And Baby Makes Three

Our first family portrait with Big Tex (and yes, he is kind of creepy).

Our family made a rather spur of the moment trip to the State Fair on Friday. We had wanted to go this year, but I didn’t realize until last week that this was the last weekend. So, we loaded Benjamin, his stroller, and the camera into the car and merged into the Texas-OU traffic to enjoy a day of fun and food.

The Shows and Special Attractions We Saw:

• Jump! Ultimate Dog Show – We especially enjoyed the frisbee-catching dogs, and were impressed by the speed of the racing dogs, but got bored with the dogs who jumped into a pool of water while catching a frisbee.
• World on a String – We attended this marionette puppet show on Cara’s recommendation, and it was different and interesting. Benjamin and I didn’t get to see the whole show, though, due to a major diaper leak. We did make it back to the theater in time to see the Wizard of Oz characters and the patriotic grand finale.
• Children’s Barnyard Petting Zoo – This was Benjamin’s favorite thing about the fair. He acted like he owned the place, running from one stall to the next, fearlessly reaching his hand through the partitions to pet each animal (with us keeping a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t endanger himself). One of his first encounters was with a curious giraffe, who was particularly interested in Benjamin’s shoe. At that point Brad was holding Benjamin, and the giraffe stuck its head through the bars of its stall to get a better angle on his Nikes. At first it was funny, but we decided to move on when the giraffe’s sniffing turned into what looked like chewing!! Benjamin remained intrigued, if cautious, through the whole proceeding. He went on to see other animals, including a camel, an ostrich, a very shaggy sheep, and several goats.

The Food – The State Fair is the one time of year that I throw caution to the wind and eat all the fried food that my heart desires. Actually, after all the fried fare I eat at the fair, I don’t want anymore of it until the next time the fair rolls around. Here’s a list (thankfully short!) of all the food we bought with our coupons.

• Corny dog! - As usual, this was our favorite thing. Fair corn dogs are so much better than any others I’ve had. Maybe it’s because we’re eating them outside, maybe it’s because you can slather them with as much ketchup and mustard as you like, or maybe there really is a magic ingredient in the batter that makes them so tasty!
• Fried latte – This concoction was disappointing. We were expecting something like a fried ball of dough filled with a frozen cappuccino, but instead it was a scoop of cappuccino ice cream topped with instant coffee shavings, whipped cream, and bite-sized pieces of fried dough. It still tasted good, but it just didn’t meet our expectations.
• Fried pickles – We hunted high and low, from one end of the midway to the other, before we found the (apparently) one vendor selling these. And unfortunately, they didn’t meet our expectations. We always enjoy the fried pickles at The Dawghouse in Ruston, and these were no match. The pickles were sliced too thin, and they were way too salty. At least there was ranch dressing to mask some of the saltiness.
• Funnel cake – We shared one with Benjamin on our way to the parking lot. As powdered sugar flew through the air, we basked in the yummy goodness of pure fat and sugar. It was, indeed, a good day at the fair.
• Coulda shoulda woulda… – I wish I had tried the fried butter (just so bizarre!) and the fried peach cobbler, but we had absolutely no energy left (and no room in our stomachs!).

Here are some pictures from our day at the fair. I didn’t mention that it was perfect weather: blue sky, slight breeze, and temps in the upper 60s. We always complain that it’s too hot to go to the fair, so I’m glad we made a point to go during this unseasonably pleasant October.