iowa state fair-nothing compares

once again, adam and i worked at the fair in the grandstand as security. basically, we made sure people weren't standing on the seats, smoking, or blocking the walk-ways...real hard job, and we got to see the concerts for free and got paid. since we were down there on the weekends, we ended up taking the kids a couple different times. fletcher enjoyed all that we did and i'm sure brynlee enjoyed her first fair experience as well.

we went the first saturday. we had plans to do all things fletcher would like. our first stop was the animal birthing center, where expecting mothers are kept and deliver. it's pretty cool, because if you are there at the right time, you may see an actual birth of some type of animal. we weren't that lucky.

we stopped at little hands on the farm again this year. it was pretty busy when we were there, so it wasn't much fun to enjoy each 'task' the little had to do. here is last years post about it, it explains more in depth what they have to do to get 'paid'. with the dollar that fletcher earned, he chose fruit snacks.

 this year, they had these little cows all around the fairgrounds. we saw quite a few of them, but not nearly all of them. i should have taken more pictures of them, but kids were either 'riding' them or there were tonsof people in the way.

the big bull is always a must see. i think this dude has been the biggest for quite a few years now. we also went to see the big pig, but too many people to get a picture.  

the budweiser clydesdales were at the fair for the first weekend. fletcher has been on a horse kick lately, so i figured he would love seeing them. i honestly don't think i've ever been that close to a clydesdale, and let me tell you, they are huge, and very pretty. we were about an hour away from watching them get suited up for the parade. i would have loved to hang around to see it, but two littles were beginning to get cranky.

we snagged a few corndogs and a fresh squeezed lemonade and sat down in one of the tents to watch some belly dancers. little boy's attitude changed immediately after getting food in his tummy and brynlee just needed to get out of the stroller a bit.

we ended our first trip at the petting zoo. we went to it last year and the set up was different. i didn't really care for it this year, because you had to wait in line instead of just going and getting it over with. they also had pony rides in this area which little boy was thrilled about...until i attempted to put him on the horse. i'll just say that we got our money back. it wasn't pretty. maybe next year he'll change his mind.

on the last day of the fair, extreme sunday, we headed back to get and see a few things we didn't the week prior. our first stop was the varied industries building to see clifford and to get a few free items that booths were giving out...and tattoos.

 we saw a stand that had cheap slushies. they were cheap for a reason...they weren't very good, but little boy enjoyed them all.

 we went to the agricultural building to see some of the 'must sees' of the fair.

this is one of the hot spots at night. i actually took this for my friend who now lives in hawaii. she spent plenty of fair nights at this tent.

the big slide was a must. i can't remember if we took him last year or not. adam said he'd go down with fletcher, so i bought the tickets and parked brynlee so i could capture the moment. btw, little boy loved it.

 my mom gave us money to go to the butterfly house. i am too cheap to pay to enter so butterflies can land on me. once we were in, i changed my mind. i think it may become one of those 'must sees'. i really enjoyed seeing little boy's reaction as the butterflies landed on him or when he spotted them on someone else. i kinda enjoyed them too, but they tickled when they crawled on your bare skin.

 he tried so hard to catch them. look at that determined face. 

 baby b even liked them. 

the new thing on a stick was fried butter. the first time i heard that, i was pretty grossed out. i wasn't sure how they would do that because it would melt all over. the first night adam and i worked, we heard people talking about it and saying how it tasted like a cinnamon roll. over the week, we continued to hear about how good it was, so, i decided that we needed to try it. 

 it was good, but not that good. although it did taste like a cinnamon roll, it wasn't the best one i've had. it was a juicy mess. i won't be spending $4 on that again, i'll stick to my fried oreos.

 we always stop and get our free sample of nitro ice cream, and while we're there, we get a cup to share. brynlee seemed to like it, but fletcher was too tired to even try it.

a view of the varied industries building, on our way out.

can't wait for next years fair...only 342 days until opening ceremonies.