No summer is complete without a trip to the Iowa State Fair and last week we did just that! The past couple of years we have parked at the capitol and taken the bus to the fairgrounds, I would highly recommend this mode of transportation, it works out really nicely! Anyway, our first stop was at the Family Center to check out the cakes...and look at this one, this cake basically is the fair! It has the sky glide, the butter cow, a pig, a cow...everything one would want to see! Heather was amazed!
Outside the building, I was amazed by the hydrangeas, we just planted two of these bushes in our front yard, but they are no where near the size of ones at the fair...again I was amazed!
Inside the 4-H building we found a soda cow, not exactly the butter cow, but I am sure it took some work putting this one together.
Of course, we made a stop in the horse barn, one of our favorite stops, to see the Percheron horses.
We went from big horses to the big bull!
...and then the big boar, Tiny weighing in at 1,196lbs, he is a purebred hampshire from Postville, IA!
...and then we walked through the cattle barn...watch wear you step!
We swung through the Agriculture Center to see the famous butter cow!
...and out to the Grand Concourse for a little people watching.
This year, with baby on board, we jumped on the sky glide and took it to the top of the hill!
At Pioneer Hall, this quartet was playing...on the left, the banjo, then the fiddle, the washtub bass and the guitar, yes that is a washtub bass, awesome!
This years sand sculpture was a tribute to the butter cow!
As the day was winding down for us, we stopped in the Pavilion to watch the dog show...it was awesome!
We, of course, loved the beagle!
As we were getting ready to leave, we made a stop at the giant slide!
Who doesn't love the giant slide!
We had a great time at this years Iowa State Fair, we saw a ton and we left with soar feet, so I take that as a successful year!
Heather does her best dragon impression!
Then we made our way out on the new Center Street pedestrian bridge. (They are working on the west side approach to the bridge, but you can still access the bridge from the east) If you haven't been to this bridge yet, you should really check it out, it's very cool!
After the bridge, we stopped at a few shops in the East Village and then headed home to get ready for supper. We met up with Brent and Doreen and headed to Firecreek in West Des Moines for a great meal!
Me and the birthday girl!
No birthday is complete without the traditional birthday cake cookie!
Happy Birthday Heather! I love you and hope you had a great birthday!
