I came down with some kind of bug on Friday afternoon leaving me with a fever, chills and by Saturday a throat that feels like someone took a cheese grater to it.  My parents and sister came over Friday night to help entertain Belén since I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it on my own in my condition.  As everyone left, I wondered how I was going to possibly be able to keep her occupied and happy all day Saturday from 7am to when Andy was scheduled to be home around 4pm.

My strategy ended up being more TV than normal with two full Dora episodes and part of a Sesame Street and then just letting her occupy her own time playing independently but with moderate interaction from me.  When the Tylenol was in full gear I was able to be a lot less of a deadbeat mom and things were actually pretty normal.

Slowly the hours ticked away and I was able to get a little rest and Belén didn’t really seem to notice I was being a lame parent.  By 2pm, I knew we were going to make it so I decided we should pass the remainder of our time outside since I figured we probably needed a little fresh air and because being outside always makes a person feel better.

I grabbed a quilt, a bag of chips, her sippy cup with milk, water and a couple of toys and we passed the remainder of our time waiting for “daddy” to come home enjoying a gorgeous September day.  The natural warmth of the day allowed me to take of my sweatshirt off for the first time all day and I am sure the Vitamin D helped as well.

We played with acorns and leaves and sticks and pointed as airplanes went by.

Around 3, a limo pulled up to the next door neighbors house and about ten little kids piled out all yelling and bouncing of the walls from soda and ice cream-induced sugar highs.  Belén was enthralled with watching them for quite some time.

A few more sticks, some rocks, dirt and cat petting and then before we knew it…daddy was home!

And we were both thrilled!

They are a little pricey but I highly recommend them. Besides being the cutest, they are very well made with sturdy rubber soles (as are all of the See Kai Run shoes).

Actually it is not the giant pig…or even that guys tattoo.

The most amazing attribute of the fair is that IT HAS NOT CHANGED in the past eight years since we last visited or really since we were kids.  From the greasy food stands to the rides to the animal tents to the exhibit halls…more or less the same.

One visit to the Western Idaho Fair has the ability to flash a person back to the days when my sister and I would run up to the height test of each ride, standing on our tippy toes to maximize ride eligibility potential, to the boy crazy teen years when we were on the prowl for new boys to flirt with, to the years with iron stomachs where we would ride every ride multiple times until closing time or the days when we were little and our dad would play fair games and win us sawdust-filled stuffed animals with a lifespan of about four days.

Our trip to the fair really was a veritable trip down the original memory lane.  The best part of all (and the reason why we went) is knowing this is the first of many trips for Belén’s memories of the fair.

This is the last of the Fair Week posts.  I hope you have enjoyed your own trip down memory lane of your own local fair.

I love this cake but for some reason it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland.

I thought this quilt was really cool, but my mom who is a  really into quilting (and works at a quilt store and sells $10,000 embroidery sewing machines) commented that the quilt display was apparently disappointing.  Maybe crafty people aren’t so nice after all.

Um, I don’t even know what to say about this display?  Is it a “Whose Got The Coolest Knickknack” Contest?  And why do half of the entries have a blue ribbon.  I thought only one entry won the blue ribbon?  Maybe fair contests are like little kid contests where everybody wins?

Sign me up for judging this contest next year!

The entire time I was trying to get a good shot of this lady, I kept thinking, “Do llamas spit?  Or is that just camels?”

As adults it was all about an indulgent day of fair food.  For Belén, it was all about new sights and smells everywhere, but most importantly, the animals.  We inhaled all food items (Chorizo sliders from the Basque booth, corn-on-the-cob from the Mountain Rescue booth and ProntoPups) before the camera could be brought out, but we got plenty of pictures of the animals.

Belén liked the small animals.

But wasn’t so sure of the large animals.

Horses were scary, the sheep were interesting, lambs move too quickly, roosters are too loud, cows were okay, pigs were so-so and donkeys not so much.

Luckily, Nana and Grandpa made the large animals much more tolerable!

Despite being not quite sure of all of the big animals, and a lot of very serious faces, I think the barnyard at the Western Idaho Fair was a success.

P.S. Sorry if these photos are loading slow.  I just figured out what I need to do to size them better for the web but I am too lazy to go redo these at the moment.

So what Andy’s trip means is that I gotta step up my domestic game.  I have to figure out how to fit in work, exercise, getting myself ready, getting Belén ready, day care drop off, day care pick up, dinner, laundry, groceries, flower watering, mail getting, dishes, picking up the house, playing with the animals, playing with Belén, feeding the animals, paying bills, you get the picture…IT WILL BE A BUSY WEEK!

Because of this, I am going to space out the photos we took last week at the fair and keep it simple (but still exciting) on this here blog!

This was the first time we had been to the fair in probably eight years.  It was a lot of fun experiencing it through the yes of a 16-month old.

AND NOW…..LET FAIR WEEK BEGIN!

Before beginning aforementioned presentation, I decided I should do my blog post for tomorrow.  But before I could even get started on that, I became distracted by the nearly identical scabs on each of my elbows (long story that I will not go into).  I have been a little bit obsessed with said scabs for the entire week I have had them since apparently I knock my elbows on on various objects a lot of damn times a day.  It got to the point that I literally planned my outfits around scab protection.

Cannot wear this t-shirt, I need at least 3/4-length sleeves.

Better find a different skirt to wear because all of the tops that match do not protect elbow scabs.

The obsession is culminating in a session of scab picking.  You all just groaned when you read that right?  I know, TMI and Gross!  But I am not going to mark this post as a TMI because I plan to go somewhere else with it.  Before doing so, I must mention that these scabs are creating the absolutely perfect picking scenario…large enough chunks, you get some meat with each pick.  Not blood-inducing.  Andy is not here to be grossed out by the carnage or the shrapnel.  No worry about scars on my elbows, they are already all pruney anyway.  Pure scab picking awesomeness!

Alas, I need to get to my point.  What does one do about activities like scab picking which we as parents and role models enjoy yet do not want our little sponges to inherit?

Belén is such a little mimic these days, I feel like I am counting the days until she repeats something I will not be proud of.  For goodness sakes, she can point to the red bird, the blue horse, the yellow duck, the teacher and the brown bear on the final page of her favorite book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  She clearly is learning from what we say and do around her each day.

Andy and I watched that movie Babies Friday night, which if you have not seen or heard about it is a documentary following four babies in very different cultures from birth to one-year old.  Even within the first year of life, the baby from Namibia is so incredibly different from the baby in Tokyo, Mongolia or San Francisco.  It is fascinating and I highly recommend watching the movie.  It also, brings home the point of how much nurture plays a part in who these little people become.

So does this mean that in an effort to not teach her bad habits, I should hide every habit, word or thought I do not want to pass on from our daughter?   Kids are smart, they pick up on so much, is it even possible to hide it?

I can already picture the conversation, “But…mommy picks her scabs too.”

Belén’s ready for a trip to India!