Who's the Kid under the Hat?

Yesterday, I headed back to the Indiana State Fair to spend a little quality time with my parents and Lil' Sister, her hubby and my sweet, sweet nephew. The weather was perfect (very low humidity) and we had a wonderful time.

Now, you need to know something about my youngest nephew. He loves to wear hats. His daddy is usually wearing one, so I think that has something to do with it. However, he wears them so low that they cover his eyes - and most of his face.

So my photos from the Fair this fine day do NOT show his cute little face and infectious grin.

Oh well, he's still a cutie. Here he's at the Pioneer Village looking at the animals.

"Hey Mama, look at those horns!"

We also visited Little Hands on the Farm. Now, my dad (his papaw) is a farmer so this isn't anything new for my nephew, but it's a fun activity for the little ones and if you have small children, I encourage you to take them through it.

First he grabbed a basket and refused an apron. Then we headed to the grain bin and he picked up a packet of corn and a packet of soybeans. Can you tell which is which?

Then he fed them to the pig - pigs eat BOTH soybeans and corn.

Then he got a NEW Pioneer (seed) hat! And we saw his face for just a minute...and then it was gone!

Then on to a tractor ride with a bit of help from dad.

We then visited the livestock barns. The nephew really enjoyed milking the cow!

At the end of the experience, he had to take his crops to the market to sell...

...he even earned some money!

After a trip to the store, he got to pick from granola bars, milk, juice, string cheese and some other healthy snacks. He chose a granola bar which a bit later melted and made a mess in his stroller!

Another great place for kids at the Indiana State Fair (which ends Sunday, August 22) that can keep them occupied, out of the sun and is FREE to enjoy, is the FFA Pavilion and Young Farmers Building on the north side of the fairgrounds.

Here he combined some beans just like Papaw...

and hooked a fish just like Daddy.

Now, growing up we did NOT ride rides at the State Fair - we didn't even go near the Midway. But...rides were just $2 each yesterday and we guilted my brother-in-law into letting the lil' guy ride a couple. (Last week, I took my oldest nephew to the fair courtesy of Indiana Soybean Alliance and we rode a few rides ourselves. Going Jane even blogs about it today.)

Here is one of the only photos wear you can see his face.

I tried to get a sweet family photo of them but someone was tired of the camera!

Oh well, mom and dad looked good.