eating elephant ears redux

Going to the fair has really become our annual thing. I mean if you're going to have an annual thing for your family it should probably involve petting baby goats and eating fried exotic things and strapping your babies to whiplash machines and fresh lemonade and THE FAIR HAS ALL OF IT! There's just something super magic about the fair coming to town. Also there are amazing quilts and a model train conductor showcase (which we were super disappointed to not be able to find this year because Loretta kind of lost her mind in the building that has all the hobbyist displays). It seems two year olds get pretty bored by quilt shows right around naptime. Who knew? She announced it was time to head for the hills, went limp in my arms, yowled, threw one shoe into a crowd in one direction, kicked the other shoe into a massage lady's booth, and tossed her new toy cow under a guy's wheelchair for good measure... all at the same time. Deep-fried gin where were you when I needed you? That was when we called it a day. But before that we had so much fun...

Loretta tried so hard to get her hands on baby goats. Otto carried the annual Muth Family Elephant Ear to our picnic table and then a few minutes later was completely dusted in sugar from the eyebrows down. Loretta won a prize cow and went on her very first ride.

Otto's favorite part was the fun house. Loretta's was the hand-dipped corndog. Rob's was the ferris wheel that he rode with Otto who is tall enough for the ferris wheel this year for the first time. Mine was seeing all the animals and having a good old-fashioned fun time out in the sunshine with my favorite people on the planet.

eating elephant ears

sure, i talk a good game about eating some fair eats at the fair, then Otto comes along and puts the smack down...

kid ate the bejeezus outta that "elephant ear" which i'd always known as fry bread and who cares what you call it, you eat it, you eat it all, fool! then you eat the corn!

then you corn dog photo bomb!

then you make a terrible mistake and decide against chasing this all down with some frozen NY cheesecake on a stick. which you shall regret for days and days and days.

food. happy food.

we also met up with Ot's sweet friend Hazel and hit the kiddie rides. Otto's fair face makes my heart go pitter patter.

so much fun. i could watch Otto at the fair all day. and can't wait til next year when we can maybe take Loretta on a tame ride or two. also hopefully next year she won't demand to eat just so she can be all distracted by fair things and expose the mom's boob to the fair air over and over as she looks all around but still insists she must eat and also, wait, distracted, boob exposure, and tearing away of the coverup blankie many many times, but no really, hungry, except wait, this person hasn't glimpsed your boob yet, must eat, cannot focus, eat, just kidding, eat eat, but no, but yes, hello here's my mom's boob guy dressed like a mattress, i am hungry, no i am not... and so on. because that part was less fun. also while she was doing that Otto totally bogarted ALL THE FOOD.

for reals though, i just love that we're making this an annual family tradition, and Eugene's county fair is just the right size. A+

something corndog this way comes...

it's our last few days in this little half-house. here is a stop-action sequence of Otto in our living/dining/kitchen room. you can cut it out and make a flip book. Ot got a cool guy haircut this week. i am really loving it, but dudes, he is getting so big and how it makes me catch my breath. i will never stop saying those words. so big! will i still feel this reeling feeling of wonder/love when i look at him when he's thirty? i bet the answer is yes. but let's not talk of such things (it kinda hurts). here, flip.

he has the haircut of every skater boy i ever had a crush on in junior high. and the character Keanu Reeves played in Parenthood. and George Mcfly! all of whom went on to become presidents of the united states of america. amen.

while doing this little routine he told me, "i'm on the loose!". <-- ha!

errrrm... and you can see that we've made incredible progress boxing up all of the things.

on the agenda for this weekend we have the county fair (yesyesyesyesfunnelcakesandcorndogsyes!), a trip to Portland for a much-loved friend's baby shower (♡), and boxing up all of the things. 

i'm really excited about all of it. this is a much-looked-forward-to weekend. last year when the fair was in town i was 3ish months pregnant and pre-gall-bladder-surgery and i couldn't eat a thing, not fried Pepsi, not pizza cup, not butter wads, nothing yummy. this year i will EAT the fair! 

when i was a kid we never really went to the fair. i remember hearing about it but not really knowing what it was all about. i went once with a church group when i was about 14 and my parents sent me with $5 (no joke) which meant i had to choose between getting a hotdog or going on one ride. just kidding, i got a fountain soda. sooooo... now that i've hit the fair scene a few times as an adult, i am just all for the fair. i love seeing all the animals, the quilts and crafts, the rides, the games, the food, just all of it. it feels timeless and charming and fun and i'm so excited to make going to the fair an annual tradition in our house. also tomorrow i will EAT the fair! just to be clear.

what's everyone up to this weekend? is it fair season in your neck of the woods? xo