More Than a Dog and Pony Show

It's the slogan of the Evergreen Fair. It is up in Monroe. A nice drive from here. This is the next to last *local* fair. I love Fair season! We went into the swine barn first (it was closest to our entrance gate). There was a gentleman watching his sow and piglets. He pulled out a piglet by it's little hind leg and asked if Lon wanted to pet him. Lon LOVED it! The piglet squealed Lon squealed, it was really cute. Our next stop was the sheep and goat barn. Yes, mother, Lon had plenty of hand sanitzer rubbed onto those little hands. He is getting molars now, so his finger is always being chewed on. I made sure that his hands were always clean. The pygmy goats are always a favorite. I remember my father teased my mother about getting a couple of pygmy goats, or perhaps a monkey. This is how you know that you are coming into see the sheep and goats.

At one end of the sheep and goat barn they have a giant fan. This was LOTS of fun! Lon really thought that was one of the best things at the fair. On our way to another part of the barn, they had a display of angora goat wool (mohair). Lon was touching lots of it, then rubbing his hair. He was not too sure about it. Next we found the petting zoo! How much fun is this? To get into the petting zoo, they have a bunch of fun things for slightly older kids, you get to pick an apple, dig a potato, gather some plastic eggs, and put them all in your basket then deliver them to the market. At the market station you then get some stickers for your efforts. It is cute, in a year or two Lon will think it is fun, now it was just a long walk. He did grab a basket, but he did not gather anything. The first animal in the petting zoo that Lon got to see was a baby chick. He petted him with one finger. The lady holding the chick was very impressed that Lon was so gentle. She said most of the little guys are not that gentle. Lon is such a nice boy!

There were goats to pet, and a 7 year old very gentle donkey. They also had some rabbits, a tom turkey and some hens, a funky looking chicken, larger piglets than the first one Lon petted, a calf, and some more chicks. Lon loved the area. We washed his hands very well with soap and water, then used hand sanitizer. Even after that Mark kept singing a little ditty he made up about avian flu. We then heard some music. We went to see what it was. Mexican folk dancing, brought to you by La Gan D radio station.

Lon seemed to be fascinated by the swirling costumes, the music. He liked it.

After that we got some lunch.

Mmmm lunch! I had the polish sausage with sauerkraut, and grilled onions. Yummy.

Then Lon had a nap. Mommy and Daddy looked at some horses being shown. We walked around, got some Lopez Island Ice Cream (local). Signed up for all sorts of contests we won't win, but they will call us and tell us of our great prizes if we come in to listen to a two hour talk.

At the fair ground in Monroe, they have Frontier Land. They have the history of the fair building, some totems, they also have the guys doing chain saw carving. Love those bears. They also have the Snohomish tribe selling a salmon dinner, and best of all FRY BREAD. Complete with margarine, and jam. YUMMY. Normally Margarine is not something I ever eat. The only exception is fry bread. Don't know why, but there it is. The other thing they have out in frontier land is the pig track. The Great Alaskan Pig Racers! They are so cute.

Lon woke up when we went into the cow barn. We saw lots of cows. We learned that cows are can also become dehydrated in the heat, and sometimes to entice them to drink they mix jello with the water. Give it some flavor. I do not think that this calf has that problem. Lon thought it was very interesting that calfs drink milk too.

Onto looking at the little people rides. Lon was pretty impressed.

Lon is not quite tall enough yet for the rides, about 4 inches short. But he is certain that next year, he is going to be able to ride all the great rides he saw!

A fun train!

The cars that go round and round in great colors! They go around Dad!

This was a fun way to spend a day. Lon enjoyed being out in the sunshine. One of his favorites of the day, that we did not get pictures of, was the Snohimish County 911 dunk tank. He laughed every time the man got dunked. He also got a bag with some color crayons in it and information for kids on how 911 works. He is not old enough for that yet. I figured since he got the crayons, he might as well use them

This is what he drew for me. I will keep this paper forever. Of course, Mommy wrote the caption.

What a wonderful day.