Hey folks...this is a perfect day to slip away from work and catch the fair. If you've lived in the northwest as long as I have (35 years) you know that the weather is totally unpredictable...even the pros get it wrong most of the time. When the sun is out you have to go for it...and what better place to go than the fair. Great food, entertainment, intense thrill rides, gadgets, magicians...it's all there. If you come down today say hi to my buddie Chris who is living on a bus at the CIS stage, and enjoy the middle school and high school kids performing on the stage. Many of them are performing for the first time and your applause will be music to their ears.
Dave

If you have children, I suggest two trips. One for the kids and one for you!! Kids are not so much into the arts and crafts part of the fair, but they are into the rides, food and games.

This might cause a little change in moods with the kids when you take them off the rides, to look at the arts and crafts, the Pavilion has to offer (and lots of other little booths). Likewise, this might cause a change in moods with the parents when they are not able to (peacefully) look at the arts and crafts because the kids are screaming to go back on the rides!!

I suggest two trips. One for the kids and one for the parents. When you bring the kids, get out of the mindset of looking at all the stuff you like, instead, agree to the rides and games they are so excited to go on. The second trip, the kids need to stay home and the parents need to go!!! This time, it's all about them and they can do what they want and enjoy every minute of it!!!

Michelle Vestal

Silly Ville is just that, lots of kids being silly. This is the new kids park and it's GREAT!! Lots of kids rides and lots of food booths around to feed those hungry kids!!!

Kids get excited to go from ride to ride and with them being right there in one central location, it's a lot less walking for both parents and kids.

Before you enter the fair, ensure you speak to your children about what to do if they get lost. Make sure they know to find a Police Officer and NEVER talk to strangers. If they are old enough, make sure you find a meeting place if you get lost from each other. This might make your time here a little less stressful when it comes to the fear of losing your child or children.

Michelle Vestal

Oh my goodness! The planting patch is soooo much fun! I got to churn milk into butter and the rest is called butter milk. There are so many things to do and the vegetables are so huge. There is tall corn and great big pumpkins oh and other big vegetables too. There are lots of things for kids to do, so if you are a kid or a child then you must go to the planting patch. It is over by SillyVille.

Oh yeah, you can get your face painted for free. There wasn't a line so I got 3 paintings. One was a rainbow horse, and a butterfly with sparkles and then I got hearts going up my arm. Green for mom and red and purple for me with glitter too. It rocks.

Lets see, at the planting patch you can learn about carding wool, doing laundry like your grandma might have done, grate cinnamon for chicken or pies, grind grain for flour ... they even have a saw for cutting wood or planing, that is making the wood smooth for table chair legs.

I want to go back there again!

-Quianna Brown

I love hand crafts. It is so exciting to see more entries this year in the Pavilion.
The quilts, afghans, culinary foods...bread, cookies, candies, pies, cakes...and so much more!
The competition is stiff this year... even a score of 95 may not get a blue ribbon...I sure feel for the judges. What a tough job that must be.

I was demonstrating one evening and over all the 'music' of the fair I heard one lady exclaim, "You won, You won, your first time entering and you got a first!" Then a few minutes later the same voice said, " Yahoo, you did it again another first and a second, wow great job!" One of the floor monitors went over and personally congratulated the young woman. They did not have a camera with them so the floor monitor went and got the camera used to photo graph the contest winners and took her picture. The photo will be gotten to her. That is over and above to help the memories of one family.

So I encourage, bring on your talents and show your stuff. Let's see if we can facilitate the need for more cabinets to display our creations!

-Karin Brown

WOW! There are lots of people today. In the stadium there is a fiesta going on. I think it is mostly in Spanish. They are dancing to loud festive music. I think it would be great to have a speaker to attach to the shoes of the dancers. That way you could hear the sound of the dancing better.
There are a lot of colorful costumes. They are beautiful.

I love those 4-H'ers and their horses. We got to see the flag barrel race...WOW they sure can go fast. There was one girl and it was her birthday. She did so good that she got first place. She must have been happy. Another girl and her horse did not do so well, she was the fastest and that was really good, but her horse stepped out of the big white rectangle and that disqualified her and her horse. That made me bummed!

That's all for now...we are going to mosey along.

-Quianna Brown

This year we will really be 'doing the fair'. We, my daughter and I will be demonstrating 10 times. Eight of those will be for crocheting and knitting. The other two will be scrap-booking. On those days we are taking in a little of the fair each day.

This last Monday we went on ride after ride after ride.......oh MY! Lunch was very late that day and then it was just ice cream...as a mom how often do we just let go and have fun? To watch my daughter 'Wow' at the draft horse, look in wonder as I say yes to ice cream for lunch and yes in sympathy as I turn green on the rides. These are the times I wish I had a video camera in my eyes to record for others to see the joy.

One memory I have is watching a mother and child just dancing without a care in the world. They were out side one of the children entertainment booths, it is on the way to the green gate. The children get to be a part of the show. This Mom, totally uninhibited was dancing with her child...this is the awesome freedom shown in the joy of a child experienced too with the parent.

-Karin Brown

If you haven't been to the fair in a while you really should take the time to come on down.

There is so much more than past years. Everything looks updated and clean. There is security, family atmosphere, and modern facilities. They have added a lot more seating areas with tables to eat at. This isn't the same fair it was even 3 years ago. The buildings are bigger and offer more variety. The Sillyville area looks great for people with younger kids. They even offer kid friendly meals and prices.

I have to mention that the Pavilion building near the gold gate is dedicated to local schools and state universities. If you want to sign up for community college, a university, or admire work from area students this is the place to go.

Well, that's it for now.

xo Michele

PS. Pizza on a stick looks interesting. Are you brave enough?

If you've ever wanted to check out music from the Andes region in South America, this is your chance.

The Quichua Mashis musical group is playing until 9 p.m. today by the Green Gate, near the bungee ride.

I walked by and couldn't help but stop and listen. The music, which incorporates flutes, windpipes and guitars, is captivating.

The band members are Quinchua Indians from Northern Equador, according to their Web site.

Consider it one of the rare moments when you can experience something great at the fair that isn't fried.

I decided to hike down to Mutton Bustin' today. For those who aren't familiar, it's the sport where little kids compete to see how long they can cling to a galloping sheep. Kids 6 and under who weigh less than 60 pounds can enter for the chance to win a playhouse.

The arena is down by the Green Gate, and I decided I'd head to the 1:30 show. On the way there, I ran into several things I found intriguing:

1. There were no lines for scones today -- not at any of the scone booths I passed. The one in Sillyville, right across from the Sillyville Station, was especially dead around lunchtime. Get 'em now, folks!

2. There are Yo-Yo People. That's the name of John Higby and Rebecca Loomis Higby's show, which travels throughout the fairgrounds throughout the day. I caught it in the walkway along the north side of the Showplex, in front of a Cowchip Cookie stand.

These aren't your grandma's yo-yo artists. They're young and hip -- at least, their act tries to communicate as much. You can tell because John is wearing Converse shoes and a pink polka-dotted tie, and Rebecca is in a black babydoll dress over stretchy leggings. They end their show with a finale that features not just yo-yos, but also hula hoops and a unicycle. Check them out.

When I finally got to Mutton Bustin', I got to see 6-year-old Anna of Bellevue win the 1:30 competition. She stayed on her sheep for a full six seconds -- or, if not quite that long, darn close to it.

I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that when I was six. Then again, I'm also pretty sure that I didn't weigh 38 pounds at that age like Anna. I might have broke the sheep.

Ok! So far, it's not a mess at all!! The first thing that caught my attention was The Fountain Plaza Performers. As my wife and I were approaching this guy juggling coconuts, I thought "Oh, hey look... there's a guy juggling coconuts, YIPPEE!". I looked at my wife as she rolled her eyes. There was a pretty good sized gathering so I stood and watched for a while. The guy juggling was excellent but his jokes were kind of corny. He still balanced out to be pretty funny especially after a few audience member participation tricks. I think my son would have wanted to participate in an event where he asks for a kid to help, then he helps them learn how to juggle. I even thought his name was funny in a corny way. I mean this dude's name is Roberto "The Magnificent," which was kind of unexpected for some reason.

We continued on after the show. We stopped at most of the shops along the way. Teddy Bear Stuffers is cool if you are into the build-your-own stuffed animal-type hobby. Then, close by was Retro Candy where you get all the old school zuzu's and wham-whams from when you were a kid (unless you're a kid now), for pretty cheap. There were only two shops that I would consider unique or significant in the entire fair. The first one was Ambors. They carry framed butterflies, glass encased insects for your key chain, and other bug related items. I like bugs, they make me smile (unless the bite me)... My youngest daughters nickname is "Bug". The most unique shops out of the fair so far. The other shop was Rainbow Rocks. My wife is into aroma therapy, so I began to appreciate things that smell good. They sell sea salt crystals that are dipped in different scents from $20-$40 bags.

As far as traffic everything is good there too. It's busy but we have plenty of room to move. We can pretty much get right on any ride right now because the lines are moving fast. Another notable thing, I'm a tweaker when it comes to using public restrooms and so is my wife. The are as clean as any fair restroom can be, so don't be afraid to go. If duty calls, don't be afraid, use it...Seriously. The food, the candy, the drinks, and the food again. I am having fun.

Nick Taylor

It's 11:30 now, and the crowds are beginning to swell. So far, I've ventured through the Showplex, Grandstand and Centennial exhibits and have been offered everything from free back exams to free nail art. I'd highly recommend setting aside an hour or two to peruse these exhibits and maybe learn a little more about your back health in the process.

When you're at the Fair, be sure to visit the black hand washing booth next to the Dairy Barn (which, coincidentally, is home to the some of the world's finest ice cream and free milk samples). When you enter the booth, they place a chemical on your hands that glows under purple light. The goal is to completely rid your hands of said chemical, but try as I might, I have never been able to clean my hands entirely. It's a bit frustrating, but I can only hope that one day my hand washing prowess will increase and I'll become proficient enough to leave that booth with chemical-free hands.

I anxiously await that beautiful day.

-Danny Serna