Western Idaho State Fair

As you know, there's a little something for everyone at the fair. The fair is also a place where a parent could be easily embarrassed by utterings of their wee ones. I must mention that Charlie did an amazing job of looking, not pointing, and waiting until passerbys were out of earshot to comment on their attributes...that's hard for a 5 year old. Cole only embarrassed me once, asking "why does that lady only have one foot?" Following is a list of some highlights from the 4.5 hour trip:
1. entrance fee: $7, kids are free until age 6
2. calves, longhorns, zebus, goats, sheep, geese, and pigs for feeding and petting, $3 for food
3. standard stock animals in competition (did you know that there's a breed of goat that is born without ears? It's called the La Mancha goat and when it looks at you square in the eye with its rectangular pupils and holes for ears, you can't help but think that something is really missing. Also...if you've never been to a fair, you must sit in for at least one heifer judging contest. It's amazing the amount of time the judges spend evaluating the animals. The commentary at the end is really entertaining...or should I say priceless
4. pony rides, $10
4. Pronto Pups and strawberry lemonade, $11
5. gyro, homeade chips, diet coke, $14
6. sting-rays (yes, I thought that was an interesting choice for the Alpine Desert too), also priceless
7. balloon pirate swords and sheaths made by Bubbie the clown (interestingly, we called Charlie Bubbies until he was 1), $5
8. splash dogs, who raced down a runway, jumping 20-25 feet in the air before belly flopping into a pool (all in the name of fetch), free
9. elephant ears and coconut flavored sno-cones, $8
10. skipping the fair rides, net savings of approx $50-100 (our friends, who went with the day before spent $200), surprisingly little disappointment from the boys
11. spending time with my cuties, taking pictures of their smiling faces, and giving/getting warm fuzzies from stinky farm animals: PRICELESS
**could have only been improved by John's presence, but alas, someone has to work to foot the bill:)