Texas State Fair!

While Greg and I were in DC Debbie and Jerry (Maw Maw and Poppa) kept the kids for us. On Friday they took all the grandkids to the Texas State Fair. I have asked Debbie to write a post for me about all that happened since I was not there! Thank you Debbie for your entry:)







We had a wonderful visit to the State Fair of Texas! First we went to see Big Tex. He greeted us with his big "Howdy" like he always does. (Reese thanked God for Big Tex in his prayer the next night.)

From there we went to see the area of farm products from Texas. We each were given a free ice cream cone, made from milk from Texas cows and a tiny hamburger made with Texas beef. Elsie the Borden cow & her calf, Beauregard, were there for us to pet. We saw a bee hive, corn and its by-products and cotton with its by-products. This was especially fun since the kids are growing cotton at our house! We saw a miniature cotton gin and saw how it separates the seeds from the cotton. Then we saw a big bale of cotton. We discussed that they won't have enough cotton for a bale like that so Abby suggested that they could keep what they make this year & make more next year! Charlie observed that it's a good thing we have cotton or we'd all have to go naked!

Then we headed over to see all the animals and the kids' farm. A farm had been set up for the kids, run by volunteers from the area FFA (Future Farmers of America) clubs. Each of the kids was given an apron, a basket & a bag of feed for the animals (these animals weren't real.) They got to "water" the peach trees & pick a peach. (Very realistic looking peaches--Landry had hoped to keep & eat his!) Then they fed the chickens & gathered an egg. Each of the kids got to feed a cow & hook the milking machine up to her. She must have given a lot because everyone got a milk carton for their baskets. They fed the sheep & got wool from them. They also got to pick a "seed", go plant & "water" it then go to the next area & pick a vegetable that matched their seed. Each one got to drive a tractor out to feed one of the animals. After they'd gathered all their farm goods they went to the farmers market to sell them. They placed all their goods in display baskets and were given a "dollar" for all their hard work. They were able to take their earnings & buy 2 snacks with them. As we left, we had a "family portrait" taken!

We got to see, pet & feed all kinds of animals, many with babies. We also saw some foreign animals, including the kind of cattle Poppa saw pulling wagons in India.

We were at the fair on Texas/OU weekend so we saw lots of orange & red. The kids got to see the Cotton Bowl, including looking down into the end zone, where they'd see the game being played the next day on TV. We got a great shot of everyone practicing their "Hook 'em Horns" in front of the Cotton Bowl! It's not as easy as it looks!!! Reese thought he had to have them on his head.

We had a wonderful time & look forward to another year at the fair.

While we're still close to the subject of football--we were watching the Texas/OU game the next day & were talking football with Reese--pointing out the different positions, where the ball was & where Texas needed to get it to. Later, Reese asked Poppa to tell him about the "bank football players." We kept trying to figure out what he was talking about when he said, "they make quarters and give them back." (meaning quarterback)