And it is practically in my backyard.
And I have all of these tickets.
And I love it!
I left work early and rode my bike to the fair grounds. I met Kristi and her daughters. They had been there long enough for Ava to have a blister. I inexplicably had a Barbie Band-Aid in my bag so she was back in business.
We visited the cows.
We waited quite a while for the cows to come to be milked by the machines, but there were no takers. Purdue had a petting area in that corner of the cow barn that kids could be in the pen with the young cows.
We walked around the fairgrounds in search of a soft pretzel. Those kids are so healthy - for a snack they had popcorn and the pretzel. I need to hang around them more often!
We visited the DNR (all through high school and college I worked in nursing homes. DNR still has a different meaning to me. And, even after eight years at CATH coffeehouse, cath still means something entirely different to me - and it doesn't have to do with hearts. Anyway...) building and looked at the fish.
One wall of the building is full of huge tanks. When I was I kid I loved this building because it was always cool.
I love it! I walked them to their gate and went to meet my friend Kevin who was just arriving.
We walked over to the Home and Family Arts building to meet up with sister Beth and her husband Ron. We checkout out the antiques and the Ugly Lamp contest. Even my ugly lamp didn't get a ribbon this year. I have to admit, it looked more sad than ugly. I need to remember to take a picure of it. I also forgot to snap one of Beth and Ron -not that they're sad or ugly, you know what I mean.
Kevin wanted duck for dinner. I was happy to watch. Plus I had a feeling that this was the King Tater night...
...and it was. Well worth the bazillion Weight Watcher points. Delicious.
We ate the Taters as we watched the tractor parade. It is hard to see in the photo, but the John Deere is towing the red tractor. Did you hear that? The JOHN DEERE is towing the red tractor (once a John Deere girl always a John Deere girl).
I had not been to the south corner of the fair grounds yet. It has a farm experience for children, pony rides and elephant rides. I hope to ride an elephant before the fair is over. I over- heard someone say they thought it looked like a ripoff ($6) because you don't get to ride the elephant too far. But how far do you want to ride and elephant, really? There are several tigers in a giant round cage and another fence around that. There were at least four of these Albino tigers. They did a lot of pacing. I wouldn't have minded another fence between me and them. On the way out I saw a sign that said "Please don't open your umbrellas." I can't wait to ask someone what that is all about.
We had a chance to chat with Dick Reel. Dick is a woodworker and carver. He's also a Red Key customer during the fair. He's a fan of the cheeseburgers. He has worked at on the fairgrounds since he was fourteen. He had some great stories about working at the Grandstand and taking tickets. He’s been part of Pioneer Village for the last thirteen years. He makes a bench each year for the end of the fair auction
Here is this year's bench. I think he did a great job. 
We walked through the DNR building. I swear some of the fish recognized me after my third trip in 24 hours. 
It was another beautiful evening. The moon is getting a little fuller each night.
3 comments:
Totally with you on DNR and CATH. My pastor's last name in high school was Foley. *Snicker*
I sure enjoyed going to the fair with you through these pictures. My feet almost got tired, though. The Pioneer Village is the coolest thing. And the tractor parade.
The signs I saw said some of the tigers were afraid of umbrellas.
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