The Fair Is a Veritable Smorgasbord

The Ohio State Fair, that is.

What I ate at the fair today, more or less in the order I ate it:

1. A lamb gyro

2. A lemon shake-up

3. Ice cream in the dairy barn (while admiring the Butter Cow)

4. Another lemon shake-up

5. Grilled corn on the cob with hot sauce (not Tabasco, but similar . . . it was VERY good)

6. An Italian sausage with grilled onions and peppers and marinara sauce on a bun

7. Another lemon shake-up

8. The rest of the girls' funnel cake and elephant ear

9. Inky Dinky Donuts

10. One more lemon shake-up for the road

Glut! Glut! Glut!

The girls had corn dogs as well. Now Baboo is in the bathroom puking up funnel cake. A lesson in moderation, I suppose.

Skittles is across the street at the cousins', eating! What she can possibly have room for is God's own mystery. Personally, I won't be eating again until Halloween.

Below are some images from the fair.

This is the state flag of Ohio. It is the only US state flag that is not rectangular.

This is a view from the Sky Ride. One of the funniest moments of the fair was when I passed a gondola heading the other direction. In it were two Hispanic men, talking on the phone, in speaker-phone mode in rapid-fire, idiomatic Mexican Spanish. One of them was holding the phone, and they both were carrying on a detailed conversation with whomever was on the other end. I couldn't hear enough to tell you what they were saying, but it just tickled me.

Skittles climbed the Corn Wall. I was so proud of her. She didn't make it to the top, but she had never climbed anything like this before.

"It's hard work!" she said. No kidding.

Three cousins rode the Avalanche. Skittles was brave enough to try the Corn Wall, but not brave enough to ride the Avalanche. Excuse me. The Fiery Fist o' Pain!

She was brave enough to tackle an elephant ear, however.

Here is Baboo working on the Funnel Cake of Doom.

They all tried fishing in the Department of Natural Resources park.

We saw the Great Lakes Timber Show. Here they are demonstrating competitive log rolling.

And spring-board tree chopping.

We also saw Retriever Dogs in Action! but that was during the fishing portion of the day, and I didn't get any photos.

The cousins met Smokey the Bear, who had them pledge to never-ever, ever-ever play with matches, lighters, or fire. Interestingly, he also knew their names, which rocked their little world.

We did not get to see this.

My brother told me that those are monkeys racing on sheep. But I think he was pulling my leg and that the event involves children instead. Not sure which is worse. Guess I ought not be offended by monkey acts in the Moscow Circus when we have World Championship Mutton Bustin'.

I guess the difference is that here in the US of A, we're Bustin' for Glory!

We did get to see an All Breed Dog Agility demonstration. It was a riot. Included breeds as diverse as pugs and Weimaraners. Pure hilarity.

The photo below is from the Sheep Barn.

Me: "That's one big ass ceiling fan."

My brother: "I think that's really the brand name of these fans."

Pause while the two of us move our heads around and around in little circles trying to read the name on the center of the fan works.

It was, indeed, a Big Ass Fan.

The fair also includes concerts every evening. Alice Cooper played opening day with special guest Blue Oyster Cult. Since I saw Alice last summer, I know he puts on a good show. And I would not mind hearing "Don't Fear the Reaper" under the August stars.

But the concert I really want to see is Wednesday night.

Foreigner and Eddie Money. I love Eddie Money! For $24. Wouldn't that be a blast? Is anyone willing to go with me? Show starts at 7:00 p.m.

Two tickets to paradise . . .

In other news, the garage sale netted about $25 for each of us (that's me and my father), not counting what I spent on advertising. Seriously, I don't think I covered my expenses. The good news is that we did make some things go away. But sheesh. I honestly expected to make a couple hundred bucks off this. Times is tough all over, I guess.

In other, other news, the girls start a week-long art camp tomorrow. They are very excited. They participated in this last year and enjoyed it immensely. There was an article in the Columbus Dispatch yesterday about how this might be the last year of this program, so I'm glad they get one more chance.

Now, off to bed.

Must digest.