One Brick Shy: Iowa State Fair 2009

Since it has been a week since we went to the Iowa State Fair I decided I should probably get my post up. We went last Sunday. Jarod's Dad joined us for the trip. We got their around 10:00 am and met up with SIL Jody (Iowa Geek), BIL Doug and their 2 girls as well as Jarod's Mom.

We started off at the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center. Lots of newly born baby animals to see and pet. Zoe really liked the baby lambs and goats.

As you can see by the pictures, we also visited the Horse Barn. I thought Zoe might be afraid of the big horses, but she proved me wrong. She LOVED them. She was constantly reaching for them so she could pet them. Of course, the miniature horses made me a little less nervous. The first picture in the collage is from Perry's Petting Zoo, which we visited towards the end of our day.

We stopped for some lunch at the Cattleman's Beef Quarters. I had the Hot Beef Sundae--Mashed Potatoes, Roast Beef in Gravy, Shredded Cheese and a Cherry Tomato on top--YUMMY!! Because it was so good, I think it will become a new fair-going staple.

Then it was off to the Giant Slide. Jarod was couldn't wait to take Zoe down it. They ended up going down twice. Jarod said Zoe held on for dear life the first time, but leaned back and enjoyed it the second time.

These pictures were from the second time they went down.

After that we braved the Various Industry Building. I HATE crowds so this can be torture for me, but the cup 'o chocolate chip cookies makes it all better. Zoe must not like crowds either because she decided it was a great place to take a nap. Because she was napping, she missed her chance to play on the new playground equipment at the Hy-Vee Fun Forest. But she will have plenty of chances in the future.

Once the heat and humidity kicked in we decided it was time to hit the fountains at the Pella Plaza. We made sure to bring along her swimming gear so that she could get nice and wet. She wasn't real thrilled at first, but then she discovered the puddles and then the fun began.

We did eventually split off from the rest of the group to visit the shops under the grandstands. We always stop there to get some Nitro ice cream. Then we headed up the hill to Pioneer Hall so that I could look at the antiques for sale and so that Jarod and his dad could look at the small gas engines and the antique cars. We also made a stop at Grandfather's Farm to sample some wine. On our way back down the hill to get our yearly sarsaparilla and Pirtley's Pickle. Zoe LOVED the pickle.