Is That Fair?

We're back!!!! From where you ask? Well... Every year we go back to my husband's family farm for a week. We always plan a trip back to our farm in the month of July, so we are there during the time of the Iroquois County Fair.  It gives us a chance to see a lot of people in one place. Plus our little grandsons get a chance to ride some rides and eat a lot of fair food AKA junk.  Little boys go for county fairs in a big way. 

Fair food covers the major food groups, fat, sugar, and salt.

From year to year there isn't much that changes as far as visiting our farm.

Corn still grows

Beans still grow

But this year we did have a few unexpected activities that brings me to quite a different subject than what I initially thought I would be writing about today.


Thought Number One:  Genetics:  Who To Blame for What

What does going to a fair in Illinois have to do with genetics, you ask?  I will get to that in a moment.

First let me introduce our daughter.......Meet Kiddo #1

My cartoon doesn't do her justice. Kiddo #1 is a beauty.

There is a family resemblance, don't you think?

Over the years my husband and I  have played a game called "They got that from your side of the family!" regarding both of our kids. Yes, we have dissected both the physical and the behavioral aspects of both Kiddo #1 and Kiddo # 2 to take credit for or blame the appropriate gene pool.

For example: Both kiddos got their daddy's height.  Both kiddos got my dark hair.  We both take credit for their sense of humors which we credit not to the fact either of us are particularly funny but more to the fact we have provided them with enough chaos and crazy they have had a steady stream of material to laugh at.

BUT WE ARE STUMPED about how Kiddo #1 is so calm when things go wrong.

Thought Number Two:  OOPS Something Went Wrong

As it tuned out...our normal routine of meeting up with relatives,  eating fair food, seeing demolition derbies, seeing lots of livestock...all the things that go with visiting farm country for a week...there was the added component of a call from the hotel desk to Kiddo #1 and her husband.

Desk:  What  kind of car do you drive?

Now you know that is never a good thing when the front desk calls your room and asks what are you driving......AND ...it wasn't in this case either.

AS it happens....a semi truck was parking his rig in the Hilton parking lot.  Parking wasn't the problem really.  It was the LEAVING that got him in trouble.

Coming out to the parking lot...SURPRISE!!!

WHO BROKE MOMMY'S CAR????

Don't you think this would make someone irritable.  Not our daughter.  When hubby and I arrived amid the police taking the report and tracking down the truck driver that had decided to leave, she had made some necessary calls and tracked down a rental car so they could get on with their vacation. All of this was being done with a smile and calm demeanor. 

Daughter tells us that all will all be taken care of.  She has the truck driver's  insurance information and everything is under control.  She is being all rational and level-headed.  There is just no accounting whose gene pool this is from.





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Fair Time Again

Every year in July, my husband and I take a few days to travel back to our farm.  Yes, we are city dwellers that bought a farm.  A long complicated story how we arrived at being farm owners .....but part-time farmers we are. I am sure that some people would think we were quite insane to spend the money to buy  into such an "iffy" proposition.

 My husband's family settled in the northeast part of Illinois in the late 1800's and the area is "home" for him.  We are quite fortunate that while he opted not to be a full time farmer, his brother not only loves farming but agreed to "farm" our farm as well. We get the luxury of visiting from time to time without having to actually do the work. (NOTE: my brother-in-law is not only a wonderful guy is is an AWESOME farmer.)


Thought Number One:  I drive the men who work on the farm nuts.

Every year I find something new to stick my nose in.  This year was no different.  We arrived just in time to see the crop dusting.  Now to my husband and brother-in-law, this doesn't seem overly exciting.  I, on the other hand, think this is so cool. 

This year, thanks to the extreme heat and dry conditions the corn crops are prone to fungus problems.  Additionally, the beans are being dusted for spidermites.  Again this dry, hot year is fostering pests. 

The men, despite trying to get their work done, humored me and answered my multitude of questions on how the helicopter refueled and reloaded chemicals.  So far this summer the three men dusting these crops have dusted more that 15,000 acres. 

I asked him how long it took to land on the truck to reload.  The turn around time is less than 40 seconds.

Thought Number Two -  Meet Me at The Fair

For my long time readers, you might remember that Hubby and I always time one of our farm trips to coincide with the county fair.  This allows us to meet up with all of our relatives in one place.  It also, allows us to eat junk food for a couple of days and rationalize it by telling ourselves that we will walk off the calories hanging out at the fair.

Additionally, I love watching my two little grandkids enjoying  the rural atmosphere. (They, also, are city dwellers.)



Little G-boy #2 eating ice cream.  He is getting as much
on his clothes as in his mouth but that isn't bothering
him.



Little G-boy #1 is pretend driving one of the antique tractors
while little brother is adjusting a light.

Fishing for prizes.  They both caught a fish.

Baby ducks are so cute.

G-boy #1 (in the blue shirt)  got to count down the start of
the demolition derby.  5-4-3-2-1 GO

Little brother didn't mind the ice cream all over
him but doesn't like the dust
from the demolition derby.

With the help of my nephew Shawn (orange shirt) and my Son-in-law, both little boys get to come down the big slide.
 
 
 
 
 

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Meet Me At The Fair

My husband's family volunteer a lot of their time to help organize the county fair. My brother-in-law is especially involved in the planning so we try to make it back to Iroquois County, IL during the fair time to support all of his effort.

Probably every county has some type of agricultural equivalent of the county fair and a lot of those are affiliated with the 4 H clubs. 

A little blurb off of the 4H website.

Through America’s 109 land-grant universities and its Cooperative Extension System, 4-H reaches every corner of our nation—from urban neighborhoods to suburban schoolyards to rural farming communities. With a network of more than 6 million youth, 540,000 volunteers, 3,500 professionals, and more than 60 million alumni, 4-H helps shape youth to move our country and the world forward in ways that no other youth organization can.

While I didn't live on a farm, I did participate in 4H.  I don't remember every project I ever did, but I do remember constructing the world's ugliest skirt at one point.  Needless, to say, it did not win the blue ribbon. 

My husband and his brothers were avid 4Hers and raised animals to show every year at the Illinois fairs. They traveled all summer from one fair to the next with their assorted animals.

So what does any of that have to do with today's post? 

People are quick to point out how many kids are not responsible, or are rude or lazy or any number of negatives but....there are 6 million kids out there in America that work all year to bring their projects to be judged at the local county fairs.  We need to support their effort.  We need to walk through the show barns, and the exhibition halls, and buy tickets to the programs that support the kids.

So this year we drove from Kansas City to Iroquois County Fair

Here are just a few of the things that we did at the fair.


The Big Cat Show

One of the first shows we went to was the Big Cat Show.   Clayton Rosaire is a ninth generation animal trainer that has a  wild life habitat in Sarasota, Florida.  He has been bringing his cats to the fair for the last few years. Besides being a really nice guy, his cats are amazing.  You can read about the show and the habitat by clicking here.

Clayton standing with his lion, Handsome
Handsome is quite handsome, don't you think?

Clayton with Mia.  Mia is a liger. She is a really rare breed.



grandson #2 is way more interested in his stroller than the lions and tigers
He is just over the chickenpox so he gets to chillax a bit.

Handsome is discussing world affairs with us.

Demolition Derby

I thought maybe the grandsons would find this too noisy but they seemed to find it pretty entertaining. 



Demolition Derby judges

Visit with assorted animals

Draft Horses

Eyeing the chicks (from a 3 yr old's perspective)



Chickenpox survivor still just chillaxin in his stroller with his binky

 Ride the Rides
As far as Grandson #1 was concerned the best part of the fair was the rides.  He particularly liked the slides.

Had to sit on daddy's lap as G-boy didn't meet the height requirement

A smaller slide that a 3 year old can maneuver

Slides are fun

Eat Fair Food
 We all like the "tasty but not so good for you" fair food.





The Good for the Day....a lot of fun seeing all the animals and the exhibits

The Bad for the Day....Really, really HOT

The Weird for the Day...Handsome is thinking how tasty we would be with a little BBQ sauce.

Green Acres



My husband grew up on a farm. His family stayed in the same geographical area for his entire childhood surrounded by their very large extended family.  I, for the most part, have always lived in towns or cities.  My family moved around a bit as a kid but I did spend a large portion of my childhood in the vicinity of Iroquois County, Illinois.  I met my now husband when he was 12 years old while my dad was drilling a water well for one of the buildings on the farm. I was 11 and remember him as being tall and skinny.




Anyway...Thursday, we headed back to his family farm, which he now co-owns with his two brothers.  My husband and his brothers look at their farm not only from the perspective of their family history but also from the perspective of costs, profits, production, blah, blah, blah...more work than fun. 

It turns out that it takes a great deal of work to plant crops like soybeans.



My brother-in-law is a good guy and a good farmer






We are pretty much the equivalent of a modern version of Green Acres with a twist.  My husband knows a lot about being a good farmer as he grew up on the farm. BUT.... He likes the city life.  I know next to nothing about farming, much like Eddie Albert's character, Oliver and I think farming looks interesting...dare I say fun.  So in our version hubby is Lisa and I am Oliver.

From where we live in Kansas City it takes 7.5 hours to get to Iroquois County, IL.  We always take the small state highways as opposed to the Interstate highways because it makes for a far more interesting drive.
Oddly enough, taking the backroads gets you there in exactly the same amount of time. 


This is what would see if one would drive on the Interstate



Ahhh, the beauty of traveling the Interstate (you do get the sarcasm here, right???)



The backroads however always have neat things to look at. 



If you ever need some tacky souvenirs, Nostalgiaville is the place to get them.
Need anything with Betty Boop on it???  Kingdom City, MO




Crossing the Mississippi at Louisiana, Mo




The Mississippi River (my tinted widows are making it look dark...it wasn't)

 Stopped in Springfield, Illinois for lunch.  If you haven't ever visited the historical area of Springfield it is worth a look.  The Lincoln Museum and Library is really interesting.



Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, IL

Be sure to check out the show  "Ghosts of the Library".  You won't
believe what you are seeing.



A little gas station in Dwight, IL that sits on RT 66












The little town near hubby's family farm is L' Erable.  It is tiny at around a hundred or so people.  You would have to hand count the inhabitants as the US Census doesn't recognize it as a town.  Still, it is the home to the oldest wood framed church in the state of Illinois. St. John the Baptist, Roman Catholic Church is still used today.



St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, L'Erable, IL





We recently attended a very pretty wedding
at St. John the Baptist



The largest town near our farm that would have hotels is Kankakee, Illinois.

Civil War Memorial in front of the Kankakee courthouse



As a little girl I thought this was the most magnificent waterfall.
I hadn't ever seen a real waterfall at that point.  Who knew??

Kankakee gets a lot of negative press as it has experienced an economic slump for a number of years but there is a lot of pretty places around town as well. 



We make a few trips back to the farm any given year but it is especially nice if we can go during the time of the county fair.  This year it worked out. 

So today, I am just getting you to the farm...tomorrow, I will post some farm pictures and Wednesday will be a post about our day at the fair.

The Good for the Day...It was a fun trip visiting old familiar places and seeing our family and friends.

The Bad for the day...when will this hot weather ever cool down.

The Weird for the Day... Kankakee is about 50 miles south of Chicago.  Saturday morning, we walked out of a mall to a downpour.  The rain was so heavy that it flooded nearby areas including O'Hare Airport.

A song about a train leaving from Kankakee