The Recipe

Take six kids ages four to eleven. Stir in a couple warm August days. Add the annual state fair to the mix, and you have a recipe that serves up a big batch of fun for all of us. This year was no exception.

Our Missouri State Fair has so much to offer that it takes us two days to do it justice, and even then there are things we miss. But, as always, we once again gave it our best effort and, from what I can tell, we were left with the usual aftertaste of pleasant memories. Here are some of this year's key ingredients.

The fairgrounds never lack for free entertainment. Although we have yet to enjoy the annual circus, we finally made it to the pig races this time. Heero would be the first to tell you that "our" pig won the big race, meaning he got to the Oreo first in the third and final lap. Here, Heero, Zoomie, Beenie, and Sooby wait for the races to start.

 
Other entertainers stroll the grounds, like this pair of human Transformers. You can tell by the kids' Highway Patrol hats that we had just come from numerous conversations with Otto the Talking Patrol Car.

The Petting Zoo, where the kids can pet and feed exotic animals, is always a favorite, but I couldn't pull my camera out there because my hands were covered with llama slime. The Children's Barnyard is a little less interactive but no less fun, as Bootsie demonstrates with her cousins. No, this cow is not one of the many real ones you can see at the Fair.

In addition to agriculture, Fair exhibits also promote an awareness of conservation. Here, none other than Smokey the Bear himself warns Pooh, Bootsie, and their cousins about the dangers of forest fires.

Just outside the Conservation Department buildings, the kids gather for a group shot around another friendly bear.

Our second day at the Fair takes us to the midway, where the kids do all they can to get Googie's money's worth out of six unlimited-rides wristbands. I can safely say I have never left the Fair feeling cheated. Our matching yellow shirts, which have made it successfully into their third year, make us a force to be reckoned with. They also make it easier for us to find each other in the mayhem.

This year, one of my friends told me she had seen a video clip of our gang on MSNBC as the "Fair Family of the Day." Since I missed it, I am left to wonder what I was doing and how I looked during those few seconds. But one thing I am sure of is that we were having a great time.

Now, a couple weeks post-Fair, I relegate this recipe for fun to the box until we pull it out again this time next year. The kids (and I) will all be another year older then, but I won't worry too much just yet.

I know that one of these days I will wake up and the t-shirts will no longer fit. Instead of the Fair, there will be a whole slew of graduations and weddings, and carnival money will go for more tangible presents. That day will come all too soon.

That's why, for the time being, I don't mind investing in wristbands and enduring the occasional kiss of a llama.

The Art Bag

If your grandkids are elementary-school age, Staples can be your best friend this time of year. In late summer, usually the latter part of July, the office store features deep discounts in their school-related merchandise. Traditionally, this is when I like to re-stock my supply of crayons and markers for the kids to use at my house. But this year I am going a step further.

For the first time this fall, all six grandkids will take to classrooms from preschool to sixth grade. So with the help of Staples, I am making each of them a fun "school supply" bag of art supplies to while away the remaining days before school starts. And--drumroll, please--I am doing that for the cost of only $3.44 plus sales tax per child.

Here is what each kid receives: a spiral notebook (25 cents), a box of ten Crayola markers (97 cents), a box of Crayola colored pencils (97 cents), a box of 24 Crayola crayons (50 cents), a colored folder to keep their finished artwork in (17 cents), two mechanical pencils (8 cents), and a pack of 100 index cards (50 cents). At regular Staples prices, the per-child cost for these items would have been $12.21 plus tax. Since I have a bunch of those printed tote bags that come from advertisers at fairs and trade shows, I am going to gather each kid's supplies into one of those.

Next comes the really-fun part. Along with their bags of supplies, I will also give them a printed list of suggestions for things to draw. Here are my ideas so far, but you might want to suggest other activities appropriate to the ages and interests of your own kids.

1. Draw a picture using only your green pencil, marker, and crayon.
2. Make a design using only circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles.
3. Draw a picture using only primary colors (red, blue, and yellow).
4. Draw three different rainbows--one using markers, one using crayons, and one using colored pencils. Which one do you like the best?
5. Draw a picture that shows how you think you will look when you are 16.
6. Imagine that you will visit a place named "Rainbow Beach." Draw what you think that place looks like.
7. Imagine that a storybook or fairy tale character invites you to lunch. Draw a picture of your plate with the food on it.
8. Sometimes we look at clouds and imagine seeing pictures or shapes. Draw a cloud that takes the shape of something you might see. Add blue sky around your cloud.
9. Draw three things you think Santa Claus might have in his bag of toys.
10. Draw two people or animals and add "speech balloons" that show them talking to each other.
11. Draw a picture showing your favorite holiday.
12. Pick a season and draw how a tree looks then.
13. Draw a place you would like to go on vacation.
14. Draw a house that a giraffe might live in.

You get the idea--and the list can go on as far as you and your kids want it to. Maybe they can even contribute some ideas. As for the index cards, older kids might want to make flash cards, a deck of playing cards, or greeting cards. Add a pair of scissors, and they could even design paper dolls or action figures with clothes or accessories. Who knows what they might come up with if you added a glue stick?

Keep your eyes peeled for the summer school supplies sale at Staples, and you can offer your grandkids hours of creative projects to do at your house or at their own home. The art bag can be a way to celebrate a new school year,  a good Christmas present, or just something special you can take along when you go to the kids' house to visit.