Summer Staycation #1

Who came up with this idea? A staycation, as I am sure you have heard, is all the rage this summer with gas prices so high (still not as high as in Europe, I might mention), and so we have joined the throngs and stayed home this weekend. Yes, I still have to do all the dishes (alright, someone helped this evening) and most of the cooking and all of the cleaning and we still spend money. You know, to see things like this:

The kid LOVED those jumping motorcycles at the county fair. He wasn't as interested in the bull riding (and I must admit, I felt sorry for the bulls) nor the monster trucks, but I finally coerced him to tell me which part was his favorite: the transformers - two "cars" that transformed into fire-spitting robot-things and then presented the audience with the message of "use your inner strength to accomplish your goals" or something else that I did not expect. (I thought the 2 cars would blow each other up. Silly me.) I was also amused by the crowd - such a diverse crowd at the fair and at the "extreme sports" demonstration. The younger girl and older man next to me both cheered when the monster trucks came out. "The best part!" they said. Meanwhile, I held my ears and JK covered up the kids'. The trucks were downright boring compared to the motorcycles, not to mention loud and smelly. Other families were passing out earplugs to their kids and flashing hands shaped into claws to give the drivers some sort of special sign - "Bone-crusher!" or something like that. And why in the world do Americans in grandstands get so excited about free t-shirts? The man near me really wanted that x-large white shirt with a dull ad for JVC on the front. Me - I would have preferred a free TV.

So, anyways, the fair.

Unlike some kids, ours had no interest in the farm animals: "It's stinky!" Nor did he really want to look at the garden section like I did. Mostly he wanted to look at the rides but definitely NOT ride them.

He also was not into trying one of these treats:

And this year we avoided the fried foods and went for a smoked turkey leg, after which we watched some turkey racing. Although, I have to admit, the donut-chicken-sandwich thing sounded interesting. I also had a funnelcake and the kid, being the odd vintage that he is, wouldn't even try it. Apparently it didn't look enough like a chicken-less donut to warrant a taste. More for me, I guess.

Well, back to the staycation. If we had gone away, we might have missed the moments in the yard when this friend stopped by. He (she? it?) even stayed long enough for the kid to have a conversation with him, which mostly consisted of things like: Hi there, Poo-poo! What are you doing in my poo-poo garden? (PLEASE tell me that this stage will soon be over and at age 4 he will magically transform into a polite, sweet child.)