A "Fair" Saturday

I'll try to catch up a bit on our week. Last Saturday was our "Fair" day. Miss Mouse and I spent the morning at the fair looking at the bunny rabbit barn. She was enthusiastic and spent most her time in there telling everyone who would listen how pretty the rabbits were. I'm not sure anyone but me understood, but that's what she was attempting to convey. One of the judges brought her a tiny little rabbit to pet. She thought that was awesome. From the rabbit barn, we ventured to the livestock area. There we were just in time to see the hogs being shown. I'm not sure she had ever actually heard a pig say "oink". She thought it was a funny sound. Her Mommy Mouse was impressed by the fact that when the 4-H/FFA kids tapped their pigs with their little sticks, the pigs actually responded, unlike where Mommy Mouse grew up and saw pig shows.....back home it was pretty much a free-for-all with pigs running every which direction followed by frantic 4-Hers sweating in their dark jeans and white shirts. The kids showing the pigs that day had obviously worked very hard with them.

From the pigs, we moved to the sheep area where Miss Mouse visited with several lambs. "Very pleased" would be the label for the expression on her face as she "baaed" to the sheep, and they "baaed" back.

After wearing out our welcome with the sheep (most of them tired of "talking" and went back to "resting"), we spent some time at a horse show. Miss Mouse was quiet and respectful around the horses, but she offered big smiles whenever one was near.

It was quite a successful morning at the fair - cool, but sunny, with a strong breeze and few people. We decided to forego the fair food for the morning and head home instead for napping. I think I spent the whole time we were there with a huge goofy grin on my face. I couldn't seem to wipe it off from the time we walked up to the gates to get into the fairgrounds. There was just something about finally being the adult, paying for admission, and taking my very own little one into "THE FAIR". It was sort of magical.

Later that evening, after waiting out one thunderstorm at home, we returned to the fair. This time we made stops at the carnival for Miss Mouse to observe the carousel as well as some other children's rides. I was impressed by the bredth of children's rides they had available; someday she and I will have lots of fun riding them (while Daddy Mouse watches and turns pale). That evening we also shared some cheese curds (my first in 5 years - she enjoyed 3 of them) and an orange (I felt the need to support the 4-H booth, but I didn't relish the idea of cherry pie all over the stroller....so we went for the fruit option which turned out to be messy enough). Before we made it through the commercial building, we overhead talk of a terrible storm heading our direction. I turned the regular stroller into an impromptu jogging stroller, and we joined the surge of bodies headed for the gate. "We must get home to Hubert" was my mantra for the impromptu stroller run.

There could still possibly be carnage from our mission to get to our vehicle and get out of there. I think some small children and large men were run over as we made our mad dash. Actually, we had thankfully found a parking spot close to the gate, so we were able to beat the storm home and get ourselves and Hubert into the basement just as the sirens were blowing. It was scary stuff. I have seen several wall clouds approach me before, and several have ended up having significant rotation in them. This storm looked similar to others I have experienced; the difference this time was that I had not only my own life to look out for, but my baby's, as well.

I've been trying an experiment to save gas money - driving slower and accelerating significantly slower. It irritates the heck out of the people behind me, but it was really increasing my gas mileage. However, I think I blew all the savings as we were driving home that night. I sped most of the way home, breaking the speed limit by 10-15 miles an hour in some places. I wasn't too worried, though, after I met two cops and didn't get chastised. Ugh. I do not relish speeding or wasting gas, but as I said, I was on a mission to protect myself, my dog, and, most importantly, Miss Mouse!

It turned out to not be as much of a storm as it could have been when it hit town, but we were thankful to have gotten home in time to hole up in the basement anyway.

It was definitely an exciting end to a magical day. Miss Mouse and I both missed Daddy Mouse (he was away leading a men's retreat for the weekend), but I think we made a good pair at the art museum, the children's festival, and the fair. I think we're pretty compatible!