Today was a big day for her. Brandon and I took her to the California State Fair at Cal Expo down in Sacramento. Having lived in the Sacramento area for sis years, you would think that we had been to the fair before. We actually lived about a mile from the fairgrounds for two years, but for some reason or other we have never made it. This year we made it a point to go since we had Dunebuggy. Fortunately this year, the weather was perfect! Every year the fair is held at the end of July, the hottest time of the year here in Sacramento. The idea of going to the fair in 100+ degree weather just does not sound like a good time. Fortunately, we've had a two-week span of unusually cool weather and the high was a very reasonable 80 degrees with the standard NorCal 100% sunshine. There was a nice breeze as well. We really couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.
My favorite part of the fair was by far the farm animal exhibits and the petting zoo. The farm animal exhibits had hundreds of pens set up with goats, pigs, sheep, and cows. Many of these animals were pregnant or had recently given birth. We saw a pig that had given birth to 10 babies that were just five-days old. They were super cute but not as cute as the baby sheep that were one day old! They were still learning how to walk and were smaller than Baylee. They were absolutely adorable!!
The petting zoo was a lot of fun too. I have always enjoyed petting farm animals and today was no different. :) They had sheep, goats, llamas, pigs, donkeys, deer, and even a kangaroo! I bought a small cone of food to feed the animals and it didn't last long. Those guys were hungry! I am realized surprised those animals aren't severely overweight from all that food the kids feed them. They are constantly eating! Dunebuggy was a little too young for the petting zoo this year but I am looking forward to next year when she can join me in the fun.
After visiting the animals we perused the fair for yummy junk food. We shared a funnel cake, fried cheese curds, fried peanut butter cups, and chocolate bacon. I think we had enough fried food for the week. They were all delicious but my favorite was the funnel cake. Gwyneth got hungry somewhere along our fried food journey. We found a shaded park bench to sit and feed her a bottle. She did so well, not crying a single time. As Brandon burped her, he felt her poop in her diaper. We decided to change her right there on the park bench (the bathrooms at the fair are not the cleanest or the most family friendly for changing babies). I opened her diaper and.....oh my!! She had an explosion up in that diaper! Good thing we changed her quick, otherwise we would have had a code blue (a term for an outfit ruining blowout that we learned from Cindy Teel) on our hands. After many many wipes we were able to get her cleaned up and diapered without knowingly offending anyone because we were out in the public. Overall, I would say we had a successful day at the fair. It was a lot of fun to experience the fair for the first time and to share that experience with my wonderful little family.
After we returned home, I fed Dunebuggy and got her ready for bed. We are still working on a bedtime routine. I have come to realize that she is never ready to go to bed right after she eats. Tonight I decided to read her some books. She loved it! I read her a book about puppies and she was smiling as I turned each page and she got to see a new picture of a puppy. It was amazing to see her so engaged. I read her the book several times (it was a short 5 pages long) and each time it was like she had heard it for the first time. Since she was so enthralled with that book, I decided to read her another book. I read her a book that her Yaney gave her on numbers. It is a super cute book that is shaped like a purse and teaches the numbers one through ten. She loved the book however I think it is going to take many more reads until she is able to count to ten. :) I think reading a book will definitely be a part of our nightly routine from here on out!
