This is Fair Week

Start with the smells.

Smoky charcoal grills cooking up the onions and peppers for the bratwurst.

Funnel cakes drizzled with honey.

Fried mini-donuts served warm in brown paper bags.

A whiff of pepperoni pizza.

The scent of hydraulic oil from the rides.

The pig barn, which can be smelled from yards away, so strong we hold the backs of our hands to our noses as we walk through to peek at the huge pink animals and their comically small, curly tails.

Fresh hay in the goat pens.

Soap at the washing stalls that is scrubbed from the animals and travels in rivulets down the hill, making sudsy puddles near the barns.

Rabbit fur, soft and warm, with the slightest hint of wood chips.

Now to my favorite sights:

Meya as "Little Miss Muffet" and Blaze as "The Spider" in the animal parade.

Madi's farm cake which she entered in the Junior 4-H category and won the grand prize. She auctioned it off Friday night and earned a good chunk of money for her college fund.

Madi saying goodbye to the rabbit she's about to auction off. Wearing her cowboy duds, she took the rabbit into the rink and proudly held it up as the auctioneer rattled off, "$10 a pound, will ya give me $10 a pound, $20 a pound, now 20, now 20, will ya give me $20 a pound, who'll pay 30, $30 a pound...going once, going twice, SOLD at $30 a pound!"

Leasie sitting on a bench before her auction. She grinned from ear to ear as she circled the rink to show her rabbit to the bidders. Her smile earned her an extra $5 a pound. Her rabbit sold for $35 a pound!

Moments before the auction after a week of work, showmanship, judging, ribbons, fair food, rides, heat&humidity, fun, laughter, and family time together. We all agree that besides Christmas, fair week is our favorite time of the year!