The Big City

Last Thursday, after H-Bomb was out of school and finished with soccer practice, we took 3 pizzas with us to our friend’s house for a short dinner visit, on our way to The Big City for the weekend. Not only did we need to pick up a toilet, but our washer (which has seriously been on its last legs for almost a year) finally quit working too.

We also wanted to go to the State Fair, to see my County Fair-Best of Show-winning photograph. And have a meeting. And go to lunch with my dear new friend. And visit Grandpa and Em. And go to Costco. And Cabela’s. And get H-Bomb some school clothes (never mind that school started over a month ago) and new shoes and soccer shin guards. We had quite a long list, and only three short days to accomplish everything.

Oh, and both Number One and I wanted to get haircuts too.

We got to Grandpa and Em’s house late on Thursday night.

Friday morning, we woke up to Grandpa’s famous waffles. H-Bomb has been excited about those waffles. We went to our meeting, went to lunch with my sweet friend, who suggested we try the “Deep-Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly” at the fair, and then we met Grandpa and Em at the State Fair.

Grandpa wanted to look at some of the animals, but Em and I wanted to head straight for the photograph. So that’s where we went. It was exciting to see my photograph hanging there, at the actual State Fair. But that’s all that was hanging there. My photo did not have a ribbon in the vicinity. Unfortunately, looking at the category in which it was placed, I felt like it had been entered in the wrong category. When the County Fair Manager picked up my photo, I didn’t have a State Fair category list, so I just went along with her “Human Interest” suggestion. But looking at the other pictures in the Human Interest category, mine just didn’t fit in. Next year, I will be more informed.

We took H-Bomb on his very first roller coaster rides! And Sawed Off too. We bought cotton candy. Sorry, we didn’t try the Deep-Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly, or even the Deep-Fried Twinkies. Just couldn’t do it. We did get some snow cones though. The boys had loads of fun.

We looked at a bunch of animals, and now Number One is considering getting some pack goats. You know, goats that will carry your stuff for you. Right. As if I don’t have enough animals to take care of!

We saw the famous butter sculpture. Yes, that's it, above. All made from butter. Actually I don’t know how famous it is, but we saw it. It was carved from I don't remember how many pounds of real butter, and it was pretty cool. And that was the culmination of our afternoon at the fair.

We stopped for dinner at a brewery on our way back to Grandpa’s house.

Saturday morning, Number One and I got our hair cuts early. And then we tried to accomplish everything else on our list. After H-Bomb got some new shoes, he got to hang out with Grandpa for the afternoon while we ran around shopping.

We finished the rest of our shopping on Sunday, picked up a toilet and a washer, and then it was my job to pack the van. Number One doubted that we could fit everything in: a washer, a complete toilet, plus several hundred dollars of items from Costco, Target, etc. (we stock up when we’re around a Costco; I keep a running list of things we need from there) He thought we would have to ask Grandpa to bring the toilet down in his Subaru. But guess what? I did it! We did not have to leave one thing behind. Woohoo!

Another successful trip to the Big City. And cotton candy too. What a great weekend.