The Fairest Ferris Wheel

One of the biggest highlights of the Texas State Fair was the ferris wheel ride that we took right before we left for the night.

It is the largest ferris wheel in North America and stands 212 feet high!!

Here's a shot from our little car - up high in the air above Big D!

Here's a view from the top - the Midway area and beyond that - greater Dallas. It was absolutely beautiful up there!

The lights were gorgeous - what an experience!

Here is the view of the loading area - since so many people can fit on this monstrosity, the line went pretty quick - YES!

I just kept looking up at it - so pretty and so incredibly HUGE!

View from across the Midway....

We had a great day and night at the Fair - it was a success!

Animal Fun at the State Fair

One of the big highlights for me at any state fair are the animal barns. Chris and I walked through several barns and then found this special one with lots of baby animals in it. It reminded me of the baby animal barn at the MN state fair - it's my favorite thing in the whole fair!

Here are some pics.....

The baby goats napping together:

A baby giraffe - so cute!

Baby piggies eating dinner....

This creature was some sort of beast that has 4 horns coming out of his head! He looked like a jester!

Here's the goat area - tons of babies and some mommies....

This is some sort of weird llama animal and it had kind of a poodle-type custom haircut - plus it was full of woodchips/shavings. He was hilarious!

And this is a very small breed of kangaroo with her baby in her pouch! I don't think I have ever seen a baby kangaroo actually in the pouch!

We also got to see the facility where the Dallas Police keep their horses and dogs:

So cool to see the cops in their riding boots and pants with built-in chaps!

Here is a cowboy leading his horse out of a stall....

Here are some sheep in their 'coats' for the night - they look ready for bed in their pj's!

State Fair Fun!

About a week and a half ago, Chris and I made the trip to Dallas to attend the Texas State Fair! It was my first time there, so I was totally excited. I don't think that anything will top the Minnesota State Fair ("The Great Minnesota Get Together") since that's what I grew up with, but I went with an open mind...

One thing that I wish I would've thought about when we picked the day that we were going to go was the fact that the University of Texas vs. Oklahoma University football game is a BIG deal, it was a sellout game....and it occurs at The Cotton Bowl on the State Fairgrounds. Needless to say, we got there in the afternoon - right as the crazy game let out. It was soooooo crowded and apparently, attendance and revenue records were broken for the state fair that day. WOW!

I thought this sign was hilarious!

And here is the famous 'mascot' of the State Fair of Texas - BIG TEX!!

In one of the learning buildings, we found this display - all made out of butter! It was kept at like 35-40 degrees in there and it was so neat. The detail was incredible - down to the firewood and poker chips made out of butter!

And of course, there are crazy food choices......Here's the one that they heavily advertised - FRIED BUTTER! NASTY!!!

And in Texas, they call corndogs "Corny Dogs". Funny!

REALLY?? Chicken fried bacon?!

An interesting fact that I saw about Texas cotton.....

And this Grand Champion Steer was sold for $96,000!! WOW - you could buy a house down here for that!! It's a freaking cow!

Here's Chris looking lovingly at the John Deere tractor thingy of his dreams.....

We found a cool giant pumpkin carver who was practicing his craft right there in front of us - SO COOL.
And here's Chris and I at the end of our State Fair day!

Moose in the Motherland

I know this probably qualifies as 'cute animal pictures', but I'm posting it anyway - it's from The Motherland (Minnesota) and it is too cute!

Baby Moose Born on lawn

How about this at your front door?

Baby Moose 12 Hours Old -
Born in the middle of downtown
Twig, Minnesota

In my 33 years in Minnesota , I have neverseen a newborn baby moose. This one was not even a half mile from our house. The mother picked a small, quiet neighborhood, and had her baby in a front yard just off of US 53, at 5:30 am.

Joe and I were out bike riding when we came upon the pair. The lady across the street from this house told us she saw it being born. We saw them at 5:30 PM. So the little one was 12 hours old. What an awesome place we live in to see such a sight.

She stood guard and fed her baby until the next morning then she ambled back into the woods where she came from.