WE GO TO THE STATE FAIR!

The thing you have to understand is that, for Sloane, going to the state fair and seeing all the farm animals there is the equivalent of a huge celebrity sighting for an adult, if that adult cares about such things. 

We went to the state fair last year (and she wore the same chambray shirt! partly because I buy her clothes a little bigger and partly because she is little for her age...allegedly) and although she initially seemed interested in the cows, was terrified when we actually got up to them and she realized they were ginormous.  However, this year, she was 100% on board and couldn't have been more excited to touch the animals and get up close. 

A sweet passerby randomly offered to take a family photo for us. 

I wish she told me my shirt was doing a weird scrunchy thing. 

But also, Sloane seems so grown up here! 

Hey a quick game of find the baby girl with her papa!

The horse stables are my favorite. When I was young, my parents sent us to this summer camp for a few years where, among other things, we learned how to ride horses, and I loved it so much. I love seeing each of the horses; they are terribly majestic.

This girl showed us her horse and Sloane took it all in, her eyes wide as saucers. 

We ventured into the area that had the kiddie rides and games and we let Sloane play one game that had to do with picking up plastic ducks out of water. She 'won' and picked out a stuffed cow as her prize! She was pleased with herself and carried that cow around all weekend. 

This girl LOVES her ice cream. She gets it from her papa. 

She is also good at sharing. She gets that from her mama. 

And then we happened upon an area where they were offering pony rides! All the time we were looking at the horses, Sloane would ask if she could get on one, and I told her that unfortunately, she probably couldn't get on one for a few years, but then there we were! pony rides for anyone under 85 pounds! I was so excited for her I could hardly stand it.  Ken and I gave her pep talks, wondering if she would be able to handle it without getting freaked out, but turns out, she is a PRO. When it was her turn, she got on the saddle, sat straight up, held tight to the horn and rode that pony as if she'd been doing it all her life. The joy and pride that was coursing through that little body was pretty much the best thing ever. Ken and I were beside ourselves. There we were, two regular folk, watching this tiny human being that we had created (!) experiencing pure joy from being on a pony for five minutes.  This is the stuff life is made of, we would reflect to each other later.