Fair Experiences

I, Xanna, am going to tell you a little bit about my recent Fair experiences. In the past three weeks, I have been to three County Fairs and our Illinois State Fair. We like to wear matching bright colors when in large crowds, so that it’s easy to find each other. Normally we’ve worn matching shirts, but this time our Dad bought brightly colored Trump 2020 hats & we’ve worn them to each of the Fairs. We have received a lot of comments, all positive.

Ogle County (our local County Fair) was by far the most organized. It was the smallest of the three, but everything down to the parking was perfectly organized. Everyone was friendly & helpful. We went to a few county fairs when I was growing up, but it was many years ago and going to the Ogle County Fair last year (2018) was my first Fair memory.

Boone County Fair was HUGE. Parking wasn’t so bad, but the entrance process was hypocritical. You had to buy the ticket, take 2 steps & then give the ticket to the next person in line. Directions were not clear, everything was just a big sprawling mess. However, there were 3 or 4 Draft Horse Barns, that our Fair did not have! I LOVE horses, especially Clydesdales.

Winnebago County Fair was fun. It was bigger than Ogle County, but smaller than Boone. Google navigation was misleading and parking was a nightmare. Even though it was bigger than our Fair, the Poultry & Rabbit entries were a lot fewer.

My communication project that I entered into our Fair earned a spot at State. So Mom decided to take the whole family & turn it into a “homeschool teaching opportunity”. Moms are weird like that. We got to Springfield the day before my judging. We went to visit the Capitol and got a private tour by the Republican Sergeant at Arms. We spent the night at a hotel. Hotel beds are not cool. I like my bed better. Dad & Mom got me a purple mattress recently so I can sleep better & hotel mattresses are nothing compared to it!!

The State Fair was so ginormous we spent most of the day walking around one section (Conservation World) & we didn’t even see all that was in that section! I wish we could have had a lot more time to spend there as there were many things I would have liked to have seen but didn’t have time for. And Ellenor fell asleep in my arms as I was walking & slept for a long time. My arms were useless for hours afterwards!

A few pictures of projects we enjoyed looking at at the State Fair: