That’ll stick to your Ribfest

Growing up in rural Iowa, one thing we always looked forward to as kids was celebrating the surrounding town’s special days. Galva had Fun Day, Holstein had Children’s Day, Schaller had Popcorn Day. All in the summer, most involving dizzying rides, cheap, plastic prizes, candy-tossing parades and tiny, fried donuts. It was heaven. It was what we looked forward to during the long, hot days of summer. And while I haven’t been to any of the before mentioned festivals for too long to remember, it’s nice to live in a place that still honors random reasons to gather locals together with carnival rides and greasy food.

And now that Chris has weekends to play, we’ve made a habit to scour the local papers for fun, Saturday activities. And it’s not too hard to find some sort of outdoor party within a 20 minute drive from our front door, and this weekend it was Ribfest. Which was basically a three day event that brings our nation’s finest barbeque vendors and pairs them with local bluegrass and other carnival booths and activities.

Oh, and it was sponsored by Yuengling beer. So it was basically like Christmas for my husband.

And while Chris enjoyed every moment of his finger-licking ribs, my yummy-time was spent trying to divert Taylor’s attention away from my lap.

Until she took a tumble off the blanket, taking down my entire, tangy-delicious plate of smoked goodness with her.

But don’t worry, she didn’t miss a beat. In fact, she came out the winner because she still doesn’t mind eating something that’s been in the grass.

Unfortunately the BBQ festival didn’t boast a parade or a court, but if it did, I’m sure she would have been Ribfest Queen.