The Next Nashville Star...not who you think!

stick with this one...it's long, but what a great ending!

The Ohio State Fair
Jacob and Julianna
have never been there...

Could be a good way
make up being such a bear!
Yes, let's go today.

It's too much money
but I don't care--memories
they're what's important.

Yesterday we went to the Ohio State Fair. Too fun! I hadn't been there in probably ten years. I wanted to take Jacob and Julianna there and, of course, Rebekah. We all had tooo much fun! Unfortunately, we only lasted 5 hours (it was HOT!), but what a fun 5 hours it was.

We all enjoyed watching the baby chicks trying to come out of their shells. We got to pet a new chick too!





Jacob and Julianna came as close as they probably ever will to milking a real cow--what an incredible experience for them. They climbed climbing walls, visited the petting zoo, rode the skyride, ate 'fair food', rode tractors, saw 'racing pigs', and saw the "World Famous Clydesdales". It was an incredible day.

Before we even got to the fair, Rebekah started begging for us to go to the Miranda Lambert/Dierks Bentley concert that was being held that night. She knew it had practically a 0% chance of happening, but hey, you can't blame a girl for trying! She begged off and on throughout the day, but I didn't pay it a lot of attention because we didn't even have tickets for it, and I figured it was probably too late to get them. Plus, have you gone to a fair lately? Expensive enough day, and we hadn't even ridden any rides! I was not willing to pay $60 to go and see them. As we were riding the skyride, at the end of our day, Rebekah heard someone at the Ford area hawking a contest they were having to give away tickets, in 15 minutes. "Please Mom can we go?", she's shouting back to me from the skyride. I said, honey, we can't even get back there in 15 minutes, and the chances of winning, let alone going...

Of course, you know that as soon as we were off the skyride we hightailed it to the Ford area. They were having a singing contest to win the tickets. Rebekah decided to go for it. Julianna and Jacob were going to sing too. Then Jacob decided he didn't want to. Julianna, the girl who couldn't walk through the metal detector because she was way too shy and people were looking at her, still wanted to sing. When the time for the contest finally rolled around. Yes, it was over 90 degrees, we were in the blazing sun, and it took way longer than they said it would. Rebekah bravely took the stage and sang her selection. She did a great job. She went first, she was self-conscious and it showed in her singing, and they forgot to turn off the radio that was blaring in the background. A great brave effort, but a long shot to win. Julianna went next. She stepped up on that big stage, took the microphone, and sang, loud and clear, Twinkle, Twinkle. I could not believe it. She did a great job. No nerves, no nothing. Just 100% pure confidence. Then all the other people got their turn. I was proud of my girls for trying, but not sure how it was going to go. There was a group of 3 kids between 10 and 12 that sang Amazing Grace. They also had a large family group with them. I figured they were probably going to win. You cannot imagine my surprise (and pride) when Julianna won! I couldn't believe it. Yet, she really had done an amazing job. She won those tickets for her sister. She talks a lot about being famous--not herself, but asking how people get famous, etc. She also definitely likes to be the center of attention. Who knows where her future will take her? May I also add that I was extremely proud to have an older daughter who was not put out one bit at having been slightly upstaged by her sister. It never even seemed to occur to her. She was just really, really glad she got to go to the concert. She really is an amazing kid.

So, last night, Rebekah and I went to the concert. It was amazing! It was a lot of fun! Our tickets were also amazing. Stage left, 10th row. It was also LOUD! I've been to a fair amount of concerts, but this was by far, the loudest concert I have ever been to. I don't think either of our hearing will ever be the same again, but what a way to go. I could probably get in a bit of trouble for this, but I couldn't resist recording some of Everybody Dies Famous in a Small Town.

What an incredible day. An absolutely fantastic introduction to fairs for Jacob and Julianna. They're already asking to go back next year. We had so much fun, and built so many memories. I think since my brother died at such a young age, I have always been about building the memories, that's what important to me. What a fun one we built yesterday, and Rebekah and I built last night.What an incredible day.