Illinois State Fair

If Katie hadn't invited us, we wouldn't have gone this year, but I'm really glad she brought it up. Alice and Robert attended their first State Fair today. Bobby went to work for Hack Day and a number of other important meetings, so he missed out.

When Bobby asked Alice to tell him about the fair, Alice said she got to ride to Springfield in the car behind Katie and surprise her by kicking her seat. Then Alice described what it was like to fall asleep in the car on the way home and wake up when we pulled into the driveway.

Um, yeah. What on earth did she think we did today?

Here are some pictures Katie took, since I failed to pull out my camera even once:

Alice bravely asked to pet this sheep just waiting to be judged in the next round.

This little boy heard Alice ask to pet the sheep and ran off to get his own sheep to show us. Then he chased Robert around trying to get him to pet the sheep, too, "She's really tame!"

Robert petting a turtle.

Alice the Conservation Police Officer...concerned for the future of our natural resources.

A few other highlights from our fair adventure:

• Alice: "I want to play games and win or buy something!" Check. Thank goodness for educational booths with gameshow-like questions and free, temperature-sensitive pencils.

• A friendly, educational vendor calls to Alice: "Hi there, little lady. You want to come in and shoot some arrows?" Alice raises her arms to cover her ears, furrows her brow, and vehemently exclaims, "No!" "Are you sure? I can help you do it." "NOOOOOO!" Alice was scared of pretty much everything in the Conservation World section: rifle shooting, archery, bow fishing, whip demonstrations. I was just trying to figure out why hunting was such an important part of the Illinois Conservation movement.

• An American Chemical Society "chemistry show" that the kids actually sat through. I have no idea why, since even I was eager to escape after the first few minutes. We were on the front row, unfortunately, and the audience was small. I did win a dollar for answering a trivia question, though.

• I actually saw the blue ribbon turnips this year. And peaches. So much delicious-looking produce!

• High diving show cancelled due to a severe thunderstorm rolling in. But the apple cider slushies were truly delicious, and hanging out in the Artisan Building was a surprising treat.

• Alice got her face painted for free, and Katie scored her a couple of "Incredible Egg" tattoos. Just in time, too, since her Nature Day Camp tattoos have finally faded beyond recognition.

• Robert didn't do much beyond riding in the stroller. He liked seeing the pigs and sheep up close, but he was disappointed that the sheep didn't say "baaaa" for him.