Iowa State Fair Adventures

Welcome to the 2011 Iowa State Fair "where nothing compares."
We started off our day with lunch! Then we checked out some HUGE pumpkins!

Before venturing inside to see the Butter Cow. Ooooh!

And, some dinner plate Dahlias that reminded me of my California cousin Linda, who grows come huge dinner plate Dahlias. (They are the size of a dinner plate.)

The Butter Cow was in a cooled facility and there was a huge line to see it!

So, I got my photo with a big chicken instead.

And, we tried out some honey sticks from some busy bees.

Pretty soon it was snacktime, so I went with a sliced caramel apple with nuts. YuM!

Matt got fried butter on a stick.

It was actually only half a stick of butter.

That was dipped in batter and either sprinkled with powdered sugar or frosting.

I took a bite...it tasted like a cinnamon roll with butter!

Then we checked out the animals.

Jennifer and I budged in front of a bunch of kids to get these great pics. This calf was from a dairy farm near Davenport, Iowa. They said we western Iowans just have large dairy facilities, not many family owned dairies due to Wells Blue Bunny needing lots of milk to make ice cream.

Some cows were getting baths.

And, one bull was NOT happy to be tied up and paraded in front of tourists. Bubba was huge!

And, he was pink in some spots. Not sure why.

We saw elk.

And goats who chewed through fencing.

And we saw two fat pigs named Fatty (above) and Tiny.

Then Matt wanted to check out the tractors.

The 4-H building was having a talent show and a cow made from 765 recycled pop cans.

Matt voted in the "corn poll" for the next President.

It looked like rain for a bit, but the sky cleared up and the show went on!

So we quickly ate dinner on the curb. I got a chicken wrap, Matt got a turkey leg. And for dessert a peanut butter rice krispie on a stick. Everything is more fun when eaten on a stick.

Then we left Chris and Jennifer to wander more of the fair, so Matt and I could go see Reba!

But first we saw Jarred Nieman. He was good and sang a lot of covers.

Then the red headed royalty of country music sang! Matt was loving it.

She sang some new and old songs, but they were all good.

We stayed in Ames that night then on Sunday we got up early to get to Hickory Park (because it was move in weekend). We ate lots of bbq food then Chris took us on a tour of campus.

Jennifer and Chris took a photo by the Lake Laverne at Ia State while the man swans were across the lake. Phew!

It was a lot of fun, but man were our legs tired from all the walking! Definitely try eating as many things on a stick as you can, when you attend the Iowa State Fair.