A country carnival

It's not often my girls get to stand on the steps of a giant tractor, but here they are doing just that at the Interstate Fair in West Salem, Wisconsin. It has occured to me during our vacation that Lauren would make an excellent farm kid; she loves animals, playing outside, and isn't averse to getting dirty!


The fair is just a few miles from my parents' house, and we headed over after supper when the temperatures had cooled. We began by traipsing through several barns filled with cows, pigs, horses, chickens, rabbits, and (yes, Lauren was in heaven!) ducks. Many of the animals were judged as 4-H exhibits and had ribbons attached to their stalls and pens. We saw a few spring calves born last March and a bevy of oinkers with names such as Porkchop, Hammy, and even Austin Powers. I love their curly tails, and they all looked so fat and happy.

Dad and I watched the girls whirl about on carnival rides and then we walked around and looked at everything all lit up while the kids indulged in sticky wads of pink and blue cotton candy. None of us had batter-fried cheese curds (though we've certainly had them since arriving in America's Dairyland), but they definitely did smell enticing when I walked by the cheese curd vendor. Mmmmmmm! A sure sign of an authentic Wisconsin country fair!