Iowa State Fair

We just got back from a fun week in the Midwest with family, starting in Iowa for a visit to the Iowa State Fair with Grandpa, Grandma, Sue, Macy, Calvin and Adrienne. I hope this is the first of many Iowa State Fairs for Charlie. I haven't been to one in probably over a decade. In high school I worked at a shoe store that has a booth at the fair, so for a couple summers I spent 10 days selling shoes in an un-air conditioned building. I really enjoyed our trip back to the fair, this time just for fun.

Charlie's first tractor sighting. Adrienne saw a tractor prepping the area for the tractor pull that night and declared it "Beautiful!"

Macy, Sue and Calvin riding the gondola

Farmer Charlie on the John Deere. When we picked him up, he wanted to get back on.

Dad and Calvin, Sue and Adrienne riding the big slide. I rode down with Macy, and it was my first time ever participating in the Iowa State Fair tradition.

Mom and Charlie checking out the cattle.

Charlie's first corn dog. (It will definitely not be his last since the Texas State Fair is around the corner.)

Charlie with the second-largest pig of the fair, weighing in at over 1200 pounds.

The famous butter cow, and this year's additional butter statue: gymnast Shawn Johnson

Naps were a rarity over the week, so he had to take them when he could get them.

A relatively new addition to the fair is the "Little Hands on the Farm" area, where kids could do farming to earn "money." At the end kids could "buy" a treat with the money they earned. I was tempted to use Charlie's money to buy myself a Twinkie, but instead Grandma and Grandpa ended up with a loaf of bread.