Mutton Bustin'

You will get the reason for the title by the end of this post, I promise. One of our favorite late Summer activities is going to our state fair. Usually we end up going on the hottest day and get super cranky by mid afternoon. This year the weather was perfect, mid seventies, partly sunny. We arrived around 11am and stood in a long line to buy ride bracelets for my husband and Bug. I am not a ride person. I can't stomach whirling, twirling, bumping and jumping. But the husband and Bug love a thrill and were excited to start.



He insisted on doing the boring canoe ride too, dancing in the boat to the silly music that played in the background.


Then he spotted some blow up plastic guitars and NEEDED one. So he "won" one on a kiddy game.


After we worked up an appetite at the carnival portion, we made our way to lunch. Then on to the animal pens to see tiny horses, pigs, cows, sheep and goats. On our way out of the animal pens we grabbed some ice cream and heard a bunch of commotion. We sat down and watched as little kids rode sheep like buckin broncos. They asked if any other kids wanted to try. We asked Bug if he wanted to try. He said " Not yet, I'm eating my ice cream." He was calm about it, watching the other kids ride and fall. When he was done with his ice cream cone he proclaimed that he was ready. He got his helmet on. They asked him his name and where he was from, then they asked him to name his sheep. He christened him "Lightning".


They put him in the shoot and off he went! With a little help from two teens, one holding the sheep's head and one hanging on to the back of Bugs shirt.





He stayed on for a long time. Once he was off the crowd was cheering and he gave them a big wave. They presented him with a blue ribbon that proclaimed him "Mutton Bustin' Champion". He is so proud of that ribbon. Then we watched Chinese acrobats, walked through the garden and photography exhibits. By that time we were beat and started walking out.
Earlier in the day we talked about the "sky lift" that runs the length of the fair grounds. None of us had taken it before and we wanted to ride it some day.
It's just like a ski lift, you ride in little benches over the tents and people below. As we were almost walking out Bug said "Are we forgetting something?" and pointed to the sky lift. We couldn't not do it then and I'm glad we did. A birds eye view of the fair is a fun sight.


As the sun went down, we left the fair for another year.