Scenes from the Fair

I don't yet have pictures to show from our 11 hour visit to the Indiana State Fair on Friday- yet.

I do have proof that I might have lost my mind in a cattle barn... because after being tremendously grateful for having Christy along and shuddering at the thought of a day at the Fair with just me and my kids... I did exactly that. We even took the Fair Train. At the last minute, we decided to go. We rushed to grab stuff and get shoes on and rushed out the door and to the train station. We got there with a minute to spare. There were Boy Scouts on hand who rushed over to help me haul the stroller up to the train. We got on the train and the ride down was filled with excited conversation about what we were seeing out the window and about waving to cars and people at intersections and about what we were going to do at the Fair that day.

And it was a great day. There was no fighting, no melting down, no arguing, no whining, no pouting. We had loads of fun and food and my kids enjoyed Mommy being silly and I enjoyed having fun with my kids. We rode the train home and relaxed, hot and tired, in the air conditioned car. The rocking of the train lulled us into a deep state of relaxation as we reviewed all the fun things we had done that day. I'll have pics to share (once I can find a dang-blast USB cable to pull pics form my Nikon) from Friday. But here are camera phone pics from our very fun and spontaneous day at the Indiana State Fair today!

After this lovely miniature circus, we got lunch. So this was only a couple of hours into our day. After this, I just got so focused on having fun with my kids that I stopped taking pictures.

So imagine our visit to Pioneer Village and Teagan learning about wool working... my kids playing on a big playset layout in the FFA Pavilion... seeing the fish in the DNR building... riding the Ferris wheel... watching the DockDogs... learning about bees and tasting honey... doing a little shopping... and having fantastic end of day in the Bridge to Japan exhibit where we watched a Japanese candy man perform his craft for half an hour.

It was a great, great day. Made even more perfect by my husband coming home earlier than expected and the family getting to go out to dinner together and then having a nice, routine bathtime and bedtime. I'm glad this past week is over and that the family is all back under one roof. But I also really cherish the time I had with my kids and all the fun we had over the past week. Especially our day today at the State Fair!