Apple Festival

Grandma, Buddy, Baylor and I went to the Apple Festival last Sunday.  I wonder how long it will be before I get used to calling them Grandma and Buddy because I started out typing Mom and Dad.  Which they still are to me and I am glad they are enjoying their roles as Grandma and Buddy.  I think Buddy likes being called Buddy but I guess I should ask him that.  We have changed YaYa to Grandma since he can say that. Meme is still Meme to us and Mam to everyone else. 

Back to our day, which started with an AWFUL night's sleep for everyone in the house.  Baylor had a horrible night with night terrors, bad dreams and just general restlessness.  We don't have too many of those any more but it seems we often have them when my parents are in the house.  I am not sure they believe me when I say he usually sleeps really well because they just don't see that as often. Lori's alarm goes off at 4 am.  Baylor and I are used to it and sleep through it but Mom and Dad, not so much.  And their dog is 15 and restless at night and especially at our house. So by the time the sun was up, none of us were very awake and in natural good moods.  This does not bode well for a road trip but after we all had our coffee, we powered on and into the minivan.  Our goal is to get there early and leave early.  The place gets very crowed especially on the last day and especially when the weather was as beautiful as it was that day. The drive is about 45 minutes and was uneventful.  When Baylor saw the bus he started shouting, "Get me out of here," just like when we were at the farm show earlier this year. 

Buddy is his official bus buddy and they took their seats first.  It is a short trip but he loves it!

The first thing Baylor wanted to do was ride a tractor.  He remembers from last year sitting on the tractor that was running.  It must have been a really impressive experience for him to remember it a year later and he is not even 3.  We did not find a running tractor and all of them have signs to keep off but we found one in the corner and sat him on the tire.  Baylor enjoyed the tractors but he really wanted to just ride one. 'Lets find a tractor for me to ride,' he kept saying. 

We made our way to the hay ride to see if that would give him his tractor fix.  One the way we saw the Apple Butter being made.  Dad bought two jars right away. 

We saw the bluegrass band playing.  I secretly love bluegrass music and we listened for a bit.  But the call of the tractor ride was strong and we kept moving.

Finally we were in line and waited in line for three trips of the wagon before it was out turn. 

It was not what he wanted but was good enough for a smile. 

And the tractor was orange, which I think are really his favorite even over John Deere.

The family across from us was taking photos back and forth and I offered to take a family photo.  She kindly returned the favor.  For some reason Dad did not get on with us but I think it we made him mad about something so he stayed behind to take photos.

We walked over to the Tractor Square dance right after the hay ride.  I found a small space at the fence and took Baylor to the spot to see them up close.  I kneeled on the wet grass for over 30 minutes and took about 150 photos of them dancing.  I regret not taking the video camera though I did not know we would be seeing them.  Let me just say they were amazing!!  The age range of the drivers was 19 to 72 and they were Grandpa and Grandson. 

The pink Farmall and the green Oliver were husband and wife. 

Here they are again.

There were four other pairs but since they did not have a special bond, I cannot remember their names.  The man doing the calling said they do not do a routine, makes the calls and they have to keep up.  I think there were only a few times someone turned wrong, just got lost but thankfully there were no collisions.

Baylor watched them the entire time. 

And then they did this chorus line thing.  AMAZING. 

After that the whining started. It was mostly Baylor but... we were all tired.  We found some food and a good place to sit and then we headed to the petting area hoping to buy some more time.   

He was OK as long as he was petting something like the cow.

The sheep.

The goat.

But after the petting was done, so was he.  We made a stop at the changing cabin and changed his diaper.  That started the downward spiral in motion.  He did not want his diaper changed, he did not want that diaper, we don't use those wipes.  I carried him the rest of the way because his legs were broke.  I said that once to him and he of course latched onto it.  We had to walk back to our friend's booth to pick up our hummingbird yard art we had stashed there.  It is made from a railroad stake for the body, trowels for wings and a long steel wire for a bill.  It was at perfect eye poking height so we left it at their stand.  While sitting on any empty display resting Mom's hips, Baylor feel asleep in my arms.  We made our way to the bus pick up area and passed the photo area.  So no photo with the apple and yardstick this year.  I made it on the bus and he stayed asleep.  Dad picked us up and while putting him in the car seat he woke up.  And started crying and whining.  This lasted the entire ride home that was about an hour due to traffic.  Everything was wrong and I could not do anything right.  It was a long ride but at least we were leaving and not just arriving.  The traffic coming into the festival was backed up for miles.  No way!  There was no nap for any of us the rest of the day but at least the whining stopped when we got out of the car.  Mom and Dad headed home as soon as we got home.  Baylor and I had a quite afternoon playing and we were all thankful for bed time.