Our state fair is the best... well, it ranks pretty high...

We try to make the annual trip to the Western Idaho Fair every year to accomplish three things:

1. Support our great state.
   
2. Let the kids see things they don't normally get to see.
   
3. Remind ourselves why we don't really want to live on a farm.

Since Sally ditched me for her family in Pennsylvania this weekend, I took the kids to the fair. When Mom is not around there is a lot less hand sanitizer used, but since none of us appear to have caught cowpox or bird flu I guess we're ok. I did miss Sally saying "What the heck is that thing?" every time we entered a new exhibit area, though. Here's a little photo tour of our visit to the fair...

Yeah, Katie's not afraid of any animals (this is KittyKat the mule). I had a hard time keeping her out of the pens. Ethan was very scared of the loud noises that animals make when he was this age, but Katie just soaks it all in. We were next to a large rooster in the poultry exhibit hall when it decided to announce its presence to the world. Ethan and I covered our ears, but Katie just looked at it with an expression that I'm certain said, "Amateur..."

This is perhaps the laziest animal on the planet. In all the years of coming to the fair, I have yet to see it do more than move it's head (anamatronic?). I guess that's why they let kids brush it all day. Ethan thought it was very nice, though, despite the smell. I still haven't been able to convince him to milk a cow yet.

There was a mobile stingray tank on display at the fair this year. Not quite as impressive as the sea lion show from a few years back, but we take what we can get. I think that they were all juvenile males, from the size and coloring, but they were big enough for Ethan. He wasn't so sure about sticking his hand into the tank at first, but after seeing Katie do her best to dive headfirst into the water while I was trying to persuade him, he decided to just give it a go. His thoughts on the experience were "stingrays are slimy." On a similar note, everyone who reads this entry needs to ask Sally about the infamous Stingray City excursion where she attempted to drown me only a few days after we were married.

And, finally, here is the obligatory pony ride. We need to work on his form a bit, but at least he was having fun. I wish you could see the expression on Ethan's face better (thanks Blogger) -- it was a perfect mix of joy and uncertainty.