Texas State Fair...in October

Success is an interesting word with interesting meaning. Brought on completely by myself I have two completely separate realms where success can, and needs to, take place. #1 is mom. #2 is photographer. I think I do pretty good at both, though in both there are areas for improvement. In photography, I need to improve my packaging and hone my Photoshop skills. In motherhood, I need to do better at blogging. That, and making well balanced meals every night. So here I am, after the holiday rush brought on by the photography success. (which is a good thing, right?) I am now left to pick up the pieces. This past weekend I cleaned and organized my room. And now I am here, attempting to make up for all of my missed family blogs. First is our trip to the Texas Sate Fair in October.

We went for Nate's work "bonding" experience. It was on our 4th anniversary, and Zack was only two months old. Far from predictable. And we were far from experienced parents of two children. It's funny to think back to! But we went and had a great time. I went with the goal of trying as much food as I possibly could. First, we started with the famous corn dog. And it was delicious! And here we are in front of "Big Tex".

After the corn dogs, we went to the children's ride area for Mackay and her friend, Caroline. Mackay barely hit the 34 inch mark. And in this picture, she is bending her knees, so it really doesn't look very accurate.Here she is with Caroline on one of the rides. It was so funny because Caroline would have this huge goofy smile, while Mackay would just have a scowl.


Mackay got to do a really fun activity which involved her being a farmer. She wore this little apron, and carried around a basket. She had to do things like, water the tree and pick a fruit. Feed the chickens and get an egg. Etc, etc, etc. At the end they went to the Farmer's Market to sell all their goods. They got a fake dollar bill that they then went into a store with. There were little snacks and treats all around, so she picked what she wanted and went to the cashier to pay for her treat. It was so cute! And she had such a great time. One of Nate's co-workers, Ligi, was a LIFESAVER! Both Nate and I were dealing with Zack and trying to juggle all of our stuff. So she took Mackay around and helped her with everything. By the end we were all dripping with sweat, but it was worth it!

After the farming experience, we ventured down to the "fried" section of the fair. (By the way, the biggest State Fair in the United States. My feet were KILLING me!)

We were there for one thing, and one thing only. Fried Butter. We had heard about it on the news, and when Oprah did her show at the Fair she tried them and said they were delicious. So, since Oprah knows everything, we gave them a try. $5 for 5 small balls of fried butter was a little steep, but it was actually really good! For those of you that are in on this joke, it pretty much tastes like a gusher. The guy who invented the fried butter (along with other things) does this as his only job. He only works the few months out of the year during the fair, and what he makes here lasts him the rest of the year!
And here is a picture for my dad.