It must be August

We went out on the town last night and I donned by my favorite airbrushed belly shirt which declares, "KT hearts Joe" and some classy high heels to strut my stuff.

That's right, we went to the Indiana State Fair. (For the record, no, I don't own anything airbrushed. Not even a license plate with "Spring Break '01.")

I simply love the fair. The food, the smells, the animals and the mullets. Oh, the glorious mullets at the fair.

Nope, didn't stick around to see if they had actual opossums.

When I was little, my mom never let my brothers or me ride any fair rides. She declared them too unsafe. I promised myself that my children would ALWAYS get to ride ANYTHING they wanted to. But now? No. Way.

"Drink it in, sweet child. This is as close as you will ever get."

Madeline loves animals and we were pretty excited for her to see all the different kinds. I don't know what's going to happen in a couple of years if she starts wanting pets. I can handle a dog but I think that's about it.

Contrary to what this picture would have you believe, she really did like the sheep. (And please ignore that random piece of hair between my eyes.)

Miraculously, we didn't view the 1,800 pound cheese sculpture, much to the dismay of a fair employee who actually shook her head at us in disbelief when we said *gasp* we didn't care to see it.

And finally, the food. Joe and I stockpiled on our staple fair food and shared a lemon shake-up, funnel cake and a bloomin' onion. This year, we added kettle corn to the mix because we were afraid we wouldn't properly waddle out of the gates.

So we headed back home, put Madeline to bed and ate nasty-but-oh-so-good fair food while watching tiny girls accomplish spectacular feats on the gymnastics floor. I felt grosser by the minute.

Oh, and remember this picture from last year?

My view of M at the fair

My view this year. How things change...