Iowa State Fair 2010...And Hives

The Iowa State Fair is one of my favorite things to do every year.  When I was younger, it wasn't a stretch to say that my family went to the fair 4-5 times each year.  This year, my parents went at least 6 times (possibly more).  Unfortunately, this year we found ourselves caught in the middle of 10 year high school reunion festivities, birthdays, extreme heat, crazy work schedules, and illness (more on this below) all in the span of two weeks so we barely made it there.  Looking back on it, August has been exhausting!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a calm and relaxing September!  Which, holy crap, is it really almost September??  Where has 2010 gone?
Back to the Iowa State Fair.  We were able to squeeze in a trip to the fair the last Saturday of the 10 day stretch.  Unfortunately we picked a 90 degree day to check it all out.  We started the day an hour and half behind schedule (of course, forgetting our camera) so we decided to just park in the fair parking lot.  Would you believe that they charge $10?  I couldn't believe it, but it was nice to get back to our car quickly when we'd had enough fun.  Riley loved seeing all of the animals.  She petted her first cow.  She thought that was pretty neat, but would only touch it with three fingers at a time.  She especially loved looking at the horses. Horses seem to be a favorite of hers right now. Later in the day we met up with my brother and his family.  They had some extra tickets for pony rides.  Riley was really excited to ride the pony, until she'd been on it for a minute or 2.  Luckily I was standing next to her because she jumped right off into my arms after we'd gone around the circle two times.  Maybe horse back riding is not in her future! 

What is the fair without food?  We had our usual picks for fair food...corn dogs, gyros, tenderloin and fries, apple slushy, lemonade, and some pineapple whip.  Riley was a fan of everything, but the pineapple whip. 

Oh, and we were totally "those people" this year.  We let our kid run through the fountain IN HER CLOTHES!  Then, to top it off, I was that mom who stripped her kid in the middle of the fair (because in all actuality, a tree didn't hide anything) and changed her clothes.  I'm glad I was "that mom" because it was Riley's favorite activity of the day!

4 1/2 hours later, and only checking out 1/2 of what the fair had to offer, we called it a day.  I'm just glad that we were able to make it to the fair this year.  Next year, I'm shooting for 2 days!

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About that illness thing...

Riley broke out in hives again last Friday.  That makes the third time including the first outbreak!  Brett called the doctor yesterday to see if we could have her seen for a 2 year check-up and also for the hives.  She was just seen in June for her last shots so he didn't need to see her.  But, he was surprised that she's had hives three times now.  Now we have to take her to see an allergist.  From what Dr. Fred and the Internet tell me, there's not much an allergist can do for children at 2 years old.  It's just weird that we can't figure out what is causing the outbreaks.  Although, I have my suspicions.  I think it may be related to heat.  I have no idea what caused the first outbreak, but the last two I think could possibly be linked to heat.  The second outbreak came when Riley was in the bath tub. Randomly.  But the water was warm.  This last outbreak came during her nap.  When she woke up she had a low grade fever along with the hives.  The fever lasted until Saturday morning (which is why we made it to the Fair so late).  I'm fairly certain that the feverr was caused by teething, but who knows at this point.  So, now we get to see an allergist.   Hopefully we'll get some answers...