Sheep Show Day at the Iowa State Fair!

Saturday, August 18- It was time to go back to the Iowa State Fair for that most awesome day -- sheep show day! Suffolk sheep, more specifically. I beat Mom and Dad there, and found Deb Van Arkel and Thea right away. (See a photo below left of me with Thea). We hugged and talked. Eventually my parents arrived, and Emily Van Arkel.


We all got to chat and I got to meet Emily’s boyfriend, about whom she is quite serious. I decided to go get my traditional cinnamon role breakfast. Dad got a longing look on his face, so I offered to get him one, too. He gave me cash for it. I stood in line for a while, and an even longer line of people formed behind me. Then, once I bought the rolls, they gave me three dollars in quarters as change. I was annoyed, but there were so many people waiting for their turn that I didn’t want to cause a fuss.

I poured the quarters into my pocket and made my family and friends in the sheep barn laugh when I pulled them out, one-by-one, to give Dad his change. He told me to keep it, so I poured it back in my pocket until it was time to buy us lemonade. I made the rounds, getting hugs from the other sheep families. Many of them were surprised to see me, and it was fun to see them. The little ones have grown so much. They do that when you’re not looking, don’t they? Mom and Dad and I went to the Beef Tent for lunch where I had the Hot Beef Sundae (Mashed potatoes, hot beef in gravy, a sprinkling of cheese and a cherry tomato on top). Usually it’s too hot for me to enjoy such a thing, but early on it was still cool enough to enjoy.

Then Mom and I checked out the Marketplace…which is basically a huge, live building-o-infomercials. The most interesting thing we saw were the sugar gliders on display (see photo at left from www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/5034/). They’re cute, tiny marsupials who constantly live in their owners’ pockets. I love pets and miss having one, but I don’t think I’d want one on me permanently. It’s a huge commitment: they live 15 years! I’m worried about their environmental impact, too. What does their extraction do to the environment from which they’re taken? As Emily (an environment expert) pointed out, what do they do to our environment if owners tire of them and turn them loose in the wild?

Suzy Grey (well, she’s married, so it’s something else now) showed up. She’s a childhood friend of Em’s, and we all used to hang out at the fair. We met up with Lauren, another childhood friend of Em’s/Fair friend of mine. (At left is a photo of Suzy, Lauren and Emily at the fair. I stole it from Lauren's blog. We perused the 4-H building, which was a lot of fun. Then I spit off from the group to reunite with my family. By then, it had heated up and I was hit by an evil headache. Mom agreed to drive me home after supper. Dad and I had barbecued leg of lamb sandwiches (yum!) and Mom got us all gorgeous shakes from the Dairy Barn. Oh, such yumminess. I had hoped to stay late and spend more time with the girls, but the headache just got me to throw in the towel.

When we got home, grandpa had just started Sleepless in Seattle. We all sat down to watch it together. Then I did some packing and went to bed. My last night in Iowa, my last night with my family...my last chance to back out if I really wanted to.