fairing..

we moved here just a little too late to be able to go to the county fair last year. we kept hearing how much fun it was, so it was a treat to be able to go twice. the first time with our fun friends mya, josh, and grace, and the second while d was off work and charlotte was over for the day.

little friends. they equally adore and drive each other crazy.

cautiously caressing the sleeping pig. i loved being able to expose them to all of these different animals.. even from afar. sometimes i wish we could live on a farm! but then i'd hate how early i'd have to wake up everyday. darn those rooster's crows.

peeking at the mama sow and her litter of piglets. they were fun to watch.

baby cow.

on our second trip with baby charlotte. not sure why ruby is making that evil-ish smile and holding that fork like a pitch fork. i was mainly impressed that i got them both to look.

d doing the hunch walk to hold little charlotte's hand. makes me excited to see him as a daddy to a tiny girl again. he kept holding ruby and charlotte at the same time and saying, "this is what it's going to be like. me with my two girls." sweetest.

this guy's horn span was outta control.

all up in his piggy grill.

i had never seen a brown pig before. this guy looking rather pathetic. but he gave us a few oinks, so i think he was hanging in there.

snuggly. even that one from the connected cage was trying to get in on the cuddle action with a little snout touch.

a sheep saying hello. "mom, these are goats, trust me." this is her new phase.. "trust me." don't though.. because she usually doesn't know what she's talking about. she's cute while she's saying whatever wrong fact it is, so we just go with it.

not a life i envy. you go, mama pig. 

i love how all the babies have that white stripe on their back, just like mom.

crazy hair and oogley eyes. we make quite a pair.

look at that precious babe soaking up the light.

rockin' that pony.

she was rather excited to pose in all of these animal cutouts.

"moooo."

gangsta spelling on the farm. behind me, as i took this picture, was a 12-ish year old girl lit-ra-lee cuddled up beside a cow sleeping with it in the hay. d asked me to get a picture of her, but i was too embarrassed on her behalf to snap one. i have a feeling that friendships outside of the animal kingdom may be few and far between for that little nugget. 

loved this old milk machine.

look at that sky. look at my love muffins.

don't worry, charlotte was still hanging in there. look at those pretty lashes.

this fella was a trip.. he looked like a stuffed animal with his puffy head.

of course our fearless lady wanted to touch every animal. nothing lunged at her or bit any fingertips off. when we were approaching the llama, i asked, "don't these things spit?" his reply, "yea, but not ours." hmm.. i took his word for it.

and then her bravery and my chicken-ish ways collided. the only thing she asked to ride was the ferris wheel. only one of us was going on with her because it was $5 a person to ride.. even for a one year old.. what? she asked for mommy to go. of course she did. because i'm terrified of ferris wheels and it was the windiest day we've had in weeks.

so we handed our tickets to this nice south african accented guy who assured me that he would bet his life that nothing would happen to this ride. ok, sir.

and then we got to the tippy top.. and i saw this face.

not afraid of a thing. 

so i sucked it up and let her lack of fear remind me to have fun and relish.

so that's just what we did. 

me and my girl on top of the world.

see you next year, bud.

and then rubes played daddy's "jump over the stick game" and looked like a flying squirrel.

we love the fair!