Bess and Gabe enjoyed the day very much. Gabe especially enjoyed exploring all the nooks and cubbies around the boat as the seller left all the fishing things on the boat. Nothing like finding a treasure trove of fishing lures and accessories to brighten a boys day.
The wind gave Brian a "happy hair" look...what we call it when your hair stands up or sticks out...usually upon rising. I think he looks pretty happy. He is already enjoying the new boat very much. He loves his bigger boat, but it still needs some work and there is nothing like having a boat you can take out for a few hours or for the day.
It was finally time to load up as we had to be home to get the other children off the bus.
I enjoy these last minute decisions to do something that result in a very enjoyable outing, so unexpected and pleasing. We are hoping to get the boat out at least one more time before it gets too cold.
Or course, the boat they used to model this one is at the bottom of Lake Champlain with many other canal boats, I guess it wasn't all romantic and slow paced. Life on any body of water has it's hazards.
The orange vehicle behind the tractor is the pulling machine. As the tractor pulls it down the track, the weights move forward causing more drag and making it harder to pull. As you can see the front end of the tractors often pull off the ground. The black smoke is caused by the mix of diesel fuel and water. I don't understand how these tractors run, but it sure is fun to watch.
Of course, a snack of fried dough is always required. Dan had more powdered sugar on him than in him.
The small steam engine area is a perennial favorite for Brian. It is quite interesting to watch all the engines working. I had to chuckle at his photo as Bri and Gabe strike the same pose.
These bags of onions were stacked next to an "onion bloom" concession. There were bags and bags.
We ate at a booth set up by a local BBQ place. It was very good. Dan was reluctant to eat. When we were almost done, he threw up. Poor guy. Thankfully we were outside. I guess he had too much fried dough. He still has a hard time deciding when to stop eating something. He was much cheerier after that.
As we were getting ready to leave the fairgrounds, we came upon an elephant, camel, horse and dog show...quite the combination. I have seen elephants many times before, but I never tire of their size and quiet dignity. They are such magnificent animals.
This particular maneuver was amazing to me...one elephant crawled under the belly of another.
As we headed to the car, I looked back and saw the moon coming up and the bright lights of the Ferris wheel. The beautiful end to a very nice day.
Sometimes Bessie fishes, but sometimes she enjoys working on one of her hand projects. This trip, she was working with her beading.
Hannah always enjoys whatever we are doing. Isn't she just lovely? I love her smile and cheery attitude.
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I had never been to this corn maze. It is very large and there are so many things to do there for all ages.
They have two different levels of the corn maze. Most of our group is 4th grade or younger, so we opted for Phase 1, which is a bit easier and shorter. It still took us a while to make it through with many turn around wrong ways. We were given sheets of questions that coordinated with numbered sign posts along the way. You had to answer the questions correctly to get hints on whether to turn left or right. Finding the numbered signs was not as easy as one would think. This is an aerial photo of the maze a couple years ago. This years theme is Election '08.
I asked the woman at the maze entrance how they laid out the maze. She said they had it all on paper and cut the maze in when the corn was very small, they actually pulled up the little corn plants to make the maze.
There are a few bridges that go up and over a sections of the corn. This afforded you a very nice view, but didn't help figuring out where you had to go.
The gerbil wheel was a huge hit with the kids. They had to walk the wheel to get it to move. There were two wheels side by side and the kids raced them back and forth on the tracks. Kids were falling and flopping all over the place, but laughing the whole time.
There were animal pens throughout the farm. They had rabbits, pigs, chickens, geese, ducks, cows, goats and sheep.
Hannah enjoyed these "horses" made from old tires.
Two different racetracks were set up with 4-wheeled bikes. The two sizes of vehicles gave everyone a chance.
This tunnel slide was very cool. It starts at the top of the hill by the building and runs underground. The outlet is the little building at the bottom of the hill. There were many squeals and much laughter coming from the tube as the kids slid down in the dark.
The pig races were very funny. Each run of the race had different pigs with funny names like "Barbie Q" and "Kyle Basa". Each section of folks watching was given a pig to cheer on.
A wagon pulled by a tractor took us around the whole farm and down to the pumpkin patch where each person could pick out a small pumpkin.
Dan was very pleased with his choice.
Rubber ducks propelled by water pumped from old-fashioned water pumps kept the group busy. I sure wouldn't want to have to get all my water this way.
They had several automatronics displays including this great four piece hill-billy band. I loved the blue-grass music they were playing.
