As soon as we got there (we being me, Dad, and Darren since the others were going to catch up with us later), I made a beeline for the arts and crafts building to see how my scrapbooking entries had...well....faired. :)
Imagine my delight (and, umm, I might have done a happy dance in the exhibit hall) when I spotted this adorably geeky cross stitch on the way to the scrapbooking display!
I'd been joking that I was going to see how many more third place ribbons I could come home with this year, so imagine my surprise when I found I'd won two first place awards! My 5K mini album (blogged here) won one, and one of my layouts (I have a photo of it in a little while) won another.
I don't know why, but I always enjoy seeing all the livestock at the fair. I swear I could be a total farm girl...as long as the farm had wifi and was relatively close to a Target...
It looked like it was naptime for most of the animals!
This duck and chicken pair in adjoining cages was hilarious! They kept squawking back and forth at each other.
There's Dad, shooting photos!
Bunn-ehs. Lots of bunn-ehs.
Darren got into a staring contest with this one. I think the rabbit won...
I love fair food! I totally bought a huge bag of cotton candy (or insulation, as Darren calls it)...
...and also a snow cone since I had a pretty rotten sore throat that weekend.
Miss Sophie and her entourage (Jon, Beth, Mom, and Michelle) met up with us at this point, and we cruised back through all the animal exhibits so she could get a peek.
Here she is deciding where to go next...
And checking out the fowl (you can see this photo on a layout here).
I got some great family-type photos while we were out- these are soooo getting scrapped together!
I just love seeing all the great photos, quilts, and other crafts on display. So much time and talent went into everything!
Here's Miss Sophie checking out my other first place layout. I just love this photo because, well, the page was about her. :)
J and D in line for funnel cakes.
And Mom and Dad got some roasted corn.
Sophie got hold of part of the corn husk, and we couldn't get it away from her...
...until she tried corn on the cob, that is! This was her first time having it on the cob (she's had just the kernels before).
Shortly after that Sophie, Beth, and J had to leave to put the little one to bed, leaving the rest of us to check out the agriculture exhibits. Just look at these massive watermelons and pumpkins!
D checking out a hydroponics display.
One of the gardening exhibits.
And I think they painted this car just for me! Love!
Then it was time to hit the midway- Dad and I just love photographing it after dark when all the colors in the lights really pop.
Did I mention I love fair food? Yes? Have I mentioned it at least 12 times yet? No? I'd better get a move on, then!
Mom and Michelle wanted to try a couple of the rides (I'm much, much too chicken for these things), and chose the Yo-Yo swing ride as their first adventure.
More lights.
Hi, Dad!
You just can't take a bad photo of this girl...
Yummy fair food!
The ferris wheel was amazing this year! I mean, it was pretty last year, but this time it was all done up with LEDs that changed colors and patterns.
There was this really cool spaceship thing next to it that I had time to photograph while Mom and Michelle waited in the ferris wheel line.
This is probably the only "ride" you could have talked me into going on.
More fair food!
And, for the very last activity of the evening, we all watched Dad play skee ball, which I'm pretty sure he hadn't done in years.
So that was our family adventure to the fair this year. I'm really looking forward to doing it all again in 2012! Dad's already sent me the dates for it. :)