Chilli Dog Fair

It's about chilli. And its about dogs. It's the annual Johnson County Chilli Dog Fair was today, and the whole family went together. Mommy was feeling sick thanks to a virus I brought home from daycare, so we didn't stay long. But Skye and 'Nali got to come with us, which is always wonderful.

The festival is held at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, a place I will likely get to know very well in my future 4-H days. One exhibit hall is dedicated to a chilli cook-off with live music. Most of the folks making the chilli are campus organizations, such as daddy's medical students and mommy's residents. I couldn't taste the chilli, but it sure smelled good!

The livestock barn is set aside for the doggies (who can't go to the chilli hall!). They usually have agility demonstrations and doggie social events. This time, the local flyball club was racing their puppies. Flyball is a really cool sport where dogs race down a course with short hurdles to a platform with a tennis ball wedged into the goal. After speeding over the short jumps, the dogs grab the ball with their mouth, turn in the air, and race back to their human. How fun! Skye was perfectly happy meeting the people in the stands, but Denali stood transfixed, staring at the flyball competition. She trembled with excitment as the dogs raced back and forth. Finally, unable to contain her emotions, she barked. Not a threatening, angry type of bark, but a high-ptched bark that pleaded for attention and betrayed a touch of yearning. She clearly wanted to join in the fun. Daddy promised that we would try to teach her the game someday soon. We'll have to talk to Mimi about using the farm as a training ground.

I hope she gets to play- it looks like fun!