Oregon Country Fair

As we drove up to Country Fair today Mr. T yelled "hey look! That guy's wearing a tutu!" and then giggled. Oh boy, I thought to myself, this could be a long day. And yes, the parking guys were all wearing tutu's. We explained to the kids that this was a place where people came to dress up HOWEVER they wanted and that we could look and say we liked their costumes but not point and laugh. Of course, once we got there, they were so enamored with looking at everything that they just loved every single bit of silliness about the fair. The stilt walkers, the guy dressed as a tree, the dragon parade, the hula hoop girls, the drums, the tie-dyed flags, and on and on and on.

It was actually good that a lot of it went over their heads because there were some decidedly inappropriate (for children) costumes  - naked people, painted naked people, young girls wearing lingerie, a guy only wearing a pair of women's underwear and a pig's mask. Yep, they had it all. Fortunately the kids were so overwhelmed with the colors and sounds and amusement of the place that they didn't really focus in on individual costumes.

We spent a lot of time parked in the Chela Mella Meadow, which was kind of the kids area. They had a kids stage and when we got there they were running a talent show where whomever wanted could get up and do their thing. My nephew got up there and told a joke to the crowd. Before he left, I asked what he was going to do and he said (with a devilish grin) "I'm going to tell a joke and NOBODY'S going to get it". Oh you go little man. Right on up there. And he did.

For the rest of the day we wandered around, ate food, listened to the drum circle and ate more food. Mr. T particularly enjoyed his snow cone (GMO free and with out high fructose corn syrup thank you very much) and Miss E loved the quesadillas.

Next year, Peter and I have talked about trying to come back and camp for the three days - just the two of us. He may be able to work at the fair, enabling us to camp there and see all the after-hours performances.

As for the kids, we are definitely taking them back for a day next year. Miss E has already told me she wants to dress up (although please please please let it not be in her underwear). Maybe then Mr. T will wear a tutu as well.