Virginia State Fair

After teaching Sunday School and attending church on Sunday, we ate at Red Robin and then headed south to Richmond for the Virginia State Fair. Both boys took a short nap in the car and were in a pretty good mood when we arrived at 3:00 (thankfully after the major heat of the day...it's still 80 degrees here...where is fall???). There is just no comparing this fair to the Iowa State Fair. I was sadly disappointed at the lack of activities and exhibits; the entire fairgrounds could fit in about 1/3 of the Iowa State Fair. However, we did have a really nice time and the boys got to do what they each loved: Mikie rode the rides and Zachary saw all the animals.

Instead of a sandbox, they had a corn box. The boys dug, scooped, and poured until we had to drag them out kicking and screaming (well...just Zachary...Mikie was easily bribed with seeing large pumpkins).

They had a fishing exhibit that Michael and Mikie took part in and caught a trout. Mikie was so excited about his "long skinny fish" and wasn't at all sad about having to let it go.

The first barn we encountered housed the sheep and goats. I thought it was going to be a big hit with Zachary since he loves to say "Baa, Baa" whenever he sees a picture of a sheep. But, as you can tell from the video, seeing a real live sheep was a bit overwhelming for him. As soon as I stopped recording, a sheep reached out it's head and started nibbling on Zachary's shoes. He was so scared he started screaming. Then whenever a sheep would 'Baa' he would stick out his lower lip and pout. It was so pitiful! (Sorry about it being sideways...I still can't figure out how to rotate my videos)

"Bock, Bock" says the chicken and Zachary too!

This pretty red rabbit was so soft. While I was taking the picture, the little bunny sniffed Mikie's hand. I don't think he realized just how close it was because he pulled his hand away quickly.

Mikie wanted to rush through all the animals so he could go on the rides. He refused to go on anything by himself which left us with about 3 rides he and Daddy could ride together. After standing in a long line for the roller coaster, it was declared broken when we reached the front and was shut down. The flying "Dumbo" was a big hit since elephants are his favorite animal.

We ended the night with hot dogs on a stick for the boys and turkey legs for us. Mikie wanted ice cream for a treat and I had an elephant ear. I knew Zachary would want both but couldn't have either, so Michael got a frozen banana and ate all the chocolate off so Zachary could have it. He loved it! He must have thought it was ice cream because it was so cold. Overall it was a fun day, but it doesn't even come close to the excitement in Iowa.