan Jett/Huey Lewis concert and had a great time. Huey sang all of his big hits (except for Hip to Be Square, darn it) and Joan Jett was really good, too. It was a nice end to our day at the fair.