Harvest Fair and goodbye to Summer

Scarecrow and flower decorations

Yesterday we went to the Harvest Fair at State Fair Park. This is officially the last fair of the summer for us. It is always kind of a sad time-saying goodbye to the fun of summer-but the night was in the 70s and clear and blue.

Pumpkin Bowling ( crazy but fun!)

The Harvest Fair is very family oriented. There are fun activities such as pumpkin bowling and make your own scarecrow, an outdoor farmer's market, and Elegant Farmer pumpkin and apple pies. Many of the food vendors popular at the State Fair are also

open for the Harvest Fair.



This gal got 7 pins with one 4lb. pumpkin

 What is nice about this fair is that it is completely free and parking is a mere $5.00.

It has been a wonderful season and we have had a great time!

Looking forward to 2016.

Horse and cow topiary

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Today we celebrated my great-nephew's 13th birthday.

Handsome young teenager

Matt's mom and Jeremy gave him a great birthday cookout. Jeremy grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, bratwurst and chicken wings and did an awesome job with the food. Stephanie, Matt's mom, made wonderful salads and cupcakes in between taking care of new baby, Lucy.

Stephanie (mom) and Lucy

Lots of friends and family helped Matt celebrate. He opened many cards and gifts and enjoyed a special cake made by his mom.

Wow! This is good!

Matt has grown into a fine young man. He is smart and kind and funny and just a nice kid.

Hope you had a great day, Matt.

Emily and her friend, Emma.





I love Apples of Eden apples!



This card made everyone laugh!

Sheboygan County Fair





4H Drill Team



We visited the Sheboygan County Fair today. The weather was perfect fair weather-hot and sunny.



One of the things that we enjoy the most about this county fair is the English/Western Horse Drill Performance. Very young girls guide and direct their horses through choreographed moves to music. The girls and horses are usually dressed quite colorfully. Often, the horses wear body glitter. This usually is such an amazing peformance to watch, especially since many of the girls are 9-14 years old.



Perfect Form





Bull rider (way in the distance)



This year, we also watched the Extreme Bull Riding and Barrel Racing Competition in the grandstand. Bull riders have to stay on the bull for at least 8 seconds in order to qualify to win the prize. Many of the riders only stayed on for a few seconds, but it was thrilling to watch.



Cowboy opening the bull riding competition





Of course, we always go to the fair for the food. This year, we tried the "Walking Taco," which was lettuce, tomatoes, and taco meat on top of a bed of taco chips.



Walking Taco



Each fair that we visit always has something very unique about it and this is one of the reasons we love them so much. This fair had arm wrestling competitions-something we had never seen before. Men as well as women climbed up to the podium and got the chance to prove their strength. It was ....interesting.





Cute Alpacas




1st Place Pumpkin-233 lbs.





Lady Arm Wrestlers



Walworth County Fair

Chair Swings



 Today we went to the Walworth County Fair. This was our very first experience with this fair and we had a great time.

We saw some interesting and unusual animals: an alpaca, a Scottish Highland Longhair cow, and miniature horses.





Alpaca



This was also the very first time we saw harness racing. Sulkies were attached to the horses and the jockeys sat in the sulkies and raced the horses in a one-mile race. The winner got a $1000 purse. There were 10 races, both with the horses trotting and pacing-which is where both the horse's front and back legs move in unison.

Minature Horses



 

Scottish Highland Longhair



Four Sulkies racing



Harness Racing-Trotting

 Our favorite ice cream vendor, Yesteryear's Ice Cream, was selling their famous apple slice and 2 scoops of tractor-churned vanilla ice cream. The John Deere tractor has a pulley that is belted to the five gallon containers that churn the ice cream. The ice cream is the BEST we have ever tasted, and we have been known to visit fairs in search of this vendor.


Tractor churns the ice cream





Apple slice and ice cream





Along with all the other events and activities, there was a classic car show displaying restored cars from the 1930s. Many of the cars were for sale. 

Yesteryear's Ice Cream

This will surely make our list of county fairs for next year. 





Lou and 1931 Ford Phantom















Don't You Hope you Age this Well?

I visited my Mom on my Dad's birthday to bring her a little treat. Since Dad loved chocolate eclaires, I thought mom might like one to celebrate him. When I arrived, she was wearing her leopard pajamas and looked amazing. I could not help but marvel at how she looked for 81 years old.

I can only pray that my sisters and I got all Mom's good genes!

Dad would have absolutely loved the look. And the thought of her in her cute PJs eating a chocolate eclaire would have been adorable to him.

You rock, Mom!