County Fair!

We did the County Fair as a day trip on Sunday, September 22nd. Wayne and Julie were not able to attend this year as they were in Cleveland for Julie's high school reunion. Sally and Matt were toying with the idea of coming, but it was the day after Caitlin and Todd's wedding and there were still some festivities on Sunday morning. Jack and I would not have minded going by ourselves (Jack would not even have minded going by himself, as he has twice before), but we were tickled when Arne and Beth said that they and Abbie and Nina would be interested in experiencing the Fair this year. They understood that it was going to be a FULL day, from early morning to late evening and they were still game. Such troopers!
Jack rented a Yukon XL for the trip, complete with a DVD player and lots of room to spread out. We picked up the kids around 8:15 (as usual, we were 15 minutes late!) and got on the road. It was so fun to ride together. Abbie and Nina's enthusiasm and excitement were contagious. Even the rest stops were interesting to them. We arrived in Hillsdale around 1pm ET and stopped at the College for our traditional pit stop. Jack introduced the girls to the statue of Winston Churchill and they were appropriately fascinated. "Jack, it looks like this guy really liked books. How many books does he have? Let's count them!" "Jack, what is this chain on his shirt?"

Jack's best audience

After some time with Winston and Thomas Jefferson, we headed over to the Fairgrounds. Driving down Hallett, I had a flashback to the days when we had Alison, Caylen and Wayne in the last row of Rick and Pat's minivan. Same thrill to see the Fair, just a different generation :)
We started with a corn dog and fries, then did some games and rides. No photo button booth again this year, so we took some pictures and will make our own through Mpix.

Beth, Arne and Jack

so much fun!
 

fishing game

We saw the Barnyard Babies and quacked with the ducks (Abbie is an awesome quacker!) and then headed out to Marshall and Win Schuler's. Once again, Schuler's did not disappoint. I just have to remind myself next year to forget about an entrée. Just meatballs, salad and dessert. That is plenty.

There was not a cross word spoken all day. Arne and Beth are doing an outstanding job of raising two darling, respectful and confident daughters. They never whined or complained or fought. Abbie and Nina just rolled with the punches all day. Jack and I feel so blessed to be able to spend time with this darling family.
We were on course to get home around 9 pm (not too bad!) and we were less than an hour from home when we ran into a construction traffic jam on 80/94 near the state line. No one got frustrated or upset. We rode along, watching Aladdin and singing "I Can Show You the World". Beth and Abbie rocked it. We pulled into Arne and Beth's drive around 10:30 and as tired as I was, I was sad to see such a fun day end.