Iowa State Fair

We've been told that the State Fair to end all State Fairs is in Iowa. Des Moines to be exact. So for one last hurrah before Jeremy started school (which started on Monday) we decided to go check it out. It's only 4 hours north, so we figured we could head out early, enjoy the day there and head home at night (we made it home by 2am). I think it's so cool that we can drive 4 hours and have traveled through 3 different states. Back in Alaska, you can drive for 7 hours and have only covered less than half the state. Anyhow, the fair was beyond huge - there was even a chair lift that took you from one end to the other, along with shuttle trolleys. HUGE!

The girls were too scared of Clifford to get next to him. Oh yeah, and how do you like the beard on Jeremy? He said he'll shave it off when he reaches his goal weight, or in December, or on Sunday...I'm still hoping for Sunday.

Here's our brave little Abbie up in that helicopter. See her sweet face peeking out in the back seat? She eventually got enough courage to wave and smile just before landing.
And here's Maddie trying not to show us her smile. I think she wanted us to think she was scared or something.

This harness/trampoline attraction caught Madeline's attention - I was so surprised that she actually got in there and jumped around!
She's getting braver!

We always visit the animals, even though Jeremy has to cover his face and run when we get to any horses (allergies - fierce allergies). The barns here were GINORMOUS! They took up whole city blocks - seriously.

We are so wiped out, can you tell? Brayton was also battling a fever of 103. I figured it was roseola and was correct two days later when the fever broke and spots appeared. He was a good sport throughout the entire day.

On our way back to the car, we stopped to see a Beach Boys/50's style cover band play while the girls danced (and were embarrassed) by Jeremy, then we grabbed two skewers of chocolate covered bacon (way good!) and headed back to the car for the short drive home.