Hometown Date: It's Fair Week!!

It's one of our favorite weeks of the year...fair week! Howard County has a great 4H Fair...one of the best around, I've heard from many people who attend multiple county fairs each year.

I was looking back at some of my posts from our other years at the fair, and we've had some fun memories and made good traditions, I see! The first year we went together, Ryan got me on the Ferris Wheel, which was a feat in and of itself, since I'm not a lover of rides. The second year was apparently all about the food...and last year, Ryan got roped into riding a crazy swirly ride with our friend Shawn's kids!

This year, the night we went called for rain, and it actually never came, but we were trying to hurry all night, just to make sure we had everything done in case it DID rain.

Ahhhh... a beautiful sight to behold coming into town!

Ryan's favorite thing every year is the LEMON SHAKE-UP!! We had his refill cup in tow so he could visit that place first!

{That's ice cream in my hand, and if you ask Ryan, he'll tell you he only got ONE BITE, but I assure you that is so not true. He got WAY more than one bite.}

My friend Amber walked around with us, and I did get my picture with her, but I am pretty sure she'd just prefer that I keep that off the blog, so I will, but I have to tell you how much that picture cracks me up because it was taken right after I got the ice cream, and I don't think I've smiled that big since our wedding day. LOL! I was a little TOO excited about that treat!

We ran into one of Ryan's co-workers when we visited the {fried} veggie place, and she let us sit with her!

We wandered through the livestock barn, because our niece was showing a hog this year and I wanted to see it, and on the way, I found this cow sacked out in a bowl of food. HA! This is my kind of nap!

When we finally found the hog, we also found our niece! She was excited to crawl right in and show us the ropes! I was excited to stay OUTSIDE the gate.

{Fun fact: Ryan showed hogs his whole growing-up life. I am sorry I never got anywhere near the barn back then! I tried to find a picture of him from those days, but was unsuccessful. He's probably happy for that!}

Anyway, by the time we made our way through the hog barn, we decided to call it a night and head home. Except...we got sidetracked. Imagine that!

When we were growing up {in Greentown, where the fair is held}, we loved going to the Comet Cone, and for those of you not from around here, that was a little local burger and ice cream place. It closed several years ago, and I always wanted someone to buy the building and resurrect the Comet Cone. Well, someone bought it and while they didn't bring it back as it used to be, they did remodel it and rename it! It's now called the Hydration Station, and we decided to stop by for coffee before leaving town!

Delicious! We just got fresh brew, but I had some caramel added to mine and it was pretty heavenly. And because we hadn't enjoyed enough treats, Ryan may have had a muffin with his coffee!

 I hope they do really well, because I would love to see a fresh start for a place with such great memories!

We took Amber home, and that was the end of our evening at the fair! The next day, while Ryan was at work, I went back to watch the actual hog showing adventure. That was completely new to me, because I wasn't a 4-H girl growing up.

Poor girl, she was SO EXCITED to do this, and then something got rearranged in the schedule and we all had to wait about four hours for her turn. I don't know if you've ever hung out in a hog barn for four hours {with kids} waiting for your turn, but it's quite an experience.

You do sweaty selfies:

You visit other pigs {this one was my favorite}:

You practice for when you get big and it's your turn:

You sack out in the back of the stroller with your cowboy boots on the wrong feet:

You do your prep work:

And FINALLY, you hear your turn called!

So I came home smelling like pig - not the bacon kind - and very sweaty, but I was glad I went and got to see a whole new side of the fair!!