Fairest of the Fair

Old pictures, but I'm still recovering. To say we had a fair day at the fair would probably be a little overstated and optimistic, but hey, it's been almost two weeks, I've almost forgotten the anguish! We decided to meet friends for opening day of the Wisconsin State Fair. It was only $2 admission with a donation to the food bank (and the kids were free!). Who could beat that? We parked about 8 blocks away from the fair, to avoid parking fees (individuals who live near the fair charge people to park in their driveways, garages, on their grass...it's like the kind of perk that they mention when they sell the house). Other parking fills up fast. I'm cheap, I'm also chubby, a little walk would do me good. We enjoyed the walk in. The kids got a kick out of all of the animals...cows, horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, rabbits...they did pretty good. However, I pushed it too much and by the time we were headed out, the kids were about 1/2 hours beyond time to go. Brooklyn had walked all day, but was tired. So she and Ty rode in the stroller while Sadie sat on top on the canopy and waved to her fans. The fair food smelled so good; but it's so pricey I wasn't about to buy something with three crabby kids only to have them either cry while I enjoyed it or complain that they didn't like it (or both). The 8 blocks to the car seemed much, much further. I had worn awful shoes and had to walk barefoot most of they way back because of blisters. I got the the car, and couldn't find my keys. I searched, but no luck. I had no patience for walking back to the fair to search, so I called Jake in desperation. He works only 10 minutes away. It'd be a nice break for him, right? So, in tears, I pull out snacks from my bag and keep the kids entertained with food. They did pretty good until Jake came to rescue us. He parked behind my car and walked across a small area of grass towards us. As he walked, he smiled and looked at the ground a few feet in front of my stroller. He picked up keys, tossed them to me and smartly asked "are these what you were looking for?" I burst into tears and he realized that he had found the spot where I must have dropped them when we were leaving to go to the fair. He initially thought I had found the keys somewhere in the deep recesses of my bag and had put them there to avoid humility. Funny guy. I was honestly just grateful that he found them and I wouldn't have to go back to the fair. The good news is that a few days later, Jake and I had the chance to go back to the fair without our kids...I indulged in fair food like Templeton on Charlotte's Web. Shame on me. I deserved it!