Building traditions

I think traditions are a big part of what make you a family. Whether your family includes you and a dog or you and your five kids, traditions are part of what make you unique. It is sort of like a long standing inside joke, not everyone will get it, but it always makes you smile.

When A and I were dating, we started our own little traditions. As we’ve grown our little family, we have continued to add to our list of traditions.

One of our family traditions is making the annual trek to the state fair. It’s very Midwestern and hick and country and every year I look forward to it.



When we lived in Minnesota, the state fair was a really big deal. Up there, it is not surrounded by the stigma associated with state fair. In fact, you are a little weird if you don’t have plans to go to the fair. We even made our trip to the fair when I was 8 months pregnant with Mooka. Grant it, I’m pretty sure I complained the entire time we were there and did not view the trip as part of any tradition, but rather my attempt to get that child out of me.

Living in Illinois, folks definitely have a different reaction when you mention going to the fair. That has not stopped us from continuing our little tradition. So, this past weekend we loaded up and headed off to enjoy the fair.

Some of the highlights included

Watching Dock Dogs



Learning how to "milk" a cow



Checking out the livestock



Countless goofy photo ops



Arts and crafts time at the 4-H display



And of course, the rides.



But the Pièce de résistance the Butter Cow...



We all had a great time. It was a really long day and I'm glad because the memory will last forever.

So go ahead, try it. Find something goofy that you think is fun and just go for it. You might just make your own tradition along the way.