You Can Take The State Fair Out Of The Hood

But you can't keep the hood-rats out of the State Fair.

Fox2 Detroit: Michigan State Fair shooting: 14-year-old killed, another teen hurt

According to police, two 14-year-old Detroit boys were shot in the parking lot of the Suburban Collection Showplace just before 10 p.m.

Novi police said that there is no further threat to the community, though they are still searching for the suspects. Police believe the person or people responsible knows the victims and it was a targeted attack.

The State Fair was moved out of Detroit to Novi, but less-than-law-abiding Detroiters have followed.

Yet anther reason we can't have nice things, and why it is risky to go to fairs or festivals at night in the environs of Detroit.

The Michigan State Fair

The Michigan State Fair is this weekend.

We headed there Friday afternoon, taking one of Leah's friends along with us.

There were prize-winning crops on display:

There were many cute animals.

Lots of judging and showing of the animals was going on. You could tell the exhibitors all cared for their animals and had a lot of pride in them.

Leah, her friend, and Abby all participated in a hat decorating contest. Leah won first prze in her age division with eah's fiend taking third and Abby winning third in her division.

After hat decorating there was much more to see and do.

There was a statue of a cow made out of butter. A lot of butter.

We sampled various samples of food and bought some meat sticks. I got venison and elk and they were quite good indeed.

The Shriner Circus, going on at the fair for over a hundred years now, really stepped up its game this year.

From an aerobatic horse rider who leapt off a horse, through a ring of fire, to land back on the horse:

To an amazing juggler:

To elephants:

A death-defying act over a rotating contraption high in the air, including skipping rope while walking it, sans safety net.

Of course, the kids were there for the rides and the unlimited chocolate milk:

Magic Carpet

The hang glider ride, which is a family favorite:

The swing:

The orbiter - rotating around in multiple directions at once.

Getting off of the Orbiter, they were actually staggering around, it messed with their inner ear very nicely.

However, there was one ride they abjectly refused to go on, and I can't say I blame them.

It was a grand time indeed and the kids had a fantastic time.

Pretty amazing how Leah is an absolute no-quit, nothing scares her ride-goer now.   Of course she didn't want to back out in front of her friend who is also an adrenaline junkie so they kind of pushed each other beyond their normal ride comfort zones. It was all good. We then went out to dinner and came back home. After all that they were completely exhausted.

The Fair is well worth checking out this Labor Day weekend.

The Michigan State Fair

We did a late birthday party for Leah at the Michigan State Fair. She invited four friends for a sleep over at the hotel attached to the fair convention center yesterday. They had fun swimming and a pizza party and they slept over with Tash while I went home with Abby and then today we did the fair.

We bought and had them all wear dayglo-green shirts and required them to stick together which made them easy to pick out of a crowd:

After a couple hours doing rides, we headed for the circus:

It was a great circus, with trapeze acts, elephants, clowns and more and the kids loved it.

Then after lunch we headed to the indoor exhibits as it was about to rain.

We saw and the kids got to pet all manner of animals.

The cutest Alpaca:

Cows, lots of cows. There was truly tons of prime, prize-winning beef on the hoof on display.

Goats:

Sheep:

Bunnies:

They got to see that bacon is born, not made:

Then there was a dog show which had dogs running through obstacle courses and clearing high jumps. We also wandered around the exhibit hall where they drank their fill of free chocolate milk courtesy of Kroger, saw a variety of displays and did some hands-on activities.

The State Fair has become a lot nicer since it moved out of Detroit to Novi, and it was well-run and a lot of fun.

It was a great but tiring couple of days, and the kids had a great time. No idea how we're going to top this one.