Saturday at the Fair

After having breakfast and J going through a huge stack of books to "read" we headed out to the Dane County Fair. Today they were having a farm tractor display for the kids and a fire truck and rescue equipment parade. We saw the tractors first and J got to sit on a bunch of them. Later, they were moving them out and we watched them all drive away.


We stopped at the petting zoo which was pretty small. J loved the tortoise. It had the coolest shell and was just sitting in the open eating grass. We headed to the barns and saw all the prize cows. Just as we were walking down the last row of cows we saw the rescue parade coming.


We quickly left the barn and headed to the nearest trucks. Once they were parked, we brought J over to see and who walks out but Birch the guy who leads our Pal Zone group! He's also a volunteer firefighter. He volunteers with his girlfriend and she took J under her wing and showed him around. He sat in the driver's seat, got to wear a helmet, went in the back and saw the jackets and boots. Then he put on a helmet again and just walked around. It was so funny because the helmet was really heavy so J was a little wobbly. We also went next door to a fire truck that was giving away kids fire helmets. J was very protective of his helmet. We went into the Expo area to see all the booths after that and he wouldn't put his helmet down. Even when he had it off, he had to hold it. They had an inflatable gym with slide that he really wanted to go in. Once he got in line he was afraid so a little girl held his hand and I walked along outside cheering him on. He said he wanted to go again but then when it was his turn in line he got scared and decided not to. There was an Indian woman we met at the park who had a booth so L bought a little fancy heart notebook so he can write my anniversary poems in it. Very sweet! J was starting to melt down so we headed out. In the car, his lids were getting really heavy and then he did fall asleep. Then it was nap time.

I decided to pick another Beth Moore book for my devotional study time. This one is called, To Live is Christ - joining Paul's journey of faith. I really like doing biblical character studies and Beth Moore's format is good with verses to read and then commentary. This one on Paul should be good. It says this book will trace Paul's life from early childhood to death focusing on his amazing ministry. Beth hopes it will provide a sharpened awareness of the personal calling God has placed on our lives. I look forward to that. Today I read Galatians 1:15-16. Beth shares that she accepts many of Paul's words as a personal challenge. In these verses we learn that Paul was set apart from birth and was called by God's grace. Beth creates a story that would have been like what any Jewish boy would experience after birth. She shares how his Jewish heritage impacted his lifestyle in a major way. He was raised to be a devout Jew. That meant study of the Torah, focus on marriage and performance of good deeds.


J had a long 3-hour nap today. He was really wiped. He was pretty hungry when he got up so I gave him some cheese to tide him over since we decided to go downtown for dinner. We tried to have a date night, but couldn't find a sitter. We went to where we thought a Chinese buffet was, but it wasn't there anymore so we took a walk to the capital square. It was still humid and probably 85 out but it was a nice walk. We ended up eating at an Indian restaurant. When L's food came out, it was sizzling and it really freaked out J. It was tandoori chicken which they bake in a special oven and it comes out on a hot plate. He wanted me to hold him for a bit so I took him out of the high chair and then he was on the verge of crying when I put him back. The waiter noticed and I told him what happened and next thing I know he's bringing J a "mango lassie", a creamy mango drink which J sipped down. He wanted to try my beef curry and I told him it was spicy. He took a bite and then was trying to wipe his tongue, saying "it's spicy" so I gave him a drink. We saw Madison's own Art Paul Schlosser, a State Street musician I've known since I was in college and then got to know better when L and I attended the same church with him. He played a couple songs for J and we all danced. We left soon after and J was happy to get home.