Sights from the Rain Soaked Big E

We arrived at the Big E dressed inappropriately.


Not only did we need raincoats and umbrella's, but we need boots.
High Boots!
Between the rain, the spontaneous parking lot rivers and the mud, we were soaked from the knees down before we even hit the ticket booth.

But, we cheerfully plowed ahead, hitting the first dry spot we
came to: the animal barns :)
(Which are my favorite anyway)

Since I was a little girl, I have loved the smell of animal barns.
A pungent combination of feed, hay and yes, a touch of animal waste.
My parents used to take us 5 kids over to UConn to visit all the animal barns at least once a month.
We would visit the cows, the sheep, pigs, horses.
It was a tradition Jim and I carried on with our kids, too.
Of course, we always HAVE to stop at the Dairy Bar for ice cream too.
Tradition, ya know.

(Sheep wool)

We stopped to watch the 4-H kids show their animals-first the sheep...

(Don't you love the expression on this sheep's face?)


And then we moved on to the llamas...

And the cows...

horses...

and chubby sleeping piglets.

I got a huge surprise when I turned around after snapping a photo of a cow and saw these two adorable people!
I was thrilled that Lyndsay and Dan got to spend time at the Big E with us.
One of the very few birthday surprises everyone knew about except me!

We saw giant pumkins that weighed almost 1,3oo lbs!
(Half the size of the Clydesdale horse above, who weighed in at 2600 lbs)

We finally dried off enough to venture outside and walk towards the BEST feature of the Big E.
The State Buildings.
Baked potatoes, blueberry pie....yum.


As we walked along, we said no to the street vendors that tempted us with mouth watering aromas...

Our first stop was the Rhode Island Building.

We then proceeded to eat our way through the rest of the state buildings....

(Not pictured: Blueberry pie from Maine...eaten before the camera came out!)

Taylor, these T-shirts from the VT building made us think of you
;o)

We said hello to Lego Buzz....

And said NO to this pizza combination (reportedly a best seller?)

We ended with a relaxing stroll through the Better Living Center where Lyndsay and Dan rocked and chatted about renovating their new home.

(Until their romantic moment was interrupted by the sales pitch)

After an awesome few hours, our tired, wet feet and full tummies told us to head home.
And so we did.
:-)