"Our State Fair is a Great State Fair..."

Today, Kittyboy...
1. petted goats, pigs, and a donkey
2. walked on a leash for the first time ever
3. stayed up three hours past his naptime (we weren't wearing watches)
4. got a straw cowboy hat
5. rode a horse - not a pony, this was a full-size horse!
6. saw monkeys
7. danced a polka with mommy
8. got a farmer's burn - forearms and face
and 9. milked a cow!

We went to the Illinois State Fair today with his Auntie Sten, my little sister. She's been with us since Sunday, working on some room decor (of which I will post a picture when it's all done). All pictures are from my cell phone, as the REAL camera was not cooperating.
Word to the wise, if your child is young enough that horsies are cool, the pony ride is the best three bucks you can spend at the fair. It's not one circuit of the little tent, it's several laps around, and at a decent pace. Three out of four of the equines were ponies, but the one on which they sat Kittyboy was a full-sized horse, I'm sure. Kittyboy's got good balance, so long as he's focusing, but when he's not focusing, it's anybody's guess in what direction he'll fall, so I jogged alongside just in case. I really didn't have to, though - he rides like a seasoned horseman. He was focused in and paying attention and aware and it was just awesome. I was amazed! He didn't slump or lean at all. Next spring, we are going to try and get him riding lessons, because that would be great for toning his trunk, further improving his balance, maybe get him to pay more attention in general to where his body is and where it's going even when he's NOT five feet off the ground on the back of an animal. (Come to think of it, that is one of the purposes of hippotherapy!)
The petting zoo's free, we went in twice, and he found out that animals aren't ticklish. He tried, very earnestly, to tickle the goats, and they just didn't respond. Neither did the pigs or the donkey. Darn. So he just petted them all, a LOT, and every time another child came in, he ran around with them "showing" them all the animals and how you pet nicely.
We went and milked a very patient cow, and he was very excited to see where milk comes from, and he loved seeing many horses walk past pulling carts, with their fancy harnesses jangling and their manes all in ribbons. We danced a polka after lunch, in the Ethnic Village where a polka band was playing. Polka-ing with thirty pounds in your arms is quite the workout!
Pictures of my little cowboy, and of him with the goats!
Oh, and he saw a show with baboons - he loved the "muckys", and it wasn't one of those "it's a chimp wearing clothing and holding a telephone, isn't that hilarious?" shows, the handler was having the baboon demonstrate "tricks" that baboons do in the wild, and explaining why they have those behaviors, which was really cool.