We just got back from the Dane County Fair. As Jenn would say: "Good times!" Today is what the fair promoters termed the "sneak peak" day because not all of the exhibits are set up and not all of the animals have arrived for judging. The midway was ready and opened at 5pm.
We, however, arrived at 2:30. This would have been disastrous if they had locked the front gates, but all gates were open and unattended until about 4pm. Juliette, Ilsa and I simply parked in the second row and strolled in without needing to pay admission. We must have looked convincingly purposeful, walking through the multiple animal barns as we did for two full hours. The barns were only about 1/3 to 1/2 full of the animals that should have been there but, to a 3-yo, what's the difference between 25 and 75 sheep? Math is a bit fuzzy there and they were happy with what they saw.
I find it amusing that although the girls are artificially schooled in the sounds animals make (moo, baa, whinny, oink), it still scares the crap out of them to hear a full-on cow or horse conversation at close range. And do not get me started on the roosters! They may as well have been fire sirens for how much they scared Ilsa. But they loved the bunnies - both straight- and floppy-eared - and the various calves. They got to see llamas for the first time and seemed genuinely at a loss to describe what they resembled.
They cracked up at the "baby" (pygmy) goat, fully grown with horns and only half Ilsa's size, and I got to talk moderately informed (on my end) goat talk with the owners. Mom and dad need to come here with their brood and clean up, seeing as there were no competitions for Boer goats at this fair! The poor little dairy goats were skinny and sad looking, making me think that either they were underfed or my parents lavish their goats with waaay too much good pasture.
And tell me, what is it about farm boys? As a grown-up woman I set my cap, most often, at smarty-arty kinds, but cowboys and farm boys still catch my eye when they are in their element. One 16-yo-ish boy - all deeply tanned and newly sprouted with muscles - offered to bring his sheep out of their pen so the girls might pet them. Was he just being nice? Was he flirting with me, perhaps trying out his freshly-churned charm on a fairly safe, youngish mom? I would have drooled conspicuously had I been a high school girl!
Then the boy's older brother arrived. Sigh.
And there were carnies... just kidding. Two of them flirted, too, but they're carnies. They simply looked bored and burnt from the heat.
We ate various corn dog/hot dog products, fully making up for the free admission by how much food cost, and I introduced the girls to a funnel cake. Ha! They can only eat so much - even Ilsa with her intense love of cake products - so that means I am stuffed full of happy funnel cake. And Ilsa was covered in powdered sugar, naturally.
I have not been to a fair, I think, since I was seventeen. A construction worker named Billy took me on a date to the Elkhart County Fair - back when it was the largest county fair in the nation. (It has to be in the running, still, because they have Trisha Yearwood performing next week.) Anyway, Billy probably spent half his paycheck to feed me and get me sick on rides. He was 21-years-old and likely expected a whole lot more than the little snog he got in the front seat of his Camero, but I was so naive that I did not even consider anything more. More sighs... that was a fun night.
Thus today's midway was a flashback of major proportions. Midways always have some circular thing called "Avalanche" or "Blizzard" that features screaming teenagers and the latest music. When I was a child in the 80s it was "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger, and that night with Billy it was "Ragdoll" by Aerosmith. Today, it was "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls. No matter - I sang along with that one, too. The girls were suitably enthralled with the "big people" rides, especially Juliette with the concept of rides that go upside-down. "They will fall out!"
Their midway experience was much more tame: the little kiddy cars, the little kiddy motorcycles, and the carousel. I was very proud of Ilsa, in particular, who rode by herself on both vehicle rides. She looked just a bit short of FREAKED when the cars began, but then it was all laughter. Juliette reminded me of myself at that age - talk, talk, talk as a means of dispelling her fears. She would not shut up about the Ferris wheel and the kids' roller coaster, despite the fact that she needs a half decade before those are even on the radar of possibility. Ilsa, however... Ilsa is a physical daredevil (SWINGS!!) and was more than ready to go for it all - if they had been quiet! And if she had been a good foot taller.
So... if you have little kids and you have a free Tuesday before the fair starts - try it our way! Sneak in before it officially opens, browse around when no one is there, and ditch early before the people arrive. I cannot imagine trying to take the girls through those barns and exhibits - not to mention the midway - this weekend when it will be crammed full of folks.
Now, I'm gonna go ponder that farm boy's older brother...
We, however, arrived at 2:30. This would have been disastrous if they had locked the front gates, but all gates were open and unattended until about 4pm. Juliette, Ilsa and I simply parked in the second row and strolled in without needing to pay admission. We must have looked convincingly purposeful, walking through the multiple animal barns as we did for two full hours. The barns were only about 1/3 to 1/2 full of the animals that should have been there but, to a 3-yo, what's the difference between 25 and 75 sheep? Math is a bit fuzzy there and they were happy with what they saw.
I find it amusing that although the girls are artificially schooled in the sounds animals make (moo, baa, whinny, oink), it still scares the crap out of them to hear a full-on cow or horse conversation at close range. And do not get me started on the roosters! They may as well have been fire sirens for how much they scared Ilsa. But they loved the bunnies - both straight- and floppy-eared - and the various calves. They got to see llamas for the first time and seemed genuinely at a loss to describe what they resembled.
They cracked up at the "baby" (pygmy) goat, fully grown with horns and only half Ilsa's size, and I got to talk moderately informed (on my end) goat talk with the owners. Mom and dad need to come here with their brood and clean up, seeing as there were no competitions for Boer goats at this fair! The poor little dairy goats were skinny and sad looking, making me think that either they were underfed or my parents lavish their goats with waaay too much good pasture.
And tell me, what is it about farm boys? As a grown-up woman I set my cap, most often, at smarty-arty kinds, but cowboys and farm boys still catch my eye when they are in their element. One 16-yo-ish boy - all deeply tanned and newly sprouted with muscles - offered to bring his sheep out of their pen so the girls might pet them. Was he just being nice? Was he flirting with me, perhaps trying out his freshly-churned charm on a fairly safe, youngish mom? I would have drooled conspicuously had I been a high school girl!
Then the boy's older brother arrived. Sigh.
And there were carnies... just kidding. Two of them flirted, too, but they're carnies. They simply looked bored and burnt from the heat.
We ate various corn dog/hot dog products, fully making up for the free admission by how much food cost, and I introduced the girls to a funnel cake. Ha! They can only eat so much - even Ilsa with her intense love of cake products - so that means I am stuffed full of happy funnel cake. And Ilsa was covered in powdered sugar, naturally.
I have not been to a fair, I think, since I was seventeen. A construction worker named Billy took me on a date to the Elkhart County Fair - back when it was the largest county fair in the nation. (It has to be in the running, still, because they have Trisha Yearwood performing next week.) Anyway, Billy probably spent half his paycheck to feed me and get me sick on rides. He was 21-years-old and likely expected a whole lot more than the little snog he got in the front seat of his Camero, but I was so naive that I did not even consider anything more. More sighs... that was a fun night.
Thus today's midway was a flashback of major proportions. Midways always have some circular thing called "Avalanche" or "Blizzard" that features screaming teenagers and the latest music. When I was a child in the 80s it was "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger, and that night with Billy it was "Ragdoll" by Aerosmith. Today, it was "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls. No matter - I sang along with that one, too. The girls were suitably enthralled with the "big people" rides, especially Juliette with the concept of rides that go upside-down. "They will fall out!"
Their midway experience was much more tame: the little kiddy cars, the little kiddy motorcycles, and the carousel. I was very proud of Ilsa, in particular, who rode by herself on both vehicle rides. She looked just a bit short of FREAKED when the cars began, but then it was all laughter. Juliette reminded me of myself at that age - talk, talk, talk as a means of dispelling her fears. She would not shut up about the Ferris wheel and the kids' roller coaster, despite the fact that she needs a half decade before those are even on the radar of possibility. Ilsa, however... Ilsa is a physical daredevil (SWINGS!!) and was more than ready to go for it all - if they had been quiet! And if she had been a good foot taller.
So... if you have little kids and you have a free Tuesday before the fair starts - try it our way! Sneak in before it officially opens, browse around when no one is there, and ditch early before the people arrive. I cannot imagine trying to take the girls through those barns and exhibits - not to mention the midway - this weekend when it will be crammed full of folks.
Now, I'm gonna go ponder that farm boy's older brother...
1 comments:
stop your pondering right now
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