Friday, July 29, 2011

State Fair Fun

It's Fair Time at Cal Expo in Sacramento, CA again.  This is our 3rd year going as a family...well, come to think of it, this is our 3rd year going ever.  Although Mark and I have lived in the area since 1998 we never attended the fair until 2008.  In the last few years we have learned the ropes of going as a family.  We arrive when the gates open since that's the coolest part of the day and hit up the rides first because there are no lines and again, the weather is coolest--and let me tell you, there is no shade for us parents to be standing in while the kids ride the (overpriced) rides.  While I am on the topic of rides, I am always amazed at the workers who run the rides and the game booths.  What woodwork do they crawl out of to be employed there for 2 and a half weeks and why to 99% of them have missing teeth? 

All right...so from the rides we walk around to look at the outside features and visit all of the animals.  I was very impressed at how clean and well displayed all of the animal stations/corrals were, but we were there when it first opened so that might be why.  This year the kids enjoyed visiting the "farm" where there was a petting zoo (again, super clean), pony rides, and chickens roaming around freely.  Now that we are chicken experts it's always fun to see the different breeds.  Our son fell in love with one of the Silkie (that's the breed) chickens.  Being that they are tame like ours, he immediately picked it up, found a bale of hay to sit on, and held it on his lap..  He was in hea-ven.

In the livestock building we saw sheep being trimmed and shown for prizes.  We also got up close and personal with some longhorn steer.  Whoa...the horns on those fellas were intimidating, especially the older ones.  In addition to the steer, the building was shared with llamas and alpacas.

Here are some pictures that highlight the animal part of the day:

Next, we meandered through the perfectly grown garden, which is something to be envious of, pet the sturgeon, took pictures by the sunflowers, and checked out the orchids in the greenhouse.


We laughed when we saw the "Are you an orchid murderer?" sign and actually took the picture for my dad.  I was given my very first orchid for my birthday from a friend and I am learning along the way about caring for one.  My dad has about 7 beautiful orchids blooming in his house right now and recently he was giving me tips about the flowers, watering, and the soil.

After walking around for a couple of hours, the next item on our yearly agenda is food.  Fair food is something most people drool over and hand over the bucks to enjoy.  Us?  Not so much.  Mark usually gobbles up a turkey leg and the kids and I each devour a big ol' corn dog.  For a treat the kids are happy with an ice cream cone.  We pass on the funnel cakes, deep friend Oreos/Twinkies, and chocolate covered bacon (but I am curious how that tastes.)




Due to time constraints this year, we didn't have time to visit the exhibits in the indoor buildings.  Although our day was cut short, it was a successful visit.  Our son said his favorite part was holding the Silkie chicken and our daughter said her favorite parts were riding the pony and going on the rides.

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