Farm Fest

We sure lucked out on the weather this year for Farm Fest (FF), it was beautiful. Sunny, warm, but breezy. Just right, if you ask me. FF seemed bigger this year, with more vendors and displays. It was really nice, though what struck me was the lack of visitors. There didn’t seem to be as many people who showed up for the festivities. I always say this, and it could be that I’m not seeing it properly, but at almost every event that we go to, and we go to a lot of them, the crowds just seem to get smaller and smaller. People just have other things to do.

Either way, that didn’t stop us from having fun, or rather, the kids from having fun. I just sat there on the sidelines as the kids took off with their friends. I had brought along a book, which for the record, I am totally into. It’s awesome when you have a book that you look forward to reading, and this one, the Steve Jobs bio, is great. I was looking forward to sitting under the shade and reading it, but I didn’t end up getting any reading done. Part of it was because it’s nice to people-watch, especially when you’re alone with the kids all day, but also because I got to see a lot of our friends. Plus, it was a fair, after all, with so many distractions and things to check out and sample. Also, I like to have some idea as to where the kids are.

It was nice for A because she immediately saw MB and they took off running, eventually hooking up with HJ. N managed to hang with several boys, so the girls and boys got to their respective things. N first hung with KP, then CE showed up, then CH. They’re all friends of his, albeit older, but he hang with older kids. If anything, younger kids (i.e., his age) tend to overwhelm him with their energy. He also hung out with ES, who I think is a great fit.

Needless to say, we deviated from our healthy eating plan, at least in terms of sugar. You just can’t be a kid at a summer fair and not get ice cream or a lollipop. Thankfully, it’s Farm Fest, so they promote local food and not processed junk, so even the lollipops were made from local maple syrup. I just sat back and watched the fair evolve, occasionally dispensing money and the obligatory parental directive, which usually falls upon deaf ears. In an interesting note, we saw our friends A&K, who are our models of vegetarian eating. They set the standard in terms of healthy eating, more so than I can actually manage, but they are a good yardstick. I told them about our new eating plan and they were very supportive, though at the fair, I got the lamb meatball stew with rice from Skunk Hollow Farms and had to hide from A&K while I was eating it.

They had a raffle of some really cool stuff, and we entered but didn’t win a thing. We did, however, win a gift basket with a sample of several of the vendor’s wares in it. I filled out a survey about the farmer’s market, and they drew names and I won. The basket is really nice, and we got some pottery, all sorts of food, some beautiful wooden spoons, and really nice cloth napkins. It’s a wonderful basket, and I had no idea my name was even entered, but it was a nice surprise. Don’t you love when that happens?

Several of our book club friends showed up, and it is always nice to see them and hang out. The E’s were there with their own booth and KE gave me advice about my back. Our friends JD&J showed up, as well, so it was really nice talking to them. We stayed until the very end of the fest, which was about 3:30. The kids were still revved up and ready to rock and roll, so they went home with HH and her kids, and then she took them over to ultimate frisbee at 5:00. That gave me a window of time to mow the lawn and cut wood, and of course make supper.

All in all, it was a hectic, crazy, but fun filled day. Just the way we like it. Somehow summer has the reputation for being relaxing and slow, but it never manages to live up to this. Funny how that works.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to twg1942 for the pic.