Indiana State Fair: It's The Unique Things

One of the things I love most about the Indiana State Fair is that you never know what you're going to see or experience.  I think that's the main reason why I go to the Fair more than once and why I wish I could be there every day.  You never know what you're going to discover, happen upon, or be surprised by!

Every year, i enjoy watching the progression of the scultping of cheese into a fabulous cheese sculpture.  Early in the Fair, the artist is there, working on the piece.  We got there when she was carving part of the mild cheddar base and we got to enjoy several samples of this work of art!  I asked the artist if she ever imagined that she'd be a cheese sculptor when she grew up.  She laughed and said she knew she was going to be an artist but had never dreamed of worked with cheese.

Sometimes, you just happen upon things that aren't quite right and can leave you giggling a little bit.  One cool thing at the Fair is the Recipe Trail.  Various places around the Fairgrounds are little recipe cards from area farmers or producers.  It's done by the Indiana Humanities Council, if I remember correctly.  Typically, you find a recipe near something to dow ith food- near a set up for information on beef producers in Indiana, for example.

We found this sign to be placed in a rather unfortunate spot.

Everyone knows that Fair Food is an important part of the Fair experience.  The great thing about the Indiana State Fair is a special cost savings day called $2 Tuesday.  I love it!  Vendors who participate offer something for $2- a corn dog or a smaller portion of soemthing they regularly serve.  It's a great way to get people to try things they normally wouldn't and a great way to attract new customers.  It also meant that I paid a lot more attention to food yesterday because I wanted to see all the offerings. 

This sign made me giggle.

Another unique thing about the State Fair is that there are vendors who sell things I never would have imagined.  There's the Expo Hall with vendors selling all kinds of products that will make your life easier.  You can register for all kinds of giveaways and pick up all kinds of swag.  There are vendors who come back year after year and have a solid reputation for the quality of their work.  There are a few leather vendors who sell boots, wallets, purses, and other leather goods.

Other leather goods like this handy belt attachment.

If you aren't Fair-familiar, this sign would be terribly confusing.

2 years ago, I wrote about a disappointing cheese experience at the Fair.  The Dairy Bar is a tradition for many Fair goers- grilled cheese, spoon thick milkshakes, and the best ice cold chocolate milk.  In 2009, they introduced a new sandwich that I was very excited about- gouda on wheat bread.  Except it was the least gouda-like cheese I'd ever seen or tasted.  This year, another new sandwich was introduced and I am in full on forgiveness mode!  This is pepperjack on sourdough and this is one of the yummiest things I've ever had!  Just look at that beautiful cheese!

Bees, bees, bees.  Who would think that bees would have a place at a State Fair?  Honey is a big deal in Indiana and visiting the Ag/Hort Building (Agriculture/Horticulture) means checking out honey vendors!  My kids love the honey lady at our Farmer's Market each week and I love this annual visit to the honey vendors at the Fair!  Last year, one of the honey producers introduced a new product- jalapeno whipped honey.  The day I heard about it, I didn't have the money to buy any but planned to go back for it.  Went back a couple of days later and it was sold out.  This year, I bought 2 large jars of it on the second day of the Fair and when I went back yesterday, the large jars had sold out!

Visiting honey vendors means checking out the bees, of course.

These guys made me smile.  They saw my camera and started begging me to take their picture.  Gotta love "Saying Cheese!"

I'm going to do an entire post on the Peking Acrobats because the act was truly amazing.  It was a different show from last year but the feats of strength, focus, and balance were incredible.  However, there was one act that, while amazing and awe-inspiring, also had a few moments of body positioning that was a little... unique.

And sometimes, the unique things I come across at the State Fair are powerful and meaningful.  This is a piece of the World Trade Center.  This beam has been visiting various parts of our state.  On Sept 11 of this year, a memorial is going to be dedicated in Indianapolis.  Project 9/11 Indianapolis.  Being so close to something so... powerful... was something I won't forget. 

I'll be posting several times today with different aspects of my kid-free, all day adventure at the Fair yesterday! Stay tuned for more!

Why The BRAT Diet Doesn't Work

Jeff was gone all last week.  Teagan was a tightly wound bundle of emotions.  I think the release of all that stress by having him home had to be physically released from her.

Which it was.  At 1:00 in the morning.  And was a little bit messy.  Not good.

I was paranoid that she was actually sick.  I stayed awake, watching her, listening for the tell tale signs of innerds about to become out-erds.

But nothing else ever came.

In the morning, she was confused as to why she had different PJ's on.  A little reminding and she suddenly remembered all the graphic details.

No work for Mommy.  Have to stay home and make sure the stomach is settled.  And school has that "24 hours without puking" rule.  So we stayed home.  And she was fine.  I watched her carefully, I monitored and controlled her food and drink input. 

I realized we didn't have a lot of great options in the house for a recovering tummy so we hit the store.  I asked on Facebook for ideas on what easy foods to go with aside from crackers and Jello.

Immediate reaction - "BRAT Diet!"  And I agree.  And I'd advise the same for others.  And I'd follow it for myself or for Zach or for Jeff.  But Teagan?

For as much as she loves interesting foods like spicy albacore with ponzu sauce (sushi) and unagi (eel) and edamame and could eat her weight in any variety of ravioli (not the canned stuff) and even banana peppers... for as much as she loves strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermemlon, cantaloupe, tomatoes... for a kid that wants nothing more for lunch than a baked potato with chili on the side...

Most of what's on the BRAT diet is not on the Teagan Diet.  Banana? No way.  Rice? Maybe if you drown it in ponzu sauce or if it's fried rice from the hibachi place. Applesauce? Meh, no thanks.  Toast- only if she can have butter and cinnamon sugar on it. 

So she had a baked potato that Daddy brought home at lunch time.  She had a little bit of jello but didn't really like it much.  Then the floodgates of hunger opened wide and I had to fight to keep her from eating us out of house and home.  I had to keep reminding her that we wanted food in her tummy so she wouldn't feel hungry but also didn't want her to be stuffed full.  But then she saw the Trader Joe's Spinach and Sour Cream Dip and the pita crackers and she couldn't resist.  She had a cheese stick.  She had soy and flaxseed tortilla chips with pineapple salsa.  She had rotiserrie chicken and watermelon.  She knew Mommy wasn't going to give in on any sugary junk so she stopped asking about going to get a milkshake or cookies. 

No BRAT Diet in this house. 

And I'm not sure any doctor would recommend the BPJSDPCCSC&SRCW Diet.

Indiana State Fair: Day One

Saturday, I took the kids for our first visit to the Indiana State Fair!  It opened on Friday, Aug 5 and I was very excited to spend some time there with my kids.  It's very funny to me that I used to feel such anxiety at the idea of taking both kids by myself on this kind of an outing and now I'm eager for it! 

We were greeted by the motorcross guys warming up- it was cool to see the bikes doing wheelies and practicing jumps.  We didn't go to the big show because it was just too loud for Zach but I'd love to add this to our list to do in future years because it was really cool!! 

The kids surprised me by asking to go see the pigs first.  Teagan was eager to see the World's Largest Male Hog- Reggie.  Reggie weighs in at 1,305 lb and beat out last year's winner of the title by 18 lb.  Most fun was seeing the prize winning litter of baby piglets.  It was feeding time and these guys were not going to chill out until they'd had their fill.  The grunting and squealing was adorable and hilarious.

Next we made our way up to the Riley Fun Park area- lots of kid friendly stuff and close by Pioneer Village (celebrating its 50th year this year!).  My kids love doing Little Hands On The Farm every year- they do kid friendly versions of farm chores, "sell" their products at the market, get paid, and get to then spend the "money" in a little snack bar.  Teagan was worried she would be too big to ride the toy tractors this year- officially, she probably was- but she squeaked through.

The Circus Hall of Fame show had already started up so we went to check it out.  I've never seen goats in the circus before!  It wasn't the greatest show on earth but it was still impressive in its own way.

Next stop was lunch.  Had to indulge in traditional Fair food- corn dogs and lemon shake ups!!  One of my favorite things to do at the Fair is get 2 large lemon shake ups- one for me, one for the kids to share- and then get refills from various vendors around the Fairgrounds.  A large is usually around $5 and refills are $2 at the best places and $3 at others. 

We visited a special event going on that day- a Kindergarten prep group that was also teaching about healthy living habits.  The tooth fairy was there and the kids did exercises and learned about healthy lunch options.  The group also had a school bus there and taught kids how to safely get on the bus, get into their seats, and how to safely get off the bus.  I most enjoyed the displays about healthy foods - and the work required to burn off the calories of those Fair food treats!  I also really liked all the healthy packed lunch ideas they offered.

We passed through a barn where we enjoyed seeing a baby lamb and a cow that was very people friendly.  We walked through Pioneer Village and sampled maple syrup and learned about leather working.  I love the old machines that are up and running at the various mills and such.

We visited the greenhouses and enjoyed some beautiful flowers and a lily pad pond and were very excited to see a pineapple growing!  I have to admit that I've never seen a pineapple growing before!!

Up next was a favorite from last year- the Peking Acrobats!  This is an amazingly talented and hardworking group of Chinese acrobats that demonstrate amazing feats of strength and grace and balance.  We only caught the last 10 minutes of the show so I will definitely be going back to see it again!

There was more to our day but I didn't capture a lot more pictures.  We just got busy and hot and sweaty and tired.  Still fun, of course!  We visited and fed carrots to the goats.  We watched the fish in the Department of Natural Resources building.  We tasted honey (and I bought jalapeno whipped honey- yum!) and enjoyed a little down time in the Ball State Backyard (a project done each year by Ball State students who are in fields like landscaping architecture).  We walked through the Expo Hall and through the Cattle Barn.  Zach fell asleep for the end of our trip but woke up for cotton candy. 

I'm going back by myself this Teusday- I will meet up with some friends there.  But it will be MY day at the Fair and I look forward to exploring with my camera and taking in shows that the kids might not have enjoyed as much.  It's also $2 Tuesday which means many vendors are offering smaller portions of food for just $2.  I'm taking the kids back the following Tuesday- we'll take the train down, ride the ferris wheel, eat and enjoy our last day of summer (Teagan starts school the next day).

So that's my Sunday (or Saturday) in my city!

Good Things Come In Brown Boxes

It's been an exciting week with Jeff out of town. 

On 2 different days, we had brown cardboard boxes delivered to our house.  One was expected, one was a surprise, and both contained exciting things!

First, we ordered Teagan's backpack and lunch box for school.  We decided to make an investment in something "grown up" with the intention that it lasts for a few years.  Teagan was very excited to help pick out colors and we even splurged and had her initials and a butterfly embroidered on each bag.  She chose the blue for the backpack and the coordinating style in pink for the lunchbox.  I love how they hook together!

A surprise package arrived yesterday.  it was from Amazon, it had Jeff's name on it.  I assume he'd ordered something for himself.  Imagine my surprise when I texted him about it and he said it was a present for me!

He and I have an ongoing conversation about giving flowers to someone.  I love getting flowers- especially at work.  It's a fun way to brighten up the office and it leaves smiles on people's faces.  Jeff hates giving flowers because you enjoy them for a few days, they die, you throw them away.  Waste of money.

He must have happened upon a great deal.  According to the packing slip, he spent about what he would have on having a nice bouquet delivered.  But I have something that is going to last a long time, bring many smiles, and much laughter.  Best of all, I can now share something with my kids that my mom shared with me.  Something she and I laughed over together many times.  Something that I am very excited about and just so pleased that he thought of me.

Yup.  The complete series.  Every episode.  It might even have stuff I haven't seen before.  I've been a Lucy fan for years and years.  I can't wait to introduce my kids to her crazy antics!!

Have you had any fun surprises lately?  Are you a Lucy fan?  I must know what your favorite episodes are!!  Do you do special things for the people you love? 

And anyone want to send me flowers?

Feeding the Baby

It's World Breastfeeding Week!  What's that?  You've never heard of World Breastfeeding Week?  This is a week to celebrate, educate, and cheerlead for breastfeeding! 

This is the week you might see your Facebook News Feed pop up with some funny pictures or status updates with "fun facts" about breastfeeding.

If you run in "mommy" circles, you know that breastfeeding can lead to some seriously heated debate. 

It's a tricky thing because breastfeeding is so heavily tied up in emotions.  We want what is best for our babies, we learn that "Breast Is Best," and then we struggle, we quit, we fail, we are forced to stop for myriad reasons.  We feel like we've failed because we can't do what is "Best" for baby. 

There are many, many, many situations where a baby cannot be breastfed.  There are many valid reasons for not being able to nurse.  This post is not refuting any of that.

Breastfeeding is something that I am passionate about.  It's something I've written about on several occassions.  When I first started this blog, I was still nursing my son.  Teagan was breastfed until she self-weaned at 25 months.  Zach (mostly) self-weaned at 15 months.  I pumped for my babies when I went back to work full time and made sure my child care provider knew how to handle breastmilk. 

The research is abundant.  Breastfeeding is the better choice.  Breastmilk is specifically designed for the baby.  My breastmilk was specifically designed for my babies.  My milk would change as they grew.  My milk provided them antibodies of the common cold or a flu I was fighting (or suffering). 

It's hard work.  I wasn't prepared for how challenging it was going to be.  I read books and took classes.  But there is nothing that prepares you for motherhood.  Until you've experienced the sleepless nights and this new level of fear and anxiety that constantly simmers beneath the surface, you can't really grasp how challenging motherhood is for a new mom.  One of my clearest memories after Teagan was born was the panic and overwhelming fear I felt about bringing her home from the hospital and no longer having a nurse call button to save me from explosive poops and spit up and to answer all my scaredy cat newbie questions about everything from belly buttons to toes to butt paste. 

Breastfeeding took that one step further.  Remember that emotional investment?  When you're emotionally vulnerable, exhausted, terrified, and overwhelmed, the stress of breastfeeding problems can be the very end of the rope.  That's why it's sometimes feels like the only choice is to throw in the towel.

What saved me was my husband and my mom.  What saved me was my support system.  I was good at asking questions; I was not good about letting anyone know how bad it was.  We had latch issues early on with Teagan and my nipples took a real beating and I had serious pain and I was passing blood to the point that a pumped bottle of milk would be pink.  The pain of nursing about killed me.  But I'm ridiculously stubborn at times.  And severely independent at times.  And there was no way I was going to fail.

When I finally broke down and shared that I wanted to quit, that I wanted to go to formula, that I never wanted to nurse again... the help and support from my mom and husband overwhelmed me back to a healthy and strong place.  We worked together to fix the latch problems and get my breasts back in good working order.

My advice for new moms who want to make breastfeeding work:

• Let other things go.  Laundry, dishes, housework.  Either ask someone to help you out for a couple of months or be willing to let things slide a bit and take shortcuts.  Paper plates and plastic cutlery and cups to reduce dishes that need to be washed.  Carry out or quick fix meals so you don't have to cook.  We did learn early on that doing a daily load of laundry was actually easier in some ways.  Just find the areas where you can cut corners.
• Ask for help.  If you've got friends or family offering help, take it.  Don't be afraid to say that you need someone to help you catch up on laundry, you need someone to bring a meal, you need someone to take care of your other child for an afternoon, you need someone to come hold the baby so you can sleep for 2 hours or shower without interruption.  People want to help but often don't know what to offer.
• Know (and use) your resources.  Knowing the big breastfeeding names is important.  Kellymom, Dr. Sears, Dr. Newman are some of my favorites.  Videos and more on Breastfeeding.com saved me- especially when figuring out latches and different holds.  Beyond the experts, know who in your circles has successfully breastfed their kids and ask someone to mentor you.  Ask questions, talk about your challenges and successes.  If you've successfully breastfed, offer to mentor or be a source of supprot for a new mom.  Having someone who can do some of the worrying about the issues you're facing can help relieve that stress.

Products that I found helpful:

• Medela Pump In Style  Not only did this make it possible for me to pump efficiently at work, this pump was extremely useful before I went back to work.  I was able to pump in the morning to relieve pressure and also build up a freezer stash.  When I was having let down concerns, I could pump to get things going and then latch on. 
• Lansinoh products  I had 2 that I loved.  Lansinoh breastmilk storage bags were my favorite.  Lansinoh nipple cream (lanolin) was my favorite.  Lansinoh breast pads were Da Bomb.

Breastfeeding is a wonderful choice.  It's what our bodies were intended to do for our babies.  The miracle of creating life goes further- producing milk for our offspring is part of being a mammal.  With the new Affordable Care Act going into effect, women can now receive breastfeeding support at no expense.  The Surgeon General has published a Breastfeeding Call to Action in order to encourage a society wide approach to supporting breastfeeding mothers.  The World Health Organization says that breastfeeding is the best choice, followed by pumped milk from the baby's mother, followed by donated breastmilk from a healthy donor, and formula is last on the list.  There are studies and medical reports galore that extoll the virtues of breastfeeding for everything from general health to bonding to allergies, ear infections, healthier guts, and even going as far as looking into the future and seeing connections between breastfeeding and the occurence of Autism or ADHD.

We're all doing the best we can.  Not being able to breastfeed- for whatever reason- doesn't make you any less of a mother, doesn't determine if you're a good or bad mother, doesn't define you.  Being able to breastfeed doesn't make you superior or smarter or better.

On a personal note, as someone who is learning more and more and committing more and more to a healthier diet of whole foods and eating "clean," breastfeeding makes sense.  I want my food to come from a farm, free of chemicals, from animals that were properly raised.  I want fresh produce that hasn't been trucked for days across the country to be jarred or canned.  I want to know where my meat came from.  Breastfeeding is the same idea.  Formula is processed in a factory.  Breastmilk- I intimately know the source.

Breastfeeding is a hard and sometimes brave choice.  Breastfeeding is generally the best choice for your baby.  This week is World Breastfeeding Week and I hope you will take some time to learn more about breastfeeding and the benefits it provides your baby and also the imapct that breastfeeding could have on populations around the world. 

I'm a GenCon...

I'm struggling with my title, oddly enough.  The common phrase would be "I'm a GenCon widow."  The idea being that my husband is so focused on GenCon (huge gaming convention that come to Indianapolis every summer), that it's like he's dead to me.

I don't want to say that.  He's very much NOT dead to me.

I thought maybe "I'm a GenCon Divorcée" but that didn't feel right, either.  I'm not any less married just because we're apart for the week. 

"I'm a GenCon Single Mom"  That pretty well covers it but just doesn't have a good ring to it. 

This could be a stressful week or it could fly by.

Since I met Jeff, there has always been a period of time each summer that he is away.  When we were dating, he worked for 2 weeks at the State Fair for the Pork Producers.  The first year- I was a terribly clingy and whiney girlfriend.  I was just so lonely without him and missed him so much.  But this was also when I got hooked on the Fair.  I'd go to work, come home, jump on the Fair Train, spend the evening enjoying the Fair or just tooling around with him (he was a golf cart guy- he delivered whatever was needed to the various tents) and then ride home with him at the end of the night. 

He'd been working the Fair for years and finally decided to stop when another opportunity came along- GenCon.

Now, I'm not a gamer.  I've never played Dungeons & Dragons.  When the guys start talking gaming, it's like a foreign language.  But it's his thing, his hobby, something he really enjoys so I'm all in favor of him having this time with his friends. 

GenCon is a Huge Event in which very many gamers descend upon Indianapolis for 4 days to play games, learn about new games, and dress up like their favorite sci-fi/fantasy characters.

Jeff is in charge of a dungeon.  He works for a game called True Dungeon- it's like a "real life" Dungeons & Dragons game.  The game is set up in the ballroom of a hotel near the Convention Center.  Tickets start selling months in advance and it sells out quickly.  There are, I think, 2 dungeons- one is more focused on solving puzzles and one is more focused on combat.

For 3 days, the True Dungeon crew builds the dungeons, sets up all the special effects, makes sure the rooms all run smoothly.  Then the game is played Thurs-Sat.  And the game starts early in the morning and the last group starts late at night.

This means that Jeff is hard to get in touch with.  It's tough to guarantee that he will have a few minutes to spare for a bedtime phone call to the kids.  He tries but it's a challenge.

Today will be the most challenging of all the days.  Teagan has gymnastics tonight.  I will need to leave work a few minutes early.  I'm going to make their dinner at work before I leave- peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  Gourmet, I know.  It is local honey, if that helps.  Pick up kids, hand them sandwiches, fruit leather, raisins, water bottles in the car.  Get to gymnastics, get Teagan's clothes changed and get to the gym in the nick of time for the hour long class to start.  Home and straight into the bedtime routine.

After tonight, the rest of the week should be pretty easy.  I've prepped our mornings as best I can.  I've got cereal, cereal bars, and granola bars easily accessible so the kids can get something to eat when they wake up.  I've got a laundry basket set up in the hallway of clean clothes- outfits picked out for each day for the 3 of us right down to socks and undies.  There will be no frantic search for clothes in the morning.  I've got dinners planned for the nights we will be home.  One night will actually be a treat because of the junk I've got planned- mini chicken sandwiches (frozen) and these microwave crinkle cut french fries (and there will be baby carrots for Zach and some sort of fruit for Teagan).  Blergh.  But easy and something the kids are actually excited for since we never have that stuff at home.  One night is cheese ravioli because my kids will chow down- it's easily their favorite meal these days.  One night is dinner at church.  And we might treat ourselves to sushi this weekend. 

So I'm on my own.  I miss Jeff.  We've been enjoying each other's company lately.  And I've also been relying on him heavily with the changes to my workload.  So standing on my own two feet completely is a little overwhelming but I'm really just excited for it.  I actually enjoy having all of this time for just me and my kids. 

It's my turn to be a "GenCon Single Mom Who Loves the Challenge of Getting Organized, Having Evenings to Herself, and Having Great Times With Her Kids for a Full Week." 

Now that's a title!!