Harvest Fair...not just wine!

The Sonoma County Harvest Fair, in my mind, typically means many wineries from all over Sonoma  county come out and show their best wines.  Where else can you go wine tasting and sample this variety of wines under one roof?  Before kids, I don't think I ever made it past the wine tasting pavilion.  There is SO much more to experience!

Paige and I met my sister, Lisa and my neice, Morgan up at the fair yesterday. They are looking into purchasing a couple of adorable Pygmy Goats for a 4-H project and it just so happened there was a Pygmy Goat show happening at the fair yesterday, which is a great way to aquire information and contacts for breeders and such.  

This is Angel, an orphaned Pygmy that followed her adopted human mama everywhere!  I wanted to take Angel home with me.

And so did Paige and Morgan.  Paige will be joining 4-H next year, when she turns five and I think I see a Pygmy Goat in her near future.  Just the other day she asked me if she could show a cow at the fair like her cousin Gavin did.  To show a large animal in 4-H, you need to be eight or nine years old so she has a few years to go before that happens, but she can definitely show a small animal.

After the Pygmy show, we headed off to find something to drink.  I should have asked the 'smoothie lady' what actually went into her smoothies but I just figured all smoothies were made with milk or yogurt.....but no dairy was found in this $6 dollar smoothie.....a disappointment. {reminder to self; bring my own drinks next year}

Off to the exhibitor's hall where entrants can submit an apple display or harvested flowers in a vase.  I loved the apple display, not only for the aroma of apple wafting through the room but also for the dynamic visual display row after row of apples can create.  It reminded me of the Gravenstein Apple Fair we attended in August.

 

 

There was also Scarecrow entries to view as well.

All the kids are allowed to sit atop any of the pumpkins entered in the Giant Pumpkin growing contest.  Paige is sitting atop the winning 1,200 pound pumpkin grown by a nine year old boy! 

 

Typical 'fair food' was available for lunch. 

Paige wanted a hot dog.

I had a vegi burger and a couple of Paige's fries

After refueling, I wanted to walk through the wine tasting pavilion to capture some photos to show you all but a separate admission was required {which is different than the last time I attended} and I was not in the mood for wine tasting, so instead, we headed over to the Grape Stomp competition.

I had never sat and watched this competition until yesterday.  I think it would be fun to enter next year!  A team of two is needed with one of the team members stomping the grapes and the other holding the jug to catch the juice with one hand and using the other hand to push more of the juice through the spout.  It can get quite messy.

Costumes are encouraged.

I think we need to have this breed of cow in our herd......just one.  I'll have to ask Saralee where I can find the breeder.

A couple more stops before calling it a day; the bunny barn.  Check out this Angora rabbit! 

Can you find her eyes?!  Too cute!

And thank you, Angora rabbit for all the beautiful hats and scarves you help to produce!

Paige also wants a Llama.....but I don't see one of these in her near future.

She tells me, "When I'm a grown-up, I want one just like the tan and white one."

When we saw this big guy, we had to stop and say hello.  Paige wanted to know "What kind of horse is that?!!  Look at his feet!"  I told her it was some sort of draft horse and she repeats, "Oh a giraffe horse."

We also stopped at the k-9 show for a bit.

And the hay bale maze. 

The Harvest Fair, there was so much we didn't have the chance to see; chef demonstrations, art show and sale, music shows, antique tractor display, classic car display, wagon rides, and a whole lot more.  We'll definitely be back again next year.

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