Clark County Fair 2015

Thanks to a kind friend being available to watch Jordan for us, we got to go to the county fair twice this year! The first visit was a shorter visit and we spent the time visiting different animals mostly. We toured the sheep barn some and then visited the “hair sheep” barn. We talked a long time with a few of the local sheep experts about raising meat sheep and talked with some 4-Hers and families who also raise and sell lambs at auction. We bumped into a ballet friend whose son does sheep 4-H. We wandered the cow aisles and talked with a man about raising beef cows for awhile. We had lots of questions about what a cow needs shelter wise, how long it takes a cow to reach maturity, how many cows would our pasture support, etc. We asked him where the sheep barn was (we went to cows first) and it turns out he used to do sheep with his daughter also, so he gave us some good information and contact info also. As we were getting ready to move on, he gave us his number and said he had some sheep supplies that we could have if we got into sheep!

We hung around the honeybee display for awhile, looking at the observation hive and watching a short demonstration where a gal wearing her everyday clothes went in and opened up a hive for us and pulled out a frame for us to see. She didn’t stay in the big room-cage where the hive was very long, because the bees were “not happy” as she put it and answered our questions from outside the cage. I am still very excited about keeping bees starting next spring, but I am worried our bees will die! We will see. We also watched a cute show of a silly clown lady. She was in the “children” area of the fair and she was just so silly.

The second visit was a long visit. I think seven hours we were at the fair! We looked at displays, we looked at a few animals, we went on rides, we watched shows, we ate lunch and…. I don’t know what all! Maybe some of the chit-chat with animal owners was on this day instead. Does it matter?

It was so adorable, as usual, to watch the kids on rides. They only get to go on a couple rides once a year at the county fair. Anna continues her cautious progression and was willing to try a few new rides this year, with great success and many smiles! Every year she wants to start on the merry-go-round with smiles and magical pleasure each time. Maggie was tall enough for the ferris wheel this time, so I took her on it with me. I have fond memories of my mom loving ferris wheels and taking me on one with her for a special time. Well, taking Maggie on a ferris wheel for the first time was nothing like taking Anna on a ferris wheel for the first time. Maggie wasn’t scared or hardly impressed as far as I could tell, while the height was definitely a stretch for Anna. And me. It was pretty funny and I loved my ride with her. Carolyn was out of ride tickets by this time and was being rather exhausting with demands for more rides. But until her rides ran out, she was thrilled and confident and breathless with wonder. It sure is a pleasure to watch our children experience special times.

We watched the end of a show on this trip too. It was also in the children’s area and was a couple’s act with balancing and tricks. The lady “clown” used a very high pitch voice and was always giggling. She had me giggling just with that. At the very end, they got into a fight with each other and pulled out toilet paper guns. Hahaha – they were snow blowers with toilet paper roll holders on the front. They pretended to blow each other away and then they blew it all over the crowd of delighted children. The show was over and they asked the kids to put the toilet paper on the stage to help clean up. Then they blew it back at the kids to more delighted squealing. It was a huge mess and so funny.

Ok – now to do the beach trip post!

Tractors, of course!

Maggie chose the horse dragon to ride. :-):-)

Anna chose a horse with an eagle on the side.

Carolyn’s childish glee on a ride is a real pleasure to watch.

These two were a perfect match this year. Maggie especially got into the motorcycles “jumps”.

See Maggie holding on tight!

Here are Anna and Maggie getting onto a swing ride that swings them in a slow circle.

Cheese!

Anna’s knuckles got a little white when she realized the swing lifts off the ground too!

Carolyn got on this ride all by herself!

Maggie and I on the ferris wheel!

Brian and Anna’s turn!

The clown lady

So funny!

Watching motox

I wish I took a picture of the riders flying high in the air.

This is us taking notes.