{"id":456,"date":"2010-08-24T02:22:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-24T02:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/08\/the-iowa-state-fair-or-what-did-they-try-to-fry-this-year.html"},"modified":"2012-05-20T20:10:36","modified_gmt":"2012-05-21T01:10:36","slug":"the-iowa-state-fair-or-what-did-they-try-to-fry-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/08\/the-iowa-state-fair-or-what-did-they-try-to-fry-this-year.html","title":{"rendered":"Iowa Discoveries: The Iowa State Fair…or…What Did They Try to Fry THIS Year<\/em>?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past weekend we paid a visit to the Iowa State Fair. In 2008 and 2009 we drove right down the road to Lincoln for the Nebraska State Fair, which was fun when it was nice and close. This year, the state fair will open up on August 27th at their new home at Fonner Park in Grand Island, NE<\/a>, which is about 2 1\/2 hours away from here.<\/p>\n

The former State Fairgrounds in Lincoln will become the Nebraska Innovation Campus<\/a>, a university-private industry research center. Similar to N.C. State’s Centennial Campus, and Penn State’s Innovation Park.<\/p>\n

Since Nebraska’s State Fair moved relatively far away, we decided to check out Iowa’s State Fair, near downtown Des Moines, about 130 miles east of us.<\/p>\n

I think this might be the biggest state fair I’ve ever attended. I’ve only been to 4 of them: Ohio, North Carolina, Nebraska and now Iowa’s. The old buildings reminded me of the historic buildings at the NC State Fairgrounds. There were numerous midways, and we had trouble finding the little-kid-friendly rides. Unfortunately, it was incredibly hot, and I think were all that much crankier from it.<\/p>\n

Enjoy some pictures from our day at the fair!<\/p>\n

Timmy did a leaf rubbing and taped it to a display area:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In the “Varied Industries” building, where various native-to-Iowa companies can show off their goods, Timmy enjoyed a tattoo scavenger hunt. I can’t believe I let him wear Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclone tattoos! When all was done, Timmy was wearing 12 tattoos on his face and arms!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The boys each did the Turbo Jump, which is like bungee-cord-assisted trampoline jumping. Hopefully these videos work:
\n<\/object>
\n<\/object><\/p>\n

Then we made our way to the animals. Horses and cattle. Unlike in NC, we could pet these animals, so long as the owners gave the okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

While I didn’t eat any of the fried foods, it’s always interesting to see what foods are out there. How ’bout some fried mac ‘n cheese?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I saw this at the NE State Fair last year, it’s rather interesting. It’s beef topped with a scoop of mashed potatoes, garnished with cheese, dark gravy and topped off with a cherry….tomato<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I opted for a smoked turkey leg \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

What’s a State Fair without a pumpkin contest?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

We took a skyride from one end of the fair to the other. A sign of just how big this fair is! \u00a0Jacob was nervous, which is evidenced from that look on his face…and how he tucked in his legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As we always do, we save the rides and games for the very end:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Timmy’s in the 2nd to last row with people in it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 08 21 Iowa State Fair<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past weekend we paid a visit to the Iowa State Fair. In 2008 and 2009 we drove right down the road to Lincoln for the Nebraska State Fair, which was fun when it was nice and close. This year, the state fair will open up on August 27th at their new home at Fonner […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[90,252,37],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-7m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":230,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2008\/09\/nebraska-state-fair.html","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":0},"title":"Nebraska Discoveries 4: The Nebraska State Fair","date":"02 September 08","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we paid a visit to the last day of the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln. Unlike the North Carolina State Fair, this is somewhat smaller, mainly because most of the competitions are for youth, through their 4-H organizations. The highlight for me was the demolition derby. We never made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"nebraska\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":234,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2008\/09\/wild-sunflowers.html","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":1},"title":"Nebraska Discoveries 5: Wild Sunflowers","date":"05 September 08","format":false,"excerpt":"Wild sunflowers are in bloom in E. Nebraska and W. Iowa. They're just popped up all over the place, like how Queen Anne's Lace pops up in PA and WV, and how wild thistle grows on the sides of the highways in NC. So I pulled a Maryann and pulled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"flowers\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":471,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/10\/nebraska-discoveries-9-runza.html","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":2},"title":"Nebraska Discoveries 20: Runza","date":"07 October 10","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight for dinner, we went out. \u00a0It tends to be a necessity 1-2 times per week in the fall while the boys are in soccer 5-days per week (Jacob 3 days, Timmy 2). \u00a0I do what I can to cook but it's rather aggressive; when I do cook I try\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"food\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":400,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2009\/10\/how-john-deere-brought-my-sons-closer-together.html","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":3},"title":"How John Deere Brought My Sons Closer Together….","date":"30 October 09","format":false,"excerpt":"I've quite a queue of potential blog posts in my mind...mainly things that have been happening in our lives, and every once in a while something happens about which I think \"That would be a fun\/funny\/silly\/insightful blog post.\" I think I'll be improving in the next week or so, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"nebraska\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":236,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2008\/09\/lets-go-state.html","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":4},"title":"Let’s Go State!","date":"06 September 08","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't believe it, we're getting Penn State Football here in Big Red Country! On ESPN2 this afternoon!If we were still in North Carolina, we would have been subject to the Wake Forest game.I'm sure it's because PSU's playing Oregon State, so you'd get the most viewers around here rooting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"nebraska\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":448,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/08\/nebraska-discoveries-8-ashfall-fossil-beds-fossil-vacations.html","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":5},"title":"Nebraska Discoveries 17: Ashfall Fossil Beds & "Fossil Vacations"","date":"12 August 10","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple weeks ago, Jacob and I (Timmy was in NY visiting Grammy and Grampy) headed out with our friends and neighbors, Shannon, Brandon, Connor and Dean to the Ashfall Fossil Beds\u00a0State Historic Park, which is near the small town of Royal, Nebraska. From 2010 07 30 Ashfall Fossil Beds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"nebraska\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1052,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456\/revisions\/1052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}