Last Monday, Amanda, myself, and Amanda’s mother all gathered up the boys and several backpacks filled with supplies and trekked out to the Iowa State Fair. It’s a yearly pilgrimage, and a welcome one at that. I feel as though this year we didn’t get to see everything we would have liked. While we got to check out the butter cow and the butter Harry Potter, sample many exotic fried fair foods (as well as my annual lamb burger), and even watch a concert on the Bill Riley stage, there were a few things left off the list for the sake of the children. We never even managed to get up the giant hill this year, so the Pioneer hall remained untouched by our presence. No brief glimpses of the fantastic photography, pottery, or other artistic efforts nestled within the confines of the Cultural Center. No Pork Producers tent. No wood and/or ice carving exhibitions. No lions, tigers, OR bears. Just lots of smelly animals (that I used to take care of myself, back in THE DAY), arms covered in tattoos, hot sweaty faces, ice cream, and sore feet. And the general good feeling that Amanda and I are doing what we can to keep the boys familiar with their small farming community roots.

Oh, and Dan Wardell. Caleb has an unhealthy fascination with that man. Photos of our day can be found at Flickr.