Fun Times at the County Fair

I’ve had a subconscious bucket list for this summer.  A whole mess of summery things I want to do before cool temps usher in cider mill visits and hot bowls of chili.

I’ve always considered myself to be a summer girl.  When people ask my favorite season, I undoubtedly answer “summer all the way!”

This year has been especially awesome because I’ve spent the majority of my summer at home full-time with my girl.  We’ve played in the sandbox, gone on bike rides, splashed in the baby pool, taken walks, worked in the garden, eaten grilled dinners out on the patio and slathered ourselves in sunscreen countless times. (I had to put a link to the sunscreen we use since I’m pretty freaked out about the conventional stuff!)

Now that we are solidly in the middle of August, I’m starting to panic about summer coming to an end.  It feels like sand slipping through my fingers and I’m trying desperately to hold onto every last morsel of it.

I don’t feel like we’ve grilled out enough dinners or had enough people over to sit on the patio under our twinkle lights.  It doesn’t seem like Grace and I have gone swimming often enough or played in the sandbox as much as we could have.

I’m a sucker for outdoor festivals and summer events.  This year we’ve done a few things and they’ve been awesome but my internal bucket list is overflowing with more!  The next 4 weekends are each home to some of our favorite outdoor events and I’m just crazy enough to want to squeeze them all in before Fall.

If all goes well, I’d still like to attend…

The Greek Festival
Dally in the Alley
The Michigan Renaissance Festival
Utica Antiques Market

I’ve got my work cut out for me trying to get to all these and a trip to the Detroit Zoo, but I’m up for the challenge!

I’m hard pressed to think of an event more summery than the county fair and I’m thrilled we’ve already checked that off our list list year!

A month or so ago, my mom emailed me to see if we could join her in attending the Lenawee County Fair which was held at the fairgrounds right around the corner from her.  Seven tenths of a mile to be exact.  She was sure to tell me this on several occasions as we walked over to the fairgrounds from her apartment :)

It was a pretty hot day, but the fair made it totally worth it to be outside!

As soon as we walked up, I noticed that there was a military discount for active duty members and their families who could show ID.  You know we had our IDs with us after the fiasco it was to get them!

Turns out it was a 100% discount so Andy and I each got in for free!  My mom was treating us to the fair that day, so I was thrilled we could save her money right off the bat.  More money to spend on elephant ears and ice cream later on :)

Lenawee County sure does know how to host a fair!  Among carnival rides, fried food, displays of local talent and plenty of country folk, there was a gathering of some of the most beautiful farm animals I’ve ever seen.

Seriously…these pigs, cows, chickens, horses, ducks, goats and bunnies were some of the cleanest around.  They were all “show quality” and remarkably beautiful.

Grace loves reading books about farm animals and she can make each of their sounds perfectly.  Watching her get a glimpse of the real thing was incredible.

I’ve got to admit that many of the animals were intimidating because they are SO MUCH BIGGER than you realize.  The cows in particular were massive which I’d somehow forgotten since the last time I was face to face with a real cow.  Same goes for the pigs.  Holy hog!  They were gigantic too.

The chickens were stunning and such a cool variety of colors, but the roosters were super loud which freaked Grace out.

I think her favorite animals were the ducks.  They were beautiful and quiet :)

I’m really bummed that I didn’t get pictures of the other animals :(  I was too caught up in watching Grace’s face smile in amazement at each one, which I guess is a pretty darn good excuse not to take pictures.

The other highlight of the fair for Grace was the train.  Ever since we visited Greenfield Village for her cousin Zeek’s birthday party, she has been in love with trains.  We saw Thomas the Train that day and although I was more excited than her (ask me about that…it’s a great story!) she fell in love with all things Thomas.

This little train at the fair was a far cry from Thomas, but she LOVED it anyway.  She had the biggest smile plastered across her face the whole time!

That entire day was practically poetic.  We did all the things you’d want to do at the fair.  We noshed on giant ice cream cones from the local dairy, we watched part of the 4H talent show and Grace danced along with the little girls on the stage.  We had fresh french fries and crispy elephant ears.  We wore ourselves out in the best kind of way.

Then we walked the seven tenths of a mile back to my mom’s place where we rested and Grace played with Grandma’s toys.  We got a pizza for dinner and laughed around the dinner table before packing up and heading home.  Grace was asleep in under 5 minutes.  I’ll bet she had sweet dreams full of ducks and cows and bunnies and treats :)