This weekend was the Chisago County Fair. I discovered the fun of county fairs a few years ago when doing an assignment for a local newspaper. They have most of the variety of animals you would see at the state fair, a lot of the food and are way cheaper to get into. The Chisago County Fair is free gate admission but you pay $2 to park so load up the car. You don’t have to worry about the wall to wall people at the state fair. Last year when we went to the state fair it was really nerve racking with the 2 little kids running around. The “Miracle of Birth” center was especially hard. Two has a real affinity for animals. His favorite is not surprisingly baby animals. At the “Miracle of Birth” center there were baby animals galore and he was running around like crazy trying to see and touch them all completely oblivious to the crowds or the fact that we were trying to keep up with him.

Friday we made a special effort to go to the Chisago county fair since I knew how much he would like it. I also wanted to do some research about land for rent and possibly moving up to Chisago county. I wasn’t prepared for what a great atmosphere it was. Most people knew each other. When standing in line to buy mini donuts I saw a man surprise his neighbor with a bag just to be nice.

In the animal barns I saw two teenage girls reclining against their cow laughing and talking. I wanted to take a picture of them but I was afraid to disturb them. Most of the animals are brought to the fair by children and young people through 4H. They are open and friendly and proud o their animals. The children were invited right up to baby cows, showed chickens and rabbits from their pens and they could stay with an animal as long as they wanted. 

We went through the animal buildings twice, talked with lots of people and found out about some possibilities to rent land. There were many tears on the way home though I explained we had to go pick up Bpa (daddy). Two said with tears streaming down his face, “I don’t want to go back to the city!”