a fairly good time

I'm still not done sharing photos from the summer, even though we're a few days into fall now! At the end of Mae's summer break, we visited the Indiana State Fair with Grandma, Grandpa, and Kevin.

Mae's favorite part was the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit. The kids each picked up an apron and a basket and wandered through the exhibit where they gathered beans, corn, milk, etc from different parts of a farm. Then they exchanged all their items for a ride on a little pedal tractor and a snack! It was fun, interactive, and educational. (Did you know that pork fat is used to make crayons??) Plus, they each got to sit on a big tractor.

Mae really wanted to ride a pony. I offered to walk next to her, but she saw that the next pony was being led by a teenage girl and said, "No, I just want to go with her!" Doesn't she looks so proud riding all by herself?!

Colin was a little nervous at the beginning and he reached out his little hand for mine. We held hands around the whole path and talked about how the pony ride is kind of bumpy.

Next we tried out some tasty fair foods. Dan had bison lettuce wraps, the kids had quesadillas from the dairy barn, and Colin helped me finish off a giant pork tenderloin sandwich. We cooled off in the afternoon with soft serve and Dole Whip and satisfied our remaining fair food cravings with a charcuterie board made from caramel corn, corn dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, jelly beans, funnel cakes, and taffy. Yum!

We spent a bit of time wandering through the animal barns. Mae and Colin loved looking at the cows. They got to pet a little calf and even got to sit next to a big cow resting in the straw! Colin had a big smile when the cow lifted her head to get a better look!

We also got to see the poultry, including some hatching chicks and ducks. They were just so cute! We even saw some tiny baby bunnies that were adorable. The animals are always my favorite part of the fair!