Life Lessons at the Iowa State Fair

I have spent the summer teaching my children how to garden and cook.  To see where their food comes from.  The Iowa State Fair is also trying to teach the same lessons.  We got to see two swine in labor.  And a baby ostrich. And a couch sized watermelon.  The highlight was Little Hands on the Farm.  We got to follow a winding sidewalk where the kids picked plastic vegetables out of buckets and plastic apples off of trees.  They were handed bags of corn and wool.  Then at the end they sorted all their goods into more buckets and were given some play money.  The play money bought real stuff!  Popsicles, muffins, a loaf of bread!  I think they wished that real life at our house were more like that.  Here they get to weed, sweating with the mosquitos, in order to eat zucchini.  I too have moments when I wish the zucchini would turn into a popsicle.