STATE of aFAIRs

Before I get to the meat of this post (which you can probably guess the subject matter if you're smart enough), let me go off on a tangent for a second.

First we have the official unveiling of my 101 in 1001 days list. I first saw one of these lists on a girl that I went to college with's blog and I've been struggling to make my own - that's why some of the things on my list might be dumb. I finally completed making the list. Hopefully it will provide for some new adventures and some exciting blog posts! I've already done some of the things on the list so I need to cross this off.

Speaking of completing things on my list, that brings me to the subject of this post. Because of the 3-week break between the home games at JMU, my weekends have been kind of low key lately. 

So one day last week, I decided that I was going to do something this weekend with some of my friends because I miss hanging out with them. I called Patti up and we were brainstorming. I said, "Let's go to the State Fair," not really thinking she'd go for it. She went for it. Apparently neither she nor Ben had ever been to the state fair of Virginia. 


Not having been since I was in middle school, I took it upon myself to take them to the State Fair! Because Patti lives like ten minutes away from where the fair takes place, on Friday after work, I headed to the lake, stopping at Martin's on the way there to buy our discounted State Fair tickets! When I got to Patti's, we waited for Ben to get there and played with Lola, since Patti was also dogsitting this weekend!

Lola Loca loves me!

Sweet Caroline...

When Ben got there, Patti made us tacos for dinner and then I preceded to fall asleep on the couch while we were all watching tv because I work way too hard! 

On Saturday, we got up and went to the State Fair of Virginia! I went equipped with my camera but then realized that I had left my memory card in my lap top! Epic fail on my part.

The first thing we did when we got to the fair was visit one of the petting zoos. I enjoyed petting the goats who were super excited to be fed; one even tried to eat my raincoat!

After the first petting zoo we headed into the main section of the fair. The first show we saw was a tiger show, that featured 5 real live tigers! Tigers are one of my favorite animals - I think the whites ones are just so pretty. 

Look how tall the tiger is. Ignore lady and child that showed
 up in every one of my photos. Why am I so short?!

After that the rest of the fair was a whirlwind of events. Ben watched a freak show. Patti and I shopped in the little booths. We walked by rides that were way to expensive to ride and too scary. Ben attempted to win us prizes. He failed. Patti and I attempted to win ourselves prizes. We failed.

Note to self: Skee Ball is NOT my game!

We partook in the eating of fair food! By the way, funnel cake is my absolute favorite part of fairs, amusement parks, football games, etc.

Once we got through the main part of the fair, we headed over to the agricultural side, where we saw tractors, large pumpkins and another petting zoo. This is where I felt at home! We saw two baby cows that had been born at 5 a.m. that morning!

This pumpkins weighs 452 pounds. No big deal.

After walking around for a few hours, we decided to end our day at the fair.

Yes, we took this on our way out. We're a little backwards.

All in all, it was a fun trip! I think Ben and Patti enjoyed their first State Fair of Virginia experience. And it's something I can cross off my list!

Have you ever been to the State Fair, or any fair? What is your favorite part of fairs?

Knee Deep in the Water Somewhere

My Facebook newsfeed has been filled with stories of people shipping off to the beach for weekend trips; this weekend I finally got to head to the water, but not to the overrated beach and all the traffic that trip would entail.


Instead, I was lake bound.

I'm usually not one for doing things alone but one thing I like to do alone is drive myself places. I have total jam sessions that I would not want to subject anyone's ears to, unless I hated them.


This road trip had its own significant problems. The AC in my car is broken. It takes me about an hour and a half to get to the lake and to my Cake. After reading fellow blogger Gretchen's horror stories about her own broken AC, I prepared to stay well hydrated on this drive.

They were both empty at the completion of my road  trip.

Anyway back to the beginning. Patti was having her boyfriend and his two littlest siblings stay at her house this weekend. She invited me to come up as well. We recently found out that Ben got this super cool new job so that was our first order of business: to celebrate!

When I finally got there on Friday, after driving during the hottest part of the day, we headed up to Massaponax to do some shopping. We went into a few stores, with the idea that we would return to them if we didn't find what we were looking for in Target. That was our first mistake. 

When we got to Target, it started storming. Badly. The lights were flickering. After we were in Target for a good 20 minutes, the storm knocked the power out. Luckily Target had generators so there were a couple of working lights, the doors worked, and after awhile, they got the registers working. It was definitely an interesting experience. 

However, the storm had knocked the lights out everywhere else in Massaponax. Our shopping trip there was cut short. We headed back towards Patti's to stop at Food Lion. While we were in that shopping center, we saw Anthony from afar. 

Backtrack: Sophomore year, when I first met Patti, we used to talk to Anthony on the phone all the time in our dorm. But I never ever met him in person. 

After Food Lion, we headed back to Patti's and awaited the arrival of Ben, Hannah, and Jake!  When we got home, Daniel, Evan, and Anthony were there. We ordered pizza, that arrived exactly as Ben, Hannah, and Jake got there. 

Our Friday night activities included pizza eating, Apples to Apples, ice cream cake celebration and watching Captain America. 

Saturday was  lake day! We woke up and made two batches of pancakes! The kids were so excited about getting in the water. To be honest, as long as I've been going to Patti's I'd never been in the water with the exception of one boat ride last June. 

Ben canoed us all over to Little Beach (making two trips each way) where we splashed around in the water some and played Frisbee. We then headed back to Patti's deck where we stayed for a bit. Then we decided we wanted to go bowling.


The last time I went bowling (during Fantasy Football weekend) was with Ben, Patti, Hannah, and Jake and I did awful that time. I had every intention of redeeming myself, which I think I did. The real story of the afternoon was Patti, who bowled 6 strikes (two turkeys) and a spare all in one game, finishing with a score of 193. In my defense, I did start my second game with two strikes!

Blurry photo! But Patti's score is the second line and mine is the bottom line!

We headed to Walmart for ingredients for kiddie cocktails and to pick up a RedBox movie. When we got back to Patti's, we played two games of Apples to Apples with Daniel, Anthony, and his brother Dom. Then we all had dinner, which was crazy awesome because Patti's mom extended the table and every seat was filled!


Then Steph and her parents came over! I just about tackled Steph when I saw her because I hadn't seen her since December! She's about to head to Maine for a bit and she promised to bring me some popcorn. Yum! I went on a night boatride with her and the rest of the adults, while Patti, Ben, Hannah, and Jake watched Red Tails. 


On Sunday, we woke up early and headed to Mass. Then we visited The Virginia Bazaar. When we got back, Patti's parents had hamburgers and hotdogs cooking on the grill! After lunch, we went for a boat ride and then went swimming in the lake. After we all showered, we sat around as our weekend came to a close. After staying for dinner, I headed southwards, road tripping home. This time in much cooler temperatures. 


Where's your favorite place to put your feet in the water?