2012 Iowa State Fair Photos, Round 2

I've uploaded all the photos I took with my camera. I've been going through them, trying to decide how I'm going to organize them into "storytelling" posts, and I've finally decided what Fair "story" I'll tell today.

Back in June, I posted about how Livie's been entering the Iowa State Fair's children's coloring contest the past few years. And, of course, she entered it again, this year. Click here to see the post about her 2012 entries.

She was really, REALLY excited to enter this year, because last year, she earned 2nd Place out of scores of entries in the "Anything Goes" category. She was hoping to nab that coveted blue ribbon this year for either the age group entry (5-6 year olds) or the "Anything Goes" entry.

So, what was the first thing we did when we got to the Fair on Friday the 10th? You guessed it - we had to go to the Paul R. Knapp Center where all the art entries were displayed, to see if she had a ribbon pinned next to her artwork (either entry).

We got there and . . . nothing! For either category!! She didn't win anything!

In this first photo, she's pointing to her "Anything Goes" entry, on the top row, 5th from the left. Only the top 3 win ribbons, and they're separated from the rest, hanging above the field of entries.

She was disappointed. I think I was even more disappointed, because I knew how badly she'd wanted a ribbon - the blue one.

Since we were in the Paul R. Knapp Center, I knew a way to cheer her up. There were baby pigs with their mama in a set of farrowing stalls (a "farrowing" stall is where a mother pig is put when she's ready to give birth - it's a birthing stall). The piglets we saw were just an hour old and SO CUTE! (I didn't really get a good picture because it was really crowded.)

And then we headed to the giant slide, which she'd been looking forward to sliding down. (Pictures of that later.) That helped cheer her up, too.

Anyway, here are some more items that got her excited about being at the Fair (since she hadn't won anything). Ice cream statues! There were plenty of these statues in various places throughout the fairgrounds. They were all decorated in fun, crazy ways. I had to take a photo of Liv at every single one that we saw, especially since one of her pieces of art was about ice cream. (You may remember my first batch of Fair photos - she was posing next to a different one of these - I'd taken that photo with my phone).

Eating ice cream next to the ice cream statue.

But before we'd left for the day, she was really wanting some ice cream. Hmmmm, I wonder why? So we'd gotten her some "famous" strawberry ice cream from the Bauder's Pharmacy truck. Bauder's is a pharmacy, but they also have an old-fashioned soda fountain within the pharmacy where they serve homemade ice cream, among other tasty treats. And every year at the Iowa State Fair, they have a truck, where they sell their "famous" ice cream (it's famous throughout Iowa, as I understand it). I'd gotten a chocolate shake, and it WAS pretty tasty, all thick and chocolaty.

So, with ice cream in hand, we went back to the art entry display for a final photo or two. She'd wanted a picture of herself eating ice cream, pointing at her ice cream artwork.

And here's her age group, showcasing Barksdale's famous chocolate chip cookie buckets! (More on Barksdale's famous cookies later.) Hers is the one with the yellow background, toward the bottom.  

So, even though she didn't win a single thing, we still had fun at the Fair.

More photos to come, soon!

The "Hodge Podge of Photos" Post

I've got a bunch of random photos from our week in the Des Moines area that I thought I'd share today.

But first, an update on that bird that was stuck inside my parents' house last week. (Check on the original post here.)

This bird found itself trapped inside my parents' house. I don't know how long it had been inside before I realized it was in there. Originally, it was in the living room (not pictured) stuck in between an inside shutter and the window, desperately trying to get outside, and not realizing that the glass overlooking a wooded area would never allow him to get out.

I'd somehow gotten him to perch on the brush end of a broom, as I held the handle. I quickly walked to the front door as Livie held the door opened. But he became confused and flew not OUT the door, but up into the window way above the door. You can't get to that ledge unless you have a tall ladder (or are a bird).

We tried shooing him out, but he was confused, and just hopped, fluttered, and flew around near the window. I thought of throwing a towel on him so I could transport him out, but I was too short and didn't have a ladder tall enough to facilitate that idea.

We'd gotten a suggestion to use a butterfly net, but the only one we own, Livie's, was at our home 140 miles away.

After a couple hours of trying, off and on, we just left him there for the time being. When my dad got home from work, he also tried shooing him away, without success. But at one point, he FINALLY shooed the thing far enough away from the window that somebody was able to gently grab it, and release it outside!! So the little thing was finally free!!

And the funny thing is that we would occasionally see him at the bird feeder in the front yard. At one point, Andrew saw him on a ledge looking inside. Livie wondered if it was trying to figure out what had happened to him!

Anyway, here are the random photos I'd wanted to share. The first three were taken at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market.

Enjoying a bean and cheese pupusa for breakfast at the Farmer's Market.

This dragon is on a building on one of the side streets in downtown Des Moines.

Livie got a "fishing" balloon "hat."

And the "Instagram" photo (of a Farmers' Market goodie) I took with my iPhone:

We'd gotten a blueberry pie from the Farmers' Market. Here's the piece I later enjoyed.

"Oh, deer!" Guess who was enjoying the spilled bird seed in the front yard?

Oma (Liv's great-grandmother, my grandmother) and Liv are enjoying caramel sundaes one evening after dinner at the local DQ.

Ready to Share, Yet?!

Here's another photo from the 2011 Iowa State Fair. Livie had gotten an ice cream cone (and yes, that was the "single" scoop size!!); Nonno was waiting for her to need some "help" eating it! (Fortunately for him, he didn't have to wait too long!)

Bringing Some Flavors of New Mexico into My Iowa Home

I love the Southwest. For those of you new to my blog, I used to live in various places throughout the Southwest, from El Paso, TX, to Alamogordo, NM, to Tucson, AZ.

Sure it's dry, brown, hot. But it's beautiful in its starkness. There's something amazing about the wide open spaces, the turquoise blue skies, the sunsets rich in reds, golds, raspberries, peaches, the billions of stars in the nighttime sky, the fresh, clean smell the rain imparts on the copper landscape.

I love it all.

Anyway, I've been kinda homesick for my beloved Southwest. Maybe it's because of the winter storm Mother Nature is bestowing on the Midwest, where I now live. Maybe it's because of the readings from the Native American Literature class I'm taking.

Regardless of the reason, I'm homesick.

So, when I take a break from all the reading I have to do for my literature classes, I'll sometimes flip through a beautiful book called Tony Hillerman's Landscape, with breathtaking photos of Navajo country. Or maybe I'll take a look at an old issue of New Mexico Magazine.

Know what? In looking through New Mexico Magazine's June 2010 issue, I found an ice cream recipe that I'd marked and had really wanted to try. The flavor combination made me think it'll taste like that "perfume" of New Mexico that I miss so much.

Well, one thing led to another, and somehow I still haven't yet tried it. But, since I've been missing New Mexico so much lately, I may have to try it, even with Old Man Winter literally howling at my door.

This recipe is for Taos Cow Lavender Ice Cream. The recipe is courtesy of Jamie Leeson, owner of Taos Cow Ice Cream Company. He was kind enough to allow me to post the recipe here. 

Taos Cow Lavender Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 16 oz heavy cream
• 16 oz skim milk
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 to 4 egg yolks
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tablespoon ground culinary lavender flowers

Instructions:

1. Heat cream and milk in the top of a double boiler.
2. Add sugar. 
3. When sugar is dissolved, add egg yolks.
4. Still heating, mix completely, but do not let boil. 
5. Add vanilla and lavender flours.
6. Pour mix into ice-cream maker and freeze, according to manufacturer's instructions. 

-Makes about a quart.

-Garnish with lavender flowers, piñon nuts, or fine chocolate sauce.

Now doesn't that sound awesome?!

Taos Cow Ice Cream Company is located in northern New Mexico, in downtown Arroyo Seco on the road between Taos and Taos Ski Valley. They're open every day from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Their phone number is (505) 776-5640.

Latest trip to Abuelita's house

A couple weekends ago, we spent the weekend at Abuelita's and Nonno's house. We were actually there at the same time as my Uncle Ralph. It's been a long time since Andrew, Livie, and I have seen him. We last saw him in the winter of 2006 in El Paso, when we were all visiting my grandparents.

Here are some photos from a couple weekends ago, finally . . .

Stormy night! Our first night in town:

There was a tornado warning that evening. As a matter of fact, Abuelita sent Andrew and me out to get Dairy Queen ice cream for the whole crew; we actually heard the Giant Voice sounding the tornado warning just as we pulled out of the neighborhood!

The next day, it was partly cloudy, but a good day to go to the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market.

Daddy want to show Livie the swollen river in downtown Des Moines.

Later on, Livie spent some time with Uncle Ralph.

They're obviously enjoying the conversation!

They talked a lot about the bunny in the back yard. Hard to see it in the photo, but he was around for a while!

The next morning, we all went out for breakfast, per Livie's request.

We're waiting for a table. 

A-ha! We got a bit of a smile out of Oma!

Okay, I snapped a photo just in time to catch a laughing uncle.

And now's the time to get Oma's laughter! Abuelita has a nice smile, too!

Here's a smiling Oma, who is being entertained by Livie.

Okay, that's about it for the photos from that weekend. I posted a few of that weekend's Farmers' Market photos earlier, and you can find them at the July 25th "Random Farmers' Market photos" post.

Memory Lane Friday - A Time You Got in Trouble

Okay, I know this week's theme is "A Time You Got in Trouble" but I'm going to go with a time my youngest brother and I could have gotten into trouble . . . if we had not been quick to hide the "evidence."

This was back a number of years, maybe late-'80s or early-'90s. We were still living in the house on Casady Drive.

 Here's the Casady house, circa early '80s:

I think I must've been getting ready to head back to college at the time this event occurred. It was the end of summer, with Labor Day fast approaching.

My parents were planning the family's last trip to the lake house in Lake Ozark, MO. However, for one reason or another, my youngest brother and I had decided that neither one of us wanted to spend another weekend at the lake house that summer. I don't really know his reason, but I think I wanted my last weekend to be at home before heading back out to college.

Anyway, my mom had no problem with my staying home, and said that if I were willing to take care of Alex, he could stay home, too. I agreed to the task.

When the 3-day-weekend finally arrived, we watched the rest of the family pull out of the driveway that Friday afternoon with excited grins on our faces.

The first thing we did was get into my car and head to the video store. As we browsed through the hundreds of VHS titles, Alex said to me, "Can I get 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'? I've never seen it and it's not really something Mom would let me watch. Would you mind if I got it?" Keep in mind that he was in middle school at the time (I'm a number of years his senior). But being the cool sister that I am, I said, "Why the heck not?"

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and a couple other titles later, we headed down the strip mall's sidewalk to the Dahl's grocery store, just a few doors down from the video store. Were we getting stuff for dinner? Noooo . . . of course not! We went in and got a few pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Once back home, we immediately went to the den to start movie night and order a pizza! Just about 30 minutes into our first movie (it may have been "Rocky Horror" or something like "Flash Gordon" - I can't remember), we got our pizza (and a couple sodas) - which we ate in the den! This is definitely something that would NOT have been allowed if our mother had been home!

Later on after our pizza started digesting during our "weird movies" movie night, we dug into the ice cream. In the den, of course!

Then after the last of our movies it was off to bed, leaving an empty pizza box, some soda cans, and an empty ice cream container (with dirty spoons) where they lay. Luckily Alex hadn't fallen asleep in the den that night - I didn't want him sleeping in there all night, and I wouldn't have been able to carry him to his room. 

The next day - that Saturday of Labor Day weekend - after sleeping in late, and leaving a mess of dirty cereal bowls in the kitchen - the two of us headed to the zoo! I don't recall whose idea it was, but it was a fun outing - until it started raining! I think we ended up heading to the Science Center for something fun indoors, but when we got there, it was closed!

Ah, well. That meant more time at the video store returning our previous rentals and getting 3 more movies. I don't remember the titles, but D.B. Sweeney, Marlee Matlin, Jeff Bridges were among the actors. I vaguely remember renting "Starman" and "The Vanishing" sometime that weekend.

Of course, that also meant more Ben & Jerry's being picked up at the grocery store before heading home, and another pizza delivery that evening. And yet another late night watching movies, and pigging out on junk food.

But this time, we piled up two day's worth of pizza boxes and ice cream containers in the kitchen before going to sleep that night.

I don't remember what we did on Sunday, but Sunday night was more of the same - movies, pizza, and ice cream. Somehow we hadn't finished watching all our rentals Sunday night before hitting the hay. But we did get a chance to clear the den of all junk food evidence. However, it was now all piled up in the kitchen . . . okay, not the soda cans, but the pizza boxes. I still can't believe we ate pizza three nights in a row.

Well, Monday arrived, and since we hadn't finished watching our videos from the night before, that's what we did - we watched the remaining movie. I think we ended up going through the drive-thru at McDonald's for lunch before settling into our comfy chairs in the den and starting the movie - with our bags of fast food in the den.

At some point, we got a call from our mom, stating that they were leaving, and what time she and the rest of the family would be back. It was sometime late afternoon or early evening - around dinner time.

No problem! Alex and I had plenty of time to finish our movie and get rid of the evidence.

That is, we thought we had enough time . . . until early that afternoon, when we were both standing in the kitchen (overlooking the driveway, garage, and extra parking area), and we saw that familiar van heading up the street, and turning into the driveway!!!

Oh, no! We both panicked! We had pizza boxes strewn about the kitchen, empty McDonald's bags from that day's lunch, dirty cereal bowls from three mornings of breakfasts, empty soda cans . . . what were we gonna do? How were we gonna explain this?!

We both grabbed a couple big garbage bags and started filling them with the trash we'd accumulated over the 3-day-weekend. Once we did that, I started quickly rinsing off the breakfast dishes and filling the dishwasher. As I did that, I sent Alex to the den to make sure we'd gotten all the trash picked up and thrown into one of the garbage bags we'd been using.

A quick look outside and we saw the rest of the family as they were getting out of the van, unloading their bags from the very back, and off the roof rack, and gathering any accumulated trash from the passenger area of the van.

Okay, a quick survey of the kitchen. Seemed clean enough . . . now what to do about the garbage bags?! The dumpster was outside near the garage . . . but we'd have to go past the family with trash bags in tow, to get to the dumpster!

I sent Alex with the trash bags to the back yard, hiding behind some shrubbery, and listening for the all clear. I went out the side door to greet the family as they came in, and I stayed out there after the last one walked in the door. Then I called to Alex and told him to hurry up and dump the trash bags into the dumpster, which he did.

Then we both went inside with angelic looks on our faces. Aside from a "you could've gotten this kitchen a little bit cleaner" from my mom, no one ever suspected that our Movie, Pizza, and Ben & Jerry's weekend was just that - a fun, movie-filled weekend with lots of junk food!

Click here for the rest of today's Memory Lane Friday posts: