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Jonathan, me, and my mom at the top of a Ferris wheel in Anchorage last year

So this year it was kinda nice to be able to wear, you know, normal clothes. I haven't been to a fair since I was probably 8 (that I can remember) and Jonathan hasn't been to a fair in yeeeaaarrrss, so we knew we wanted to go this year! Last year we decided too late that we wanted to to go a fair and didn't have money, blah blah blah, so this time we prepared.

All I know is that if I am going to a fair or some event such as this there better be a corn dog as part of it for me. I chanted "corn dog! corn dog!" once the signs for the fair ground were in view. There was whispered chanting of "corn dog! corn dog!" once Jonathan started getting annoyed by my corn dog excitement factor. There is nothing that says "YOU ARE AT A FAIR LOL!" than eating a corn dog. (Well, it's the only fair-type food I want to eat there. Everything else is kinda scary. And I don't care for sweet stuff all that much usually.)

Upon arriving at the fair the first thing I saw was this sign:

BE STILL, MY BEATING HEART!!

And livestock there was! We saw...

Pigs!

Cows!

Goats resting their head on other sleeping goats!

Sheep!

Piglets!

Sheep wearing suspicious clothing...

I got to meet a miniature horse!

The Red Baron of miniature horses

A-MA-ZING!

And then there it was...shining like a beacon...my corn dog stand!

And there it was, in all its delicious glory. My corn dog, my organic ketchup from home (I don't mess around), and my Alaskan Amber on tap. It was so glorious.

Jonathan also shared his delicious smoked turkey leg with me. YUM.

Back to the animals!

Guinea fowl!

Mallard!

Silky chicken! (I think that's what they're called?)

After looking at all of the ducks, geese, and chickens we headed toward the pigeons and doves. There was a guy there who was letting people hold pigeons and if the question is, "Britt, do you want to hold this animal/bird/fish/thing?" the answer is almost always, "Yeah!" So this time there is a guy asking me if I want to hold a pigeon and I'm like, "GIVE THE PIGEON TO ME AND LET ME LOVE IT PLEASE, SIR."

UTTER JOY.

This little guy is a parlor roller pigeon, a flightless pigeon who likes to snuggle and does somersaults. For reals. These pigeons were bred to be flightless. They roll with their wings out and, if you have a really expensive one bred for rolling, they can roll over 100 feet. Really. How I have never heard of such a bird is surprising, but then again, it isn't really, because now I have been home and have Googled them and there's not a whole lot of good information out there.

I held this parlor roller pigeon for probably twenty minutes while talking to the guy (I wish I could remember his name! I have his phone number for when we're ready to buy a pigeon. I'm serious.) and it just sat in my hands the entire time, totally snuggled up in them. Jonathan would rub her neck feathers and her eyes would close and she would look completely relaxed. It. Was. So. Cute. We are so getting one. The man said he's been breeding them for a long time now and does a lot of stuff with kids and the pigeons. Teaching them to care for the pigeons, etc. He said earlier that day he had a bunch of racing pigeons he set free and they headed home to his house in Springfield. Chickens and bees may have been my first loves, but now I've got pigeons on the brain. These little guys don't need a lot of space, are fairly clean, and will be fine being the only pigeon inside, because it means they will have all the attention. They'd love to snuggle in my lap while I read on the couch, the guy said. When it's sunny out you can take them outside and not have to worry about them flying off, but the fresh air is good for them.

I am in love with parlor roller pigeons. I need one now.

I love you, pigeon friend!!

We finally had to leave the pigeon man. I think I would have figured out how to buy one there and take it home, without a cage or anything. A box on the table would totally work for a bit. Jonathan and I had totally planned on and talked about getting some sort of finch, but now we've talked about it and it seems like a pigeon would work better for our apartment size and needs. We'll still get finches, no doubt about it, but I think we'll probably wait until we buy a house to get finches now.

After a rush like holding a pigeon for twenty minutes (yes, this is my idea of excitement), we headed to get ice cream and the petting zoo. (Again, yes, I am seven.)

 I fed a baby deer!!! (You will be delicious later! I said it! I'm sorry!)

Free range chickens and duckies!

I got up close and personal with many goats

This llama is very nice.

Jonathan got to pet a deer, too. I'm not used to seeing fawns in captivity! Never seen it, ever. (My AK friends are probably drooling. ;o)

We walked around for awhile more. We went to the timber carnival part, but only saw the last event. After that we walked around for awhile and checked out the rides, but since we'd spent so much money on food and we only had so much we had budgeted for since we're going on our big trip in two weeks we didn't want to spend $9 to ride the Ferris wheel (even though we really, really wanted to do it - sad!). After all of this excitement I was pretty much dead. No energy and my feet hurt. I think we spent five hours at the fair? I was pooped, so we headed back to the car and headed home.

Since being home I've cleaned up the apartment a little bit and done more research on parlor roller pigeons. I still can't believe we're leaving in two weeks to go back to my homeland! I'm excited because there's cool stuff we're doing beforehand. On Friday night we're going to see Pavement at the Edgefield, then Saturday we're going to the Little Woody cask conditioned beer festival in Bend, then Monday is a holiday that we both have off (which is rare), and then we leave on our trip on Friday! So much fun and excitement soon!

P.S. Here is a video I found on YouTube that shows parlor rolling pigeons doing their thing!