Elkhart County 4-H Fair

Growing up, the best week of summer was always the Elkhart County 4-H Fair.  I loved going when I was little.  We'd walk through all of the animal barns, try several of the food booths, play some carnival games and ride a few rides.  In high school and college I would work at the fair for WKAM for the week.  It was an awesome experience.  I'd drive the golf cart, work the fair booth, and even help with interviews. 

When we moved here, I assumed that fair week would be a big part of the Heinisch family's life.  We took Brett and Cal a few times when they were little, but I quickly realized that my affection for the county fair was not shared by Doug.  He thought that it was dirty, unsafe, had terrible food and was expensive.  Thus, we stopped attending as a family and instead the Heinisch children and I would spend an afternoon at the fair each summer with my parents.  After a couple of trips with four children in tow, I quickly started to view the fair the same way that Doug did, especially the expensive part.  We calculated that it was cheaper to spend a day at King's Island then to take everyone to the fair.  When we explained that to the Heinisch children they were ready to make the amusement park a staple of our summer activities.

Even though we stopped going to the fair as a family, our children did still attend most years.  They would go with their friends when they were in high school or with my parents when they were younger.  They always had fun, but didn't spend every day there as I did when I was younger.  Cameron attended last year with Richard, Samuel and Avery having a great time.  He decided this year that he wasn't up to a trip with friends and decided to see if grandma and grandparent were available.  Thankfully, they were interested in going to the fair and took full advantage of free admission day this afternoon.

Cameron said that they all had a lot of fun.  He got to see Joey in the beef barn.  He ate a polish sausage and tried lemon ice cream from the dairy barn.  He didn't ride any of the rides, but he played a few games, winning a small prize or two.  Overall, it was a great afternoon and he was really glad that he went.  It will probably be his only trip to the fair this year, but that seemed to be ok with him.