2012 NMSF by John Lee

I was so excited to get to go to Albuquerque and stay at the hotel! We went up with Mama to meet Daddy. Turns out there was a fair there, too! I can't believe all the fun things there are to do. To start off we played in the little Agland and made coffee filter flowers.

Mine had a yellow stem of course.

I really loved the "sheep" pen where you could clean up and use the wheelbarrows.

Milking the cow was pretty cool, too.

Making music was pretty neat - I played the triangle just like I saw on Elmo!

At the Red Barn we got to see lots of animals, including Angus' little brothers - Corgi puppies!!

We ran into some old friends along the way. It was great to see Patrick and CJ - and of course Ms. Magan.

I couldn't believe all the stuff the 4-H kids made! There was stuff everywhere. I am glad Mama has to take it all down and not me!

We found a barn just our size next to the corn pit.

I love the corn pit! I would have stayed for hours if they had let me.

There was another corn pit in the Dairy Barn and I took full advantage of that one as well.

I also snuck up on the little goats to say "Hi".

Next was McDonald's Farm to gather up our Ag products. I liked finding eggs.

Patrick and I set up the milking machine together to get yummy milk from the cow.

We gathered wool to add to our buckets.

At the end we return all of our goodies, the harvest was complete!

We took sometime to enjoy the Natural Resources Building. I liked checking out the fish, but the frog statue is what really held my attention.

I didn't want to get close to Smokey Bear, so he got close to me and let Mama get a picture.

I got to add my hand print to the State Land Office Wall - I picked yellow paint!

They had a bucket for us to scrub up after.

Mama added my name so everyone would know I was there.

Then it was back to the corn pit. Denny wanted us to bury him, but then he didn't like it when I tried to bury his face.

Our final stop was back to the pig races. Sunday was my day! When it was time to pick a team leader for our section, Mama held me up high and they chose me!

I picked the orange flag and waived it proudly! My pig didn't win, but that was ok. It was lots of fun and I finally got to be a big boy at the fair. I hope there is another one soon!

2012 NMSF by Denny Lynn

It's fair time! Mama and Daddy usually have to work up at the State Fair, so we get to trade out and visit the fair! We spend some time around the horse barns of course!

I even got to help water the horse in the Horse Council stall.

We learned about sheering sheep and spinning wool.

And we discovered my new favorite thing - Pig Races!!

They pick team leaders for each race and I got picked the second go round. I chose the blue flag of course!

It is the team leader's job to wave the flag and cheer our team pig on!

The blue pig won and I got a prize! It was very exciting and all I wanted was to go to more pig races, but Mama and Daddy said we had to wait until the next day.

We found other cool kid activities in the Dairy Barn - we made coffee filter flowers using watercolors.

We milked the cow.

And we experimented with making music.

We ran into Winnie the Pooh out on the street and took time out for a photo.

We found great animals at the FFA Red Barn!

And we ran into old friends! Patrick and CJ were visiting the fair with Ms. Magan while their Dad was working, too.

We took a little time to check out the 4-H exhibits - Mama calls this working.

I posed as a goat in the Ag Building.

And we played in the corn pits in the Ag Building and Dairy Barn.

My big plan for Sunday was to tour McDonald's Farm. Lucky for us, Patrick and CJ were going, too!

We started off by picking apples...

...then took a tractor ride! I helped Patrick when his got stuck.

We gathered eggs...

...and milked another cow - this one with a milking machine.

We got to try it out on our finger to see what it feels like for the cow to be milked.

We took the vegetables we harvested and filled up the bins for the grocery store. Then it was time for treats and the next adventure.

We headed down to the Natural Resources Building. We thought the snakes were pretty cool. I will have to ask Uncle Shawn what happened to all the other animals!

I was glad to see Smokey Bear again this year - I remembered him from last year.

The State Land Office was making a hand wall and we stopped to add ours. I chose blue as usual.

Then I wrote my own name!

We showed Patrick the trains...and didn't want to leave.

One more trip to the pig races and it was home for us while Mama finished up her work. We have so much fun at the fair each year. Stay tuned...we have another one coming up!