The County Fair (and the Wages of Fun)

Beatrice in the petting pen

Yesterday we took Beatrice to the Los Angeles County Fair, where I used to go every autumn as a child. She had a wonderful time, from the petting zoo to the pig racing, from the corn on the cob to the lemonade, from the cow milking demonstration to the carnival rides she loved watching even though she was too young to ride on them.

The highlight of the day, naturally, was the Extreme Canines Stunt Dog Show. Every time a dog caught a Frisbee or jumped through a hoop she shrieked "Doggy! Doggy!" in joy and amazement. At one point she was so excited she actually vomited into the "performance arena."

Giddy about dogs

Waiting patiently for the dog show to start

Beatrice stands riveted to attention at the dog show moments before throwing up with excitement

We stayed for five hours and she was on her best behavior the whole time, finally falling asleep in the car covered in bits of corn and hay. Sadly, when she woke up back at home again and saw she was no longer at the fair, she didn't take it very well. After about fifteen minutes of sobbing we managed to bathe her and give her a sandwich for dinner before she went to bed to dream about stunt dogs.

This morning I heard her on the monitor talking about "doggies" in her crib and throughout the day today she would occasionally shout "doggies!" and then start laughing and squealing.

There are more fair photos on Facebook.

(The post title is a reference to this old article of mine.)