Autumn 2004 Events

The Big E: New England State Fair (September 2004)

Yes, we know that New England isn't just one state--but that just means we have a cooler, multi-state state fair. Sarah and Chris organized the outing, which many people had been looking forward to for months.

We gathered at Sarah's house for breakfast early one Saturday morning ("Vermont Day" and "Trustees Day," all at once, according to the flyers).

Miriam, staying home for the day, cleared off breakfast and admonished everyone to go to the bathroom before we left. Thanks, Mom!

Sarah feeds and pets a very hairy cow in the petting zoo. Mike Ike and I were the only folks who hung around the edge of the zoo, not getting our hands in animals' fur (or mouths) and not really enjoying the odors. Debbie commented on the passed-out kangaroo, but it was too pathetic to take a picture of. Suffice it to say it looked far less happy than this cow. . .

or this camel, which both Annie and Robert fed gingerly.

We saw a Chinese acrobat troupe which was remarkably impressive--they were truly athletes, and despite the cheesy circus-like atmosphere, we were all completely captivated by their accomplishments.

Okay, time to eat! Robert, Annie, and Debbie eat Big E cream puffs and Eclairs.

Robert and Annie eat pork sandwiches with sauerkraut and giant smoked turkey legs.

I don't know what Chris is doing here. I think he's eating, but it sort of looks like he's yelling at his sandwich.

Sarah wanted this picture in front of the funnel cake sign. No one actually ate funnel cake, but apparently there was a long-running funnel-cake dispute with Miriam which this picture will help settle.

In the cow exhibition barn, I tried to take pictures of others because holding the camera in front of my nose helped somewhat with the smell. Chris, Robert, Mike Ike, and Sarah pose with a bored cow. We wanted to take pictures with the bored cow owners, but that seemed somehow less socially acceptable. Look at cowgirl Sarah in her new hat!

How is it that Robert and I actually look like sheep in this incredibly realistic picture?

Debbie and Diana rest, exhausted, on a bench after many hours of fun--don't worry, there's still more to come!

First we all went on the carousel, and then some of us tried the log flume and others the Zipper (my personal recommendation for the best ride ever).

Though it was no zipper, we also enjoyed the giant slide as a way to use up some tickets. Annie and Diana both won stuffed animals at a nearby "stump the man who tries to guess your age" booth, too. It was shaping up to be a festive day, all right.

After an awful comedy show/cooking demo combo, more food, and a bit of a horse show, Sarah got a massage. We stayed until 10:00 at night, and then Robert drove like the wind (the very very safe wind) home to Boston.

 

 

Apple-Picking: A Day in the Country (October 2004)

In October, Sarah and Sarah organized an apple-picking expedition that involved lunch (quiche and Christmas cookies) and a raucous carpool.

Ah, the scenic drive from Boston. We only took three wrong turns ("Hello! We're coming to dinner!" we got to call to three different houses whose driveways we chose for u-turns).

I got about five steps up the ladder before I chickened out. Sarah made it all the way up, though, which was truly impressive.

This was a pretty typical picture of our activities. Jef and Sarah picked apples off of back, low-hanging branches, while Dave "I don't really like apples" ate an apple, Robert sprawled around on a ladder (no, he actually never fell off), and Sarah posed in her apple-red coat.

Here's Sarah all the way up the ladder. I ducked when she tossed down the apples she picked, but someone more coordinated than me actually leaned in to catch them.

Moving the ladder, once we found it, from tree to tree was quite an endeavor.

Chris boycotted the ladder altogether, and just illegally climbed trees and then peeked out frighteningly from amongst the branches.

Jef, Dave, Sarah, Sarah, Robert and I ride confusedly on a hayride we never paid for, though we kept trying to. Still, the ride didn't actually take us anywhere we wanted to go, so it seemed fair in the end.

At the very end of the day, we found the best stash of apple trees with lots of low-hanging fruit, very close to the parking lot. I don't know why we all suddenly decided to pose as though apples were falling from the sky here. They weren't. We were actually able to pick them without climbing up things, as a matter of fact.

I pose with the remains of a caramel apple. Show me the caramel apple tree and I'll be up that ladder in a second, baby.

Chris poses with a cute little twin apple he picked. He has wild plans of making it our trivia night mascot, but I'm not so sure about that one.

After a detour through the farmyard and the country store, we headed back down Route 2 to a pumpkin patch to choose pumpkins to carve. I like pumpkins with character--this small, greenish one was my pick. "It looks like you!" Sarah shouted in glee. Yup, that's me--a short round half-orange, half-green thing. We managed to take a few wrong turns before the piles of traffic convinced us we were back on the right track to Boston: another day in the country had come to an end.