Year 3, August 14th, 2018: The Indiana State Fair 2018

****I'm going to try something different.  Monday was a prep day for the fair, so I will add more notes and pictures about what we did Monday to Wednesday and Thursday blog post.  That way this post won't get so long.  So, we are skipping over Monday, and will come back around in the next blog post.  Hang tight.****

 Oh, the Indiana State Fair, how I love/hate you!  I love that I don't even need a map when I go to the fair and I know exactly what we want to do.  The kids do remember enough of the educational bits that we decided to skip most of it this year.  When I quizzed them about where there food comes from and how important farmers are, they just rolled their eyes, like, "Yes, Mom, we know.  You've only taken us to 100 farms over our lifetime, sheesh."  Ok, then.  And we skipped 95% of the animals.  If we really want to know about farming and livestock, we have plenty of people at church that can hook us up.   I might just call on one of them to take Abishai out in a combine someday.  I did that with one of the kids or maybe just by myself at one of my friend's parents' farm 30 minutes from here.  I loved it of course, in all sincerity, because I like to know how things work.  I can't have a farm because it's too much work, but I certainly do appreciate those that do.  And to me, THAT IS WHAT THE FAIR IS ABOUT.  Not fried foods, concerts, the midway, or even the circus.  No, the state/regional fairs are about celebrating agriculture because without it, we wouldn't live, we wouldn't have clothes, we wouldn't have a gazillion products we use every day.  We need farmers and we need to support the ones that run their farms as cleanly and ethically as possible.  Therefore, I have always dragged my kids through the barns, through the old tractors, through the educational experiences and will continue to do so as long as I can.  They can go on their own someday to the fair and waste their money on food and rides.

I wasn't even going to take the kids this year because again, we've seen a lot of it.  BUT, the CIRCUS was in town and the kids don't remember when I took them to the Shriners' Circus in town during their preschool years.  And of course, I wanted to reinforce Keturah's interest in "The Greatest Showman."  And let me tell you, it was worth every bead of sweat, every minute of boredom, every wiggle of the 3 yr old just to see the look on my kids' faces of the 1 hr long show.  I even shed a few tears knowing that once again, I was providing my kids an opportunity of pure delight and exposing them to art and culture, all without spending a gazillion dollars.  In fact, if you combine both trips to the fair, the concert on Sunday, and Tuesday's $2 admission/$2 for some food items, we spent $75 in total for 4 people each time, ($51 on Sunday, $24 on Tuesday) and that includes admission, food, and parking.  That's incredible!!!  Admission at the gate is normally $13 per person, but by buying the family pass before the fair started and by going on the $2 Tuesday, we saved $76 in admission alone.  Parking was the same.  $20 for full price food on Sunday, and $18 for 3 full kids' meals (milk, grilled cheese, apple sauce) at the dairy bar for half off because they all colored a coloring page, two mini funnel cakes, one full priced pop, and two $2 12oz slushies, plus free popcorn at one of the buildings.  We did bring sandwhiches and a few snacks on Sunday, but only brought snacks on Tuesday, not knowing we would be staying longer than expected (I'll share that story next).  We refilled water bottles time and time again.  We even brought the tea and lemonade cups we bought on Sunday thinking we would just buy refills on Tuesday but circumstances prevented us from doing so.  Oh, and don't forget that seeing a band like For King and Country would cost at least $20 per person for the bleacher seats, never mind the usual $45-$75 for floor seats (depending on VIP stuff).  Sorry, but this just reminds me of what my role in our life is.  I don't earn any of the money, but God has given me the ability to glean from others and how to seek out ways to save money and still "keep up with the Jones, because no matter how hard you fight culture, you are going to feel the weight of that.  And you know what?  Bringing our own food, waiting in the heat, being content with whatever the $2 items are, saying no to the midway is now a way of life for the kids.  They see it, they know it, and hopefully they will remember it and use it. This, my friends, is part of my job, and at least this week, I've done my job well, and I'm a little bit proud of that fact, and honestly wowed and amazed.  Moving on....

Ok, back to the start.  It was a steamy hot day.  We tried getting out of the house quickly, but kids didn't want to get up.  I had to get gas, and the pump was super slow.  We didn't get to the fair until after 10 and the traffic was a bit of a hassle.  Not horrible, but just enough to be annoying.  We parked in the deaf school's lot again, which was actually perfect because we were able to quickly get to our van at the end of what became a much longer, hot day than expected.  The van was parked only a couple of rows from the main street right across from the entrance, so much closer than it was on Sunday.  We got there in one piece, the bags were organized, and we were good to go.  I put a couple of things in each of the kids' string bags to help lighten my load in case I needed to carry the backpack, since I didn't have Benaiah or Jared with me.  Thankfully, I was able to keep it on the stroller for most of the day.  I wish we had a bigger stroller with a bottom pouch/bucket for stuff, but I'm too cheap to find a new one or even a wagon for just one kid, even at a garage sale.  It works fine enough when Abishai is in the stroller to counter balance it's weight, but as soon as he gets up, down goes the stroller and bag.  Oh well, we manage.

We started out near the entrance to where the Big Top was and went counter clockwise, so west to south, then east, then north and back west.  It worked out really well.  I had planned the route and knew what to take time on and what to avoid.  We started at one of the circus buildings, then headed for the covered bridge near the midway, and straight for the dairy bar because we were already hungry and that came before the big pigs and animal town.  (The details of all of this will be explained in the pictures below).  After animal town, we went back north to the Ninja experience (American Ninja Warrior type stuff), and ended up staying for all of the show.  But it bumped into the time we needed to get in line for the 1pm circus show, so we were really late and didn't make into that showing.  Therefore, we had to stay to the next show at 4pm.  We managed to fill up our time with mini golf, playground, and some goats and sheep before standing in line for 40 minutes, and then sitting for another 1 hr, before the show began.  The show lasted an hour and there was no fans under the big top, so two hrs of sitting in heat was exhausting.  But at least we weren't outside and we were sitting.  We finished the day with a few tractors and a final treat of funnel cakes.  We were exhausted but at least the traffic on the way home was not backed up.  I was mentally exhausted from having to make a lot of quick decisions and keeping everybody hydrated, happy, and healthy.  But we made it through with no headaches, and only a bit of whining.  Therefore, the day was an utter success!

Did I mention it was 87 degrees in the shade and about 92 in the sun?  Thank goodness for air conditioned buildings and buildings with open doors letting in the breeze.  And thank goodness for a day of sunshine because the next 4 days are going to be full of rain.  I'll take heat over rain when it comes to all our bags being made of cloth, plus my camera and phone.  We saw lots of things and experienced enough heat to know how to handle it.  That, in itself, is a lesson we all need.  Patience, contentment, dealing with change of plans, etc.  Again, it was a day of #winning and #success and partly (all?) because Jared and I both prayed it would be so and God allowed it to be (same for Sunday).

Now onto the juicy detail bits.

After paying for $5 for parking and $6 to get in (Abishai was free!), we decided to go counter clockwise around the fairgrounds which is set around a mile long dirt horsecart racing track (there are also other shows/car races there sometimes).  Just as Indianapolis was preplanned, these fairgrounds were planned well, too.  Large, permanent buildings, lots of concrete to walk on, a fair train that will take you around for one loop for $1, etc.  We started here at the "circus school/physical/ninja warrior" type thing put on by the Girl Scouts with climbing walls, rope swings, hurdles, etc.  I'm glad we did this as soon as we saw it because I'm sure it got busier as the day went on.

Swinging on the rope swing.

Hurdles Abishai went under, not knowing how to do it the first time.

Then he figured it out after watching his siblings.

Funny mirrors.  I think Abishai was a bit scared or didn't want his picture taken.

A fat Justin?  No way!

Abishai did make it up, but not over the climbing wall with Keturah's help.  Justin and Keturah made it up and over and down the other side.

Thank you Girl Scouts!

Each end of the oval has a car tunnel underneath it so people can park on the inside grass.  So, there are walking bridges and one of them is this covered bridge.  I don't know it's history, but I'm sure it's as old as the fairgrounds.

Small pylon from the RedBull Air Race coming up at the International Motor Speedway in October.  It's full of air so if the planes accidentally hit it (which disqualifies them), they don't get hurt.

Everybody's favorite place to take a picture.  We don't do the midway though.

Selfie with Justin.

We rounded the corner do the dairy bar.  All three kids colored a picture of a cow and such beforehand and we submitted them at the window for half off a kids' meal of milk, a full grilled cheese sandwich, applesauce, and a coloring book.  We spent a total of $5 on lunch.  It was already getting very steamy at this point, and my glasses felt like they were going to fog over.  We ate quickly and moved on.

Abishai ate his grilled cheese sandwich as we walked around the fair, but had to sit down for the applesauce first.  Justin ended up drinking his milk.  It was already 11am, and I had planned anyway to get the kids' meal while we were on this side of the fair and take them with us.  The leftover came in hand later in the day.

Cute baby eyelashes.

The only big animal barn we went into was the swine barn because of the extra large pigs.  Only the winners from the swine competition were left anyways.  I'm not sure what other type of animals was being shown that day, but it rotates.   This runner up male pig was about 900lbs and 3 1/2 yrs old.  Abishai wasn't afraid of them, but wasn't very interested in them either.

This guy weighed over 1,000 lbs and is 7 years old.  Most likely, we saw these pigs last year, too.

Abishai had not interest in the piglets, but I wish I could have watched them for a bit longer.

I said this last year, but I'd love to try this.  Maybe Jared and I should go on a date to the fair on one $2 Tuesday and then I take the kids the 2nd $2 Tuesday.  Then I can do stuff like this, lol.

New this year was Animal Town. Because the type of animals varies throughout the two weeks and 3 weekends of the fair, some people weren't able to see all the types.  So they put one or two animals of all the types of animals in this area, so kids especially can see all of them in one easy place.  The animal barns are bigger than big box stores.  Plus they added a ton of educational material to it.

Awww, llama, llama, red pajama.

Yum!

Moo!

Chickens and bunnies!  There were sheep and goats, too, but the kids weren't interested.

"Let's just go, mom, I'm hot!"

We walked up the east side of the fair and were a little early for the Ninja experience show, so we briefly stepped into the barn at the Pioneer Village.  These guys/gals are oxen!  So huge!

And Abishai wasn't afraid to get right up and touch them!  The farmer/owner was right there encouraging the kids to pet them, otherwise, I try not to let the kids stick their hands near animals because they can bite.  So sweet!  Last year, I think Abishai was scared of them.

More baby moo's!  So the first round of stuff took about 1 hr or so.

 Ninja intros

Ninja experience, based on American Ninja Warrior TV show but put on by the National Guard.  These shows change every year.  One time we watched a lumberjack show and since Grandpa was with us, he bought a rough cut kids chair from the performers.  I can't remember what it was last year.  But check out that leap over the fire!

Ninja Fern (?) kicking a board in two that's in the air and then sitting across a volunteer's knees.  The scripted moments before and after the stunts were funny and had good showmanship, too.

There were a total of three Ninja's, the announcer, who didn't do a lot because he had a knee brace on, and then two guys who competed against each other.  One of them was from Cuba (I think).  I liked how they had some of the elements as the TV show, but just a part of each stunt, like one of the wobbly boards you hang from, and part of the rings you have to rehook, and just a few of the chains with knobs you grab onto.

It was hard to get the lighting right and I took most of these on my phone as I was taking videos.  Here is one guy swinging towards the rings.

Vern rings

Doing a flip onto the stage in the middle of his run through the course.

Up and over.

Salmon ladder!

Hanging wobbly board thing on the left.

Now the other guy was on the rings.

Almost across.

Hanging onto the chains with knobs on the end.

I forget what these are called, but they are one of the most often used elements in American Ninja Warrior.  By the way, Abishai was just as excited to watch this as he was the circus later on in the day.  He even says, "American Ninja Warrior" so cutely.  Justin was finished with his day after this, although it was only 12:20pm because he didn't want to come to the fair at all today.  But I know he's glad we stayed to see the cirucs.

Vern lily pads

Warped wall, which the guys both easily scaled.

The announcer ninja did two stunts, one with punching through boards on fire and this one, putting a can of pop on it's side and whacking it open, spraying a volunteer in soda.  They gave the rain poncho the name of "specter costume" lol.

Transitioning from one element to the other.

Tanner rings

The next guy going through these.  They also went back through these ramps and flipped over them instead of running from one to the other.

Flip-a-dee-doo-da.

Warped wall.

Lowering his friend onto a bed of sharp nails.  An audience member verified that they were sharp.

Then the announcer guy placed a brick on the nail bed guy and used a sledgehammer to break it in half.  Tricks and boys  showing how strong they are.  It was a fun, entertaining show, just enough of a taste of the real thing we would have seen downtown without all the crowds.

$2 12 oz slushies for the win.  I think they put every flavor in their cup.  From the Slushie factory, which you might recognize by their gigantic thin slushie cups.  And these lasted awhile.

Free popcorn, air conditioning, bathrooms, and water fountains at the Farm Bureau Insurance building right next to the Big Top Circus.  After racing from the Ninja experience to get into a huge line for the circus and then not being able to get in, we were just over it and needed the a/c and to sit down and regroup.  We were hot and thirsty and I was hungry because I hadn't eaten anything at the dairy bar.  This sweet woman gave up her seat for us because she saw we were just going to sit down near a wall out of the way to rest a few moments.  I also love how Abishai wanted the visor down in front of him.  He was at first keeping it in front of his eyes because he was being shy/feeling overwhlemed, but then it made a nice place to keep his popcorn bag.  He had also taken off his shoes at this point, which knowing him, he could get out of the stroller any second and be running around the dirty fair barefoot without a care in the world.

After we regrouped and I felt better, we adjusted our plans as to what to do while we waited for the next show of the circus.  We walked down a couple of buildings to the FFA building (Future Farmers of America), another area we had never really explored before.  They have an 18 hole free round of mini golf, plus a country store and some animals.  Not to mention the playground and displays.  A very little known treasure within the fairgrounds because it's not air conditioned (and they talk about the a/c buildings on the news all the time when covering the fair), but they have fans and wide open doors to let in the breeze.  We decided to totally skip the typical "Little Hands on the Farm" thing because it was between the Ninjas and the circus and we didn't want to backtrack.  But it's great for little kids to do and then they get a snack at the end.  But now that we have older kids, we can do some of this stuff and have a different kind of fun experience.

The best part of this big open space was that I could send Justin and Keturah to do all 18 holes by themselves while I let Abishai play on the playground.  I could see the bigger kids at least part of the time, and they could easily find me.  When you have 3-4 kids all with varying interest levels in different exhibits, it's nice to be able to let them wander alone for a hot minute while I tend to the youngest.  That's one of the biggest differences I noticed this year was that with them being 10 and 13, I could leave them right outside the bathroom and not worry if they would wander away or not.  And they could carry some stuff and they could chase Abishai when need be.  But Justin would not leave the line for the first show time for the circus to find his tea stand when we didn't know what was going to happen within the next 15 minutes.  He was afraid we would move and he wouldn't be able to find us.  And he was partly right.  One advantage/disadvantage of homeschooling is that you don't have to let them do things on their own, you can always keep an eye on them.  I don't know how mamas let their kindergartners ride the bus alone.  I know there are other adults, but so much can happen.  And then when they get back on the bus on the way home and what if they forget something?  In one way, students at schools do learn how to be responsible for certain things where as homeschoolers do not.  We haven't been a "dump (at an activity) and run" type of family either, often staying at church while they are at their activity or volunteering to help.  And it's not the excuse this year at least that we live far away.  We could easily drop them off, come home for an hr, and go pick them up.  So, yes, I'm hesitant about sending the 13 yr old in a crowded fair setting to fetch a drink.  And that's ok, we can work on it.

Abishai tried his hand at mini golf, too.  He only lasted a couple of rounds until he saw the playground.  And because I was holding onto the stroller, I didn't get to help him hold the golf club correct or hit the ball properly.  So he did it every which way.

He did try to line up his shots though, but eventually just put the ball into the hole using his hands.  And yes, he still didn't have his shoes back on, but I figured the carpet on the mini golf holes wasn't too awful.  I didn't let him run around the concrete barefoot though.  Just the little part between the construction sight and playground you'll see in a minute.  Oh, and Justin and Keturah decided to keep score halfway through the course, and they ended up in a tie. 

Where was this all those years ago when the big kids were little????????  Maybe it is new, but maybe not.  What a wonderful playspace for kids that are tired of being in a stroller!  And fairly quiet, too.  Not super quiet, but not overcrowded either.  Lots of benches for parents, plenty of dumptrucks and construction vehicles to share, and a full size wooden playground.  Plus, it was all separated from the mini golf and such with patio bricks and filled with rubber mulch.  Yes, I let Abishai use his bare toes here, too.  It was only about halfway through our playtime that I realized that oops, we did just have an outbreak of hand, foot, mouth disease in our state.  Too late to fight putting shoes on a kid who loves his bare toes. I don't care as much as other parents do about it anyway.  I want my kids to be dirty and be farmers.  Run wild and free!

Tire swing under the playground.  And now that Abishai is older, he will obey better and I don't have to be so worried about losing him.  He stayed in the mulched area very well.

View from the playground area to the mini golf.  See how open it was?  Lots of breezes and I could easily see the middles at some points.  Lots to explore, too.

'struction site!  I watched amazed as Abishai donned the helmet and then picked up the traffic cones to block off the area where another kid was buildings.  Thanks YouTube videos for showing him this.  I'm just glad he uses what he watches to play creatively on his own.  Books would be better, but videos will do.

Adorable.

The yellow hat and CIY black and white striped string bag belongs to Justin.

Excavator and dumptruck!

Future tractor driver.

Going down the slide.  I'm so glad I can sit and watch and not have to fuss so much.

Climbing UP the slide of course.

Panorama of the FFA building.

Abishai's turn to build.

A couple more rounds of mini golf.

Habitat for Humanity was tucked back behind the big barn building two homes during the course of the fair.  Sweet!  They were also building one in the county south of us, which was being promoted by one of their ReStores.  Habitat for Humanity builds small homes all over the world sometimes, for poor people.  And they take household items as donations at their ReStores (furniture, lamps, old cabinets, toilets, anything but mattresses, clothing and toys) and then resells them to the public.  I hope to take our next bookcase from them.

The FFA building is U shaped and one end is the country store featuring Indiana products, and on the other are some non native animals like these cool Katahdin sheep you can feed.

Someone gave Abishai some carrots to feed to feed to the Indian zebu (not cebu, which is South America).  There were some pygmy goats, too.

This was an interesting exhibit of how deadly it is to fall into a grain silo.  The kids had to pull on the rope to see if they could pull hard enough to get a man out of the grain.

And this shows you that, like quicksand, you wouldn't win this tug of war.

Simply not enough strength.

Then it was time for the Big Top Circus!  Just one ring, but it was awesome!  We got there about 90 minutes early and stood in this line or about 30 minutes before we were let in.  We were probably in the first 100 group of people to be let in.  The circus tent holds about 1,700 people which is the amount of people that Indian Creek's sanctuary technically holds, but, these seats were very small and close together so overall it felt like half the size of the church's sanctuary.

Circus selfie.  Standing 30 minutes in 90 degree heat, only to sit for 1 hr in the same heat, under a tent with no air circulation or air conditioning.  But it was worth it.

Oooo, I know that that is!

Panorama of under the big top.  This is a temproary structure for the fair, and the bleacher seats are removable.  The show as put on by a few different people, sponsored by Bee Window company, but I couldn't tell from which school or circus the performers came from.  I looked up "circus schools" when we got home and found out that we have the world's best circus museum in our state.  Apparently, all the North American circuses wintered in a town called Peru, Indiana.  Hundreds of elephants and 1,000's of horses and people, and all the rest, plus all their gear would gather and basically form their own town.  And now a lot of the old circus wagons are repaired, restored, and put on display there in the summer.  Makes sense as we are the crossroads of America.  And this was during the heydey of the circus of course back 75-100 years ago and was made up off North American circuses.  There are few circus schools in the state as well where people learn their stunts.

Keturah and I with the globe of death.  The ninja experience was for Justin, but the circus was for Keturah.  We all ended up liking all of it of course.

Say cheese!  Trying to pass the time before the performance started.

Hot, sweaty, and bored.

If looks could kill....He did exceptionally well for being in the same two feet of space for 2 hrs.

Our little acrobat.

Just a few more minutes!

Local newspaper people were on site today handing out paper fans and revving up the crowd.  I think they were from the weather team, but I'm not sure.  I don't watch the news.

Time for the ringmaster to come out and sing us the opening song. He taught us how the circus is like a family who live and play together, helping each other out, all with roles to play.

Then came this famous "clown."  He has appeared on America's Got Talent, a popular TV show 3 times and is a crowd favorite.  His parts of the show were very entertaining through action and music, but he never spoke a word to the audience.  He started out in this cube where he would jump inside making it look like the cube was moving.

Finally he unzippedit and it turned inside out to be a blown up costume.

Nice trick!  And they say his hair "can be seen from space" because it's made to look super tall.

Circus = lots of music, fanfare and sparkles!

Globe of death, i.e. the motorcycle cage.  Abishai wasn't as amazed as I thought he would be because he's seen it one the monster truck videos at Grandma's house.  They started off with just one guy riding a motorcycle in the globe.

Then a guy and a gal.

Nice costumes.

Then 3 guys/gals zooming around and upside down.

Finally a lady came in and was lifted to the top of the globe and spun around on a harness while the 3 motorcycles zoomed around her.  Awesome!

Guys AND gals on motorcycles.

Next up was a 22 yr old who was the 6th generation in his family to be part of the circus.  The show must go on!

And at 22 yrs old, he can juggle like the best of them, with 3, 4, 5, and 6 clubs!

And ping pong balls, using his mouth as one of his hands to catch and release the balls.  And he tossed and caught sun hats on his head.  All the while moving around and smiling and performing.  Nice!

The clown and his crazy hair. 

Holding the balloon bow and arrow

Trying to show an audience member how to shot a balloon with a balloon bow and and imaginary arrow.  It was hilarius because there was no string but it looked like she was pulling back, when in reality she was squeezing the crook of the bow to make the ends meet.  And then there was a whole series of balloons not wanting to be held or falling over and breaking them in their hands, etc.  Hilarious!

At the end, the clown made the bow into a flower.

Acrobats, who are sisters, from Slovakia (I think).  Ignore the scanty clothing.  It's just an unfortunate part of the gig.  They did have some dancing elements to their routine, but only what you would see in a gymnastics floor routine.  NOT what you find in a bar or strip club.  Again, these are two LADIES doing these tricks!

Usually it was one girl holding up another girl.  You could see their muscles shaking and yet they would hold a final pose for at least 15 seconds.

ONE HANDED lift!

Matching handstands on stilts.

Matching splits on stilts.

The woman underneath started in a standing position and then went into the split while holding up her sister!  Incredible control!

Next up were the horse trick riders from Russia.  They weren't as impressive as I thought they would be, but they did get off the horses a bit.  I was hoping they would stand on the backs of the horses and do leg lifts and handstands, but they didnt'.

They did get into postions on the sides of the horses as the horses cantered (layman's terms, galloped) around the ring.  The guy in the middle just made sure the horses kept up the pace.  He never touched them with the whip or overused the whip at all.  Whips in this case are just encouragement, not a punishment.

Gorgeous horses.

Upside down on the side of the horse as it gallops around!

Getting ready to do a trick or getting back up from a trick.

Up and down they go.

Ta da!

Final act was a long one.  We started with these two doing the pendulum swing and running in the rings like in a mouse wheel.

There was done without nets or harnesses by the way.

Then the guy got out and the clown got in!  What?!  Can he keep up?

The girl got out and they put a weight on one of the ends of the pendulum to help it keep going.  But then the clown climbed up on the outside of it!  The middle of the pendulum was a good 20 feet in the air.

NO HARNESSES.  Round and round it went.  How he kept up, I'll never know.  He didn't appear to be young fellow or in the best shape.  But he certainly knows how to entertain a crowd by pretending to lose his balance.

Clown on the outside part 1

Clown on the outside part 2

Faster and faster, and faster.  Wowzers!  Then they finally stopped it just in time!

Final curtain call.  Not exactly "The Greatest Showman" but a little song and hand clap to say goodbye.  Nice!

"The Cast" as they call themselves.  I guess it is a performance, like a play or musical, because it's all "scripted."

Take a bow part 1

Take a bow part 2

The end!

Good bye!  Time to go home!  While they have one more show to do at 7 pm.

Interesting graphic showing how much soy and corn plays into our daily lives.  I won't get on my soapbox, but this is actually a perfect way to share with people that we have too much of this gmo filled stuff in our homes, which disrupts our hormones when taken in large quantities.  Each individual item is ok I guess, but it's the cumulative effect of it all.  Sorry, farmers, I know it's your livelihood and I applaud your efforts, but I don't want all of this in my home.

Second to last stop, the tractors!  We were trying to walk past them quickly, but of course Abishai noticed them.  He's like a kid in a candy shop, except it's a tractor display.  He had to sit on all of them and that cheesy grin shows you how much he really enjoyed it.  He's more into big machines than the others were.  I let them do the same thing when they were little.

A moderate sized (small?) combine!  I wanted to take his picture in front of it, but then I saw these....

....Those are some large, real, sharp blades!  Um, don't go near those!  I'm sure I can find a farmer to take him up in a combine someday.  We do live in Indiana, land of cornfields and soybean fields, after all.  However, Abishai did notice the grain chute hanging over us and pointed it out to us and told it what it was for.  I'm impressed!

Last, last stop for mini funnel cakes because that's usually the only fair food I like to have that I can't buy anywhere else.  I wanted to try one of the more creative fried foods like fried pickles or fried Twinkies or fried Oreos, but we ran out of time and money.  But we got 'er done.  And now I'll eat gluten for a week and see if/what my symptoms are because these funnel cakes were definitely not gluten free.  Abishai and I split one, but I had to yank it back because he was so hungry and almost devoured in under a minute!  He had refused to drink his milk or eat much of his grilled cheese sandwich, so he was starving.

Justin and Keturah shared one, too.

Yummy!

What a funny face!  I think I had the selfie camera on and he wanted his picture so we took several of him.  This one just cracks me up!!

If you ignore the top and bottom signs, I know we appreciate the middle one in our household.  "If Mom says No, Ask Grandpa" because it's so true!

We had a very hard time trying to wake Abishai up.  It took Mr. Chatterbox a few minutes to all asleep in the car (sugar buzz from the funnel cake), but then he was in deep sleep by the time we pulled into the driveway 30 minutes later.  We hardly had any traffic, which is a miracle because usually the highways I took are backed up at that time.  We didn't let him sleep through until morning though because his pull up was wet (he had told me earlier that he had need to go pee, but we were in the circus at the time and I told him to just use his pull up) and he desperately needed some food.  Poor baby, all tuckered out.  We were all exhausted, especially me, mentally, from making all the split second decisions all day and keeping track of everyone and everything.  I got home and I just wanted to be alone.  Jared had started some supper, but it still took a while to put it all together.  We ended up eating a lot later than normal.  But it was one crazy, successful day at the Indiana State Fair where no one got dehyrdated or had a headache, everyone got to see and do things they liked, we had our fair food, and no one got a sunburn.  2018 Indiana State Fair is in the books!