County Fair

By January, when the excitement of Christmas has worn off, Zeke begins asking when the fair is going to be. We pass by the fairgrounds often, and without fail, we hear his question. Ryley usually pipes up with a not-so-nice response that it's not until August. August has become a big month for us in the past few years. It means the fair, Quin's birthday, and Zeke's birthday. This year, it also included our Fresh Air visitor from Brooklyn and a camping trip.

So, back to the fair. The first full week of August means county fair, the largest agricultural fair in Vermont. The fair, affectionately known as Field Days, is only a few miles away. I've noticed that the people who love Field Days the most are those who grew up here, who have memories of piling into an old wood paneled Station Wagon, trying to be the first to notice the lights of the Ferris wheel, those who have memories of watching the same events over 20 years ago.

The fair means demolition derbies, tractor pulls, candy apples, horse and cow shows, carnival rides and games, corn boxes (think sand box with kernels of corn instead of sand), rainbow ice, free chocolate milk, children's barnyard, maple milkshakes, fried bread dough, bloomin' onions, more jogging strollers than you've ever seen in one place, and so much more.

JD and I started hanging out at the fair 12 years ago. A large group of young people were hanging around the FFA food booth, when all of a sudden, everyone disappeared, either to the "pit" to finish getting their cars ready for the demo derby, or to the cow barns to take care of their cattle. Only JD and I were left, and the rest is history.

We love the fair, the kids love the fair, and I'll sign off with some pictures of the fair.

Ryley's fair experience obviously included horses.
She was able to ride in a cart class behind my aunt's horse, Macey.
I think I have a horse-lover on my hands!

Zeke loved the rides, stilts, farm equipment, and ice cream cones.

And Quin loved corn, freedom from his stroller, and Caroline!