The Fair!

** Please know that we were terribly saddened by the tragedy at the Indiana State Fair last weekend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the people involved, especially the families of those who lost their lives. We visited the fair just a few days before the tragedy, so while we had a wonderful time, the devastating events that occurred on Saturday have certainly weighed heavily on our hearts.**


It's fair time in these here Midwestern parts, and we at the Tatum house had never been more excited about the State Fair than we were this year.
Why, you ask?

Because the Indiana State Fair means one thing more than anything:

TRACTORS!

Ok, well maybe 'farming' is a better, more accurate answer, but whatever...

If you know our Stinker at all, then you know that he ADORES tractors (as long as they aren't on). Phil and I have been to the fair a few times since we have lived here, so we knew that it would be like a visit to paradise for Luke. Sure enough, we were right.

This was his reaction when he saw the field full of tractors.



He first climbed up on a shiny backhoe loader with Daddy...
(and was a little upset that another little boy joined him in the cab.)

...but quickly decided he wanted to drive the tractors all by himself.

Driving is serious business.

No time for smiles.
(Mommy really needs to learn how to use her camera so she can start focusing on Luke instead of steering wheels...)

This was a "train one", according to the Stinker.

We finally coerced the Big Man to move on to another part of the fair, and it wasn't long before we came upon a little corn patch. It's Indiana, after all, so there is corn everywhere. It's even grown in the medians between the streets at the fair.

Luke was a little scared to walk into the corn stalks for a photo op, but he warmed up. Not enough to look at the camera, though.


And speaking of not looking at the camera, I thought I'd give y'all a little glimpse into what it's like trying to get a decent picture of Luke and Mommy.

And these aren't even all of them. There are more.

Not a single one, however, of him looking at the camera. 

And smiling? Forget about it.

He was a little more cooperative when there was a tractor involved.

I think this may be my favorite picture EVER.
EVER.

Next up were the animals. This is actually my favorite part of the fair.
Aside from the food, of course.

Have you ever seen oxen up close? Do you know how big these guys are??
E. NOR. MOUS.



Hopefully you can get a little bit of an idea from this picture. 

Luke was obviously more impressed with the way this random boy just stood in front of the oxen and talked his head off.

Then we got to feed some lambs. I think. They were shorn and near goats as well as sheep, so it was hard to tell if they were lambs or kids. Whatev. Luke was tickled that they ate out of his hand.

On our way to the other side of the fairgrounds, we stopped to watch the daily parade go by.

I adore his little wave. 

Please notice who is pushing the stroller.
He was insistent that he push and not ride.

We soon came upon the pigs. I always love the pigs. This year I really felt for this mama. This is about how I felt when I was breastfeeding.

I thought this Z Donk was so cool. It's a mix between a zebra and a donkey, and yes, that's its real name. Phil made fun of me for taking so many pictures of it.



This guy was by far my favorite of all the the wild things.


Finally it was time for some fair food!

We always, always get a pork tenderloin sandwich at the fair. It's a slice of tenderloin, flattened, breaded, and fried on a regular sized bun. Heaven. Usually. This time the stand where we always get them had disappeared, so we tried a new one. Not nearly as good, but not bad.

Because we knew the Stinker wouldn't know what he was missing (and because we are cheap!), we just packed him a dinner from home. So when he got to have his very own 'green chocolate chip' ice cream, he was pumped.

The highlight of his entire fair experience was riding on the tractor shuttle, though. All day, every day at the fair they have several huge John Deere tractors that pull a long line of covered seating and act as little shuttles taking people all around the fair. Luke had been dying to ride on one all day long, but they were always full whenever they passed. We tried waiting in line a few times during the day to ride on one, but someone who shall remain nameless (rhymes with "fill") was not willing to wait very long. Finally, as we were almost at the exit, we saw some people getting off the shuttle a little ways ahead, so Mommy tackled people sprinted through people to get us on. We skipped our exit and rode all the way around the entire fair.

See this face? It was worth it.
(It was dark and there was a random light over part of his face, so I had to monkey with the picture a lot, but I wanted you to be able to see the Big Man in his element.)

And of course he wouldn't sit in my lap. He had to sit in his own seat.
I jumped off for a second at a stop and risked losing my seat to get this shot.



But he did ask me to hold his hand.
Best part of the fair by far.