Fair Time

Somehow, we've never made it to the Montgomery County Fair.  Where I grew up, the fair is HUGE--it's where my parents catch up w/all their friends, old and new, and you could spend hours going through each building of homemade goods, 4H projects and vendors.  At this fair, I couldn't even find! the projects building.  Only the veggie competition barn.  And since they had been sitting out all week in our lovely humid summer weather, even the prize-winning pumpkin was looking a little worse for wear.

So we went to see what we could see--Akiko and me, and our peeps.  We rode the shuttle from the entrance to the animal barns.  And when I say "shuttle" what I really mean is tractor pulling a trailer w/some seats rigged on it.  Interesting, to say the least.  The kids loved it of course!

We went through one "exotic" animal barn.  A sow w/piglets, alpacas, goats, mini-horses, sheep, and some chicks.  I would have taken more (read: some) pictures, but I had a hard time keeping Cache from climbing into the animal pens (he's mastered climbing chain-link fence--scary!!).

  We decided to grab some lunch, but didn't make it past the tractor area.  I think we were there for half an hour!  Even Ako's girls were way into it--who knew?!

Watch out Grandpa--I'll be ready to cut your hay next summer!

Someone's having a little too much fun.  Farming isn't all flashy chrome & glamour Zach!

The Big Daddy.  Mia wanted to ride it too, and I might have had to push her mother up into the cab via her rear.  Might have, I say...

These guys were just too cute.  They all plopped down on the pavement to watch a (good, but over-ego'ed) magician.  l-r: Cache, Mia & Zach.

Then we went to see the chickens (lots of crowing from some crazy roosters!) but crapped out before we made it to the bunny area.  We rode the "shuttle" back and had just loaded the car when the heavens opened.  Opened!!  We were luckier than some; just before the weather changed, we saw one poor girl w/a toddler on her hip who couldn't find her car.  We couldn't help but feel sorry for her and the families we met on the way out that had just gotten to the fair.  It rained crazy-hard, and for better than half an hour!