Do the Puyallup...

Today we took home school to the fair! It was a rare morning with Mimi in town, so we got to go with she and her kids. It was fun to see the kids observe the various animals. Right when we walked up to the barns, there were some really big cows walking back into the barn. There was one that was stopped for kids to pet. Then we went inside and Mimi and I noticed that the cows looked really overdue for a milking...as a fellow-lactator, we were really feeling it for them. Then, the worst lactation situation I have ever witnessed, and definitely a wee bit disturbing...a mama pig nursing 9 little ones. She wasn't even "letting down" they were just harassing her body for purposes of pacifying themselves! It was horrible, her little nipples looked all stretched and raw, though you'd never know it bothered her, I think she was sleeping. Having been a pacifier before (yes, Ruby would NOT do anything but cry for ten months unless she was latched) I was a little mad at the greedy piglets. We came across a sheep that was being cleaned and brushed for competition, and then one that was getting a wool trim. The man doing the trimming was really nice, and he cut off some of the wool and handed it to the kids for them to feel. They really liked feeling it until someone pointed out that it might not be the cleanest thing in the world. At that point, Ruby was done...I hope someday I can do some 4-H with the girls. Ruby was really impressed by aisles and aisles of cats that were at the fair with their little 4-H owners. One let us pet her cat. I would want to do it with bunnies. I love bunnies. So does Ru. She got to pet one for quite awhile, and she was very aware of all the little hands that were all over the bunny, so she asked the lady holding the bunny if it needed a little rest, and the lady said yes, so Ruby backed away and just watched. Ruby and Alice are both really interested in little chicks (we call them "peep peeps"), I think I'd like to do a little learning with them about the life cycle of a chicken.

Mimi took Ruby and her kids on the giant slide. Alice wanted to go too, but I was in serious STICKER SHOCK as it cost $15 for five tickets, and that ride was 5 tickets...FIVE DOLLARS! NO WAY!
Ruby is in the front car with Alice and Ellie just behind her. We took a chance that the little ones would be ready for this ride, and they did great! They looked a little terrified during the whole ride, but they got off happy!We came across this monkey, and the kids were really interested in it. Unfortunately, we caught it just before they were done.


Random playing...

I should add that Alice wears the skirt that I made her EVERY SINGLE DAY. No exaggerating. It is not an out-of-sight-out-of-mind situation. As soon as she wakes up, she says, "Where's my flower skirt?" and on it goes. She has worn that thing with ever patterned shirt imaginable, because while the skirt doesn't get too dirty, her shirts cannot be repeated. I will say that as the seamstress, it is gratifying that she likes it so much...so I don't work too hard to dissuade her. Ruby likes it too, but she's all excited about her new fall clothes, so she's into rotation. She has to wear the skirt more often than she'd like because it is cuter when they both have them on!