Things To Do In Iowa - Part 2

Is it possible that there's two weeks worth of stuff to do in Iowa!?  Seems unrealistic, but it's true.  ;)

We decided a month or so ago we needed to see the Iowa State Fair for the first times in our lives.  I got off work a little early on Thursday and away we went! 

My latest obsession has been crossword puzzles... not sure why... I'm sure 10 weeks from now it will be jello molds are something equally as uninteresting.  I tricked Nick into stopping for a snicky snack somewhere where I could pick up a book of them... in an effort to get moving he picked this ridiculous one off the shelf.  It's super annoying.  Betty Boop and Superman have "spit curls" in common - for the record. 

Friday we were up and at 'em!  Hit the mall and a couple other places and then took a shuttle from the Capitol to the fair grounds.

I was kind of surprised at how old timey it was.  There were preserves and pies and cakes and pickles and everything imaginable being judged.  I kind of assumed that that part of it didn't really take place any more.  It was kind of neat to see, although I have to imagine it was a bigger deal at one point in time.  Kind of made you long for yesteryear for a moment... but just a moment.  :)

We walked along - there were a decent amount of people, but nothing out of control.  We ended up in the kid rodeo tho and it got CRAZY!  There were midgets (3-6 yrs old) riding sheep!  And the sheep were like bucking broncos, it was CRAZY!  I was interested and very concerned.  It looked like a couple of them were being trampled by sheep!  Some of them were so proud and others of them were crying their eyes out.  The crowd was CRAZY for it! 

Look at that midget holding on!  I think this one was a girl.  She would not let go of that thing.  Most of them weren't even out the gate and the sheep had bucked them off, but this one got quite the ovation for her efforts. 

One of the sheep ran out of the gate, dumped the kid and then jumped directly into the air 10 feet I bet.  The crowd LOVED it. 

It was funny too, one part of the fair there were people everywhere eating fried food and riding rides, but when you got back in the ag section it was different, people were more doing business, shaving sheep, buying supplies, chatting with other farmers.  It was a completely different vibe.

LOOK AT THIS THING!  It's unbelievable.  Also, when people say, "strap on a pair" I'm pretty sure this is what they're talking about.  ;)  lol.

Look at the ring it that things nose!  Mom said she remembered her grandpa pulling a bull by the ring in its nose as hard as he could and it wasn't budging.  Seems like he'd want to go along w/ it at that point...

Awwww... so cute!  Getting a hair cut! 

When we got there I had a corn dog and a lemon aide shake up - Nick had a fried snickers.  Both delicious.  Before we left we had fried cheese and an order of curly fries... I was ill by the time we left.

Objects in the mirror are as large as they appear!  Unbelievable.  People were stopping me to talk about it. 

In summery, the butter cow was completely lame.  And I'm very happy I made it to the state fair!

Ok... I should stop here, but it was such a fun filled weekend!  I have to keep going!  So, my mom and her sister were going to the... I am having a brain fart... it's a market down town... I'm sure it will come to me.  Anyway, Mel and I and Luke decided to join them, so it was up and at 'em again Saturday AM.  It was a lot of fun.  I was surprised at how large it was. 

 

Amazingly cool bird feeders made out of all kinds of stuff.

My lovely mom and sister and Luke the midgie.  I forgot to take a pic with Aunt Cathy!  :( I was mad at myself about that when I got in the car!

Neat things this lady makes out of photos 

Crazy dancing - this has now become one of my long term goals.  I want to dance in a street somewhere like I don't actual know or care someone is watching... I want someone to think I'm worth taking a video of!  :)

 

Ok - so mom took Jack when we were gone and then I reclaimed him at the farmer's market.  When everyone pulled up they were complaining of him passing gas the entire time and a little accusatory if I do say so.  So, I asked what he had been eating... mom did return him with a full bag of his dog food... between mom and the twins stopping by later I found out he'd been eating cat food and potentially spoiled leftover...  hmmmmm... guess who else rode home w/ noxious fumes?  :)  You guessed it.  Also, he was SO tired.  He NEVER sleeps in the car, he crashed almost immediately upon getting in the car.

Also, I got these glads! So beautiful! 

Then a friend of ours came to preach this weekend, so we got to spend some time with him!  I've loved him a long time - he's a lovely soul.  God has also blessed him with a lovely set of pipes.  He sang a song with our music team today and it was like heaven!  Loved that he could spend time with us and he delivered a heart felt message as well that was timely.  Was sad I forgot to get a pic at lunch today to, my beautiful mother-in-law, Mark, Nick and I hit lunch at one of our fav spots downtown today!

Some things in Iowa City I love....

LOOK AT THIS SUNRISE FROM THE OTHER DAY!