Blogging is a funny thing. There are tons of things to blog about here at the fair. The one thing that I keep thinking of is my Dad.

So Dad, this one's for you.

I want to say thank you. Thank you for the good memories from Puyallup Fair. Thank you for spending your hard earned cash on food, games, rides, and souvenirs. Thank you for letting make a Doo-Dah sand bird. Thank you for letting me get a black and white old fashioned picture taken. Thank you for standing around while I rode on endless rides. Thanks for spoiling me with scones, crusty pups, and cotton candy. Thank you for allowing me to have one of my first dates at the fair, going to the Beach boys concert. I haven't forgotten all the fun I had and how patient you were.

Now I have my own kids. Guess what. I am now standing at the Matterhorn waiting for them, just like you did. They are begging for a Doo-Dah sand birds. They want to play games and ride rides. They have enjoyed a Crusty pup and would love some cotton candy. Who knows, they may bring their first date here too.

The fair has treated generations of families to fun every year. It is exciting to know that I am giving my boys the same memories you gave me.

Dad, you are the best. Thank you.

xo Michele

We have all done it. Enjoyed a scone at the fair so much that we buy extra. Some folks microwave them the next morning to enjoy with their coffee. Some people order them up plain with hopes that freezing them will work. It just isn't the same. Nothing is better than a fresh scone out of the oven.

I love scones. With jam, plain, cheese scones, berry scones, any scones. The best scones, of course, are the Fisher Fair Scones.

I saw a box of "Fisher Fair" scone mix at Costco. I had to get it. It was pretty easy to make. You do a little bit of kneading. That isn't something I do everyday...especially with something made from a box. My boys and I mixed in water, kneaded, and cut out the triangle shapes. We got the hot scones out of the oven and loaded them up with home made jam and butter. Yummy! Mmmm, Mmmm, good. Just like the fair.

The box comes with 4 pouches. You can make a dozen scones from each pouch. All you need is water to mix it and some flour to knead it. You can do a variation by adding blueberries, cheese, or nuts. the box also has recipes for shortcake and gourmet waffles.

Enjoy!

xo Michele

When I come to the fair I feel a little gooey. Not from the food, but from the memories.

My husband proposed to me at the fair 14 years ago. I know that isn't what all girls dream of. You have to keep in mind that my husband grew up coming to the fair an was raised in Puyallup. He always thought the fair was a fun place with good memories.

This is how the story goes. After work he asked me to drive down from Seattle to go to the fair. I of course said, "NO!". I was tired and the last thing I wanted to do was walk around a bunch of animals and crowds of people. He managed to sweet talk me into it. Once we were at the fair I wanted to go on a ride, he refused. I wanted to go see an exhibit, he refused. I started to think he was being cheap! I asked why in the world did I bother coming here if you didn't want to do anything fun?

What I didn't know was that he had been at the fair earlier in the day. He made arrangements with the man at the skyride. (That is the ride that goes high above the fair grounds from one end to the other. You can see everything from up there.) He had asked the man to slam the door shut and place a huge heart on the outside. He had also asked friends to hold a 35 foot sign up while the "heart" skyride car went by.

So, we got on the ride. I had no idea there was a huge heart on the outside. He said, "Look down there!". I looked out the window and saw nothing. He got so worked up and excited that he physically moved my head so I wouldn't miss the sign that said "Michele will you marry me?" Everyone was waving. It was such a cool sight.

When we got off the ride there were people gathered around. He knelled down on one knee and gave me a ring. I said yes. I think at that moment all the animals sang a song.

I should have known this was coming. We ran into his mom and his sister. I just thought, "it's the fair of course they are here."

We have come to the fair every year remembering that moment. We still hold hands and smile. It is one of those things my kids think is great. How fun that dad asked mom to marry him at the fair!

I only have one regret. I wish we would have served scones at our wedding!!

xo Michele

Well, that was a lovely wet day at the Puyallup fair, and this proves that no matter what, the Washingtonians stick together (!) and go on the Extreme Scream which I was waaaay too chicken to do. My one regret for this fair is that I didn't go on the sling shot! Since last I wrote to you, I met a guy as obsessed with the Beatles as I am, and walked through the 4-h exhibits and way more of the expo hall. Right now though my parents and we are all pretty tired. Wow!I just looked out the window and saw one guy dressed up as a bunch of grapes and another dressed as a giant carrot. Wow you never know you are gonna see at the fair!! Toodles!! Ta ta for now!! Sincerely~ Kimmy E Latsch!!

The fair gives you the opportunity to challenge yourself. Wow! I had many very scary experiences so far today -- by going on two rides that I would not have gone one except for the urging of Sondra. One was Jumping, which takes you up, spins you around, waves you around in the air, lulls your into thinking you're going to stop. Just when you do, you're taken back up in an instant and spun some more until you gradually go down. The other was Fireball, which takes you up and makes you think you're going to hit the other cars, other people, and the trees. as we went up spinning and couldn't see anything even though it should be a great view, my friend Sondra loudly screamed "I can't see because of the stupid snow!!" It might be the last weekend of summer, but there definitely wasn't snow. Just a lot of rain.

So far, two thumbs up for the fair, and six raindrops down for the weather!! Would have shared a photo but the card reader isn't connected. Sorry folks!

nail designs,mink oil,chamois,and more!! the showplex is probably the best place at the fair to hang out while waitng for the rain to pass! with tons of demonstrations and samples all for free the showplex is in my humble opinion one of the coolest places to chill in the rain well offf to ride the rides toodles ttfn!! kimmy

Hi all people of the internet!! my name is Kimmy!! I'm 12 years old as you probably already read in today's paper!! It's pouring rain but in the true spirit of the northwest, we Washingtonians are keeping the fairgrounds packed as ever! so I'll go ride the rides with my bff 4evr Sondra and let u know more later bibi 4 now!! kim =-)

We enjoyed an earthquake burger for lunch and meandered through the Americraft Showplex checking out the vendors and contemplating what goods would work best in our households. Both Catherine and I never come to a fair without getting our handwriting analyzed. Among the many revealing personality traits I "have many artistic and creative talents". Catherine is "witty and bright". Boy do we love this! I did allow Catherine to get her lottery tickets and she talked me into getting one myself- using our lucky numbers from our horoscopes (I wonder which will be the luckier one???)

So much to do so little time. Unfortunately we have to depart for our regular lives but will leave you with some little known facts we have discovered.

An earthquake burger and an order of fries will easily feed a family of four. There is always the opportunity to meet a real cowboy, Fred Oldfield, at the Heritage Center (by the red gate). You can get a free "lucky" marble under the grandstand. And please remember when or if you cross Meridian with the police officers directing traffic - they also control the walk sign so you don't have to press the button on the post over and over and over again.

We will definitely be back next year

Elizabeth (see I remembered this time)

Wow, there is so much to see. We stopped at the Pavilion to check out the art work from artists from all over the pacific northwest. What amazing talent we saw. The featured artist this year is Sueellen Ross. She draws cats and dogs with realism that some actually look like photographs. Her birds look ready to fly off the paper!

Everyday there are demonstrations and today we stopped to talk to the quilters from the Puyallup Valley Quilters group. They tie quilts and donate them to local charities. Fastest fingers I have ever seen. (in tying those threads)

At the Centennial building among the many vendors we ran across Migi Nail Art. They paint flowers on one nail for free! We got daisies.

Now onto to the Americraft Showplex and Expo Hall. Maybe Elizabeth will let me stop to get my lottery tickets!

Catherine (Elizabeth forgot to sign the last post)

We've started our day with scones and coffee, and watched the 4-H'rs show their horses. If you want an enjoyable time to just sit and enjoy something, this is the place to be! We don't understand the procedures for judging but the smiles on the handlers faces makes you smile too.

Our next stop was the draft horse barn. Those Percherons, Belgiums, Clydsdales, and Shetlands are quite impressive. I guess riding one of those will sure make my butt look smaller =)

On our way out the sound of bagpipes drew us over to the cattle showplace. And lo and behold the highland cattle show was in full swing. We met Jan the bagpiper who was serenading the shaggy headed cattle during the judging.

Well we have made it into the fairgrounds and will be starting our annual jaunt around the Puyallup Fair. The cloudy and drizzly weather will never deter us from enjoying our day together as sisters.

Looking forward to the animals, exhibits, foods with no children hanging around and wanting only to go to the rides!!! We are looking forward to meandering through all the buildings and seeing what the Fair is offering us this year.

Catherine

In a few days we'll have 2008 numbers to compare these to. But just in case you were wondering how 'epic' the fair was in 2007, take a look:

-People bought 1,116,381 scones from Fisher Fair Scones stands. That took 60 tons of scone mix, 25 tons of raspberry jam and 15,000 tons of butter.

-Vendors selling Krusty Pups distributed 149,200 pound of wieners dipped in 20,300 pounds of fried Krusty Pup flour. That was a record-setting amount of batter, folks.

-The Extreme Scream attracted 32,000 riders. Those who partook in the aforementioned scones and Krusty Pups undoubtedly felt sick afterward.