Fair Time! Virginia State Fair

One of the things we told the boys we would do along our trip, was to go to some fairs. We love fairs. Well, for the most part ... as a child, dad took the trailers every year to the fairs, to sell them. The first couple days were awesome. After 2 months at fairs, even the most dedicated rider and animal lover is completely exhausted from it. That was us kids. Year after year, although, to dad's credit, we only did "all" the fairs once. After that, it was the one local fair. Still, spending the last 2 weeks of summer at the fair was not necessarily our idea of a great time.

I wanted to change my apathetic attitude towards fairs and started taking my kids when they were young. Thrilling rides, cotton candy, "smelly" cows and all the other joys of the fair were new again seeing them through the eyes of my kiddos. Today I can truly say, I enjoy the fair again. I don't do the rides, but live vicariously through the boys.

My true joy at the fair though, is seeing the livestock. I love the smells of the barn. Even more so now, not having our own farm for the moment. It really makes my heart ache for our land and the animals.

This calf was born just 15 minutes ago!!!

I miss my little porkers

Virginia. What a smart bunch you are. Putting the folks in prison to work, learning new skills ...

It's not a great picture above, but I zoomed in on the board here:

Yes, you read that right. Virginia Dept of Corrections State Agri Business. How smart of you to actually work on rehabilitating your prisoners and giving them some skills they really can use when they are released. Who was the smart one who thought of that? I would really like to shake your hand and say thank you.

One of the most exciting parts of this fair was it's location. In a little town called Doswell, Virginia, sits the home of the Virginia State Fair at The Meadow Event Park. What makes it more exciting is that the land. See, it was once owned by the Chenery family. Penny Chenery. Sound familar? If you saw the movie, Secretariat, it should. The Meadow is the home and birthplace of Secretariat, the world famous, Triple Crown winner. Still today, the barns sit much as they were. They even had an exhibit with one of Secretariat's great grandsons there at the fair. Did you know Virginia is number 4 for horse populations? Me either until now.

More fun times. Here's Evan kickin' some tires on his new tractor...

And seeing if it's really the right size...

for a nap. Ahhh, the joy. It was a fabulous time at the fair and we had a great time as a family. And the sleeping children on the way home didn't hurt either.

What's your favorite experience at the fair?