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Life is too short to eat bad food! Sharing great recipes, farm life, stories and photography from our Northern California dairy farm.

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August 16, 2010

Gravenstein Apple Fair

Yesterday, the kids and I drove up to Sebastopol to go to the 100th anniversary of the Gravenstein Apple Fair.  It had been 10 years since I had been to this fair and my has it grown.  This is not your typical county fair where animals are competitively shown through 4-H {although there were some 4-H animals there to interact with and educate the public}, there are no carnival rides or competitive exhibits, it's more of a festival atmosphere with the celebration of the Gravenstein Apple.  




First things first, gotta eat your apple a day!

Because after the apple, comes the apple fritter.

Yum!

This was Paige's first experience with an apple fritter and she's in love.

There were a couple of little rides, one being a mini canoe ride that the kids rode twice.

Back to healthy food.  Bryce wanted a peach.

The fair had two stages that bands played on throughout the day and a couple of demonstration and educational areas where there were cooking demonstrations and farm talks.......none of which I was able to listen to, but that's what happens when you take two kids to the fair by yourself {and that's okay}......but maybe next year.

There were animals to pet.

Angora sheep, thank you for the beautiful sweaters you provide us!

Angora sheep are beautiful.  It was a first for me to see one in person.

This guy kept head butting the mini pony next door......guess he needed some space.

There was also a bee display which the kids and I loved as well.

The secret life of bees!

The kids got a kick out of being so close to bees and not being stung by one.

Then we got to sample some honey.

Our favorite was the raspberry honey.....really good!

We had birds to visit.

And lunch.  Typical fair food was served....garlic fries, gyros, corn dogs, tamales, pizza and of course hot dogs .....and much more.  They also had a wine and brew tasting at the "Sips & Suds" tent, which I did not venture over to......again, maybe next year.




I love antique tractors and they had quite a display of them.



They also had a ton of antique farm equipment such as this apple tree sprayer.

Every one of them in working order too.  It was really interesting for all of us to see the progression of farm equipment technology over the years.

Make your own rope demonstration.

And as promised, cotton candy to complete our day. 

I told them they could have some if they promised to behave on the 45 minute car ride home.

I'll let you use your own imagination on how that went.
All in all, I so loved this fair.  All the historical displays, celebrating the Gravenstein apple,  apple desserts, wine tasting, entertainment.....something for every age group.  We will definitely be back next year for sure!

Happy Monday!
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Nancy, We missed the fair this year - school shopping for high schoolers!!! Thanks for sharing all of these wonderful photos!! Your kids are toooooo cute!! Deb

Heather (Heather's Dish) said...

how could you NOT be in love with apple fritters?! they're only the best things ever :) love the pictures of the kiddos...they're so gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

I love cotton candy even at my age(65). I think that little girl enjoyed hers to the fullest. I love that you allow your kids to be kids and enjoy things that make good memories. I really like following your blog.

Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

Love the red/green apple combo!

Yum apple fritters! I could eat two right now!

Great post- thanks for taking us along with you

Unknown said...

I like apple fritters too! I'm sorry I missed the fair but I did buy a big bag of Gravenstein apples today at the market! Pictures of the kids are sweet:-)

Pat Tillett said...

It was a great post and a great story, but all I can think about right now is apple fritters!
I need some...