First of all – where did the summer go???  I can’t believe school starts on Wednesday.  I am going to miss the flexibility we have had this summer. 

I thought we were done with fairs for the year, but I heard that the World Champion Dock Diving was going to be at the Oregon State Fair – only an hour away!  I looked at the fair’s website and also discovered that there was a BMX track, animated dinosaurs, reptiles, a petting zoo, and our 4-H friends from the Lane county fair were there showing their sheep.  So many fun things to fit in a day!  We arrived mid-day on Friday and were greeted by a variety of  sights and sounds.

We headed to the dock diving first – mainly because it was easy to find!  We showed up at the perfect time, we only had to wait 5 minutes for them to start.  The first event we watched was Speed Retreive.  In this event, the handler does not throw the bumper.  The bumper is waiting for the dog in the water.

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I really enjoyed watching this team.  The handler was showing his dog where the bumper was waiting for him and the dog was so animated 🙂

This dog  was very vocal!

In speed retreive, the dog is timed from when it is released to when it pulls the bumper down.

Watching the youth was a highlight and educational.

It was warmer than it has been in awhile and we were both getting hot, so we headed towards the indoor dinosaur exhibit. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect and was prepared to be disappointed, especially since we had to pay extra – but I was surprised…it was awesome!

The exhibit was educational and enjoyable.

Almost all of them moved and there was a lot of dinosaur noise to listen to.  It was a little loud for my son, so he kept his ears plugged but he was happy that we went.  He really likes all of the pictures.  I wish I had taken my smaller lens, but I made the big lens work.

This little guy was my favorite!

He wouldn’t let me take his picture with a meat eater, but a meat eater in an egg was ok 🙂

Stay tuned for part II…