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I went mostly because it was free and the place is only about a 5-6 minute drive from my house but I actually wound up having a pretty good time. When I got there, the first thing that happened was I ran into a couple neighbors (and good friends). They were waiting on their son, DIL and granddaughter to arrive from the west side of Cleveland. We chatted for a bit, then I went further in only to see a former church member. I didn't know there'd be (just a few) craft vendors, "D" was one of them. I chatted with her for a bit also. After we said our goodbyes, I watched a beautiful (and unfortunately rather hot) border collie show us "city folk" how she herds sheep. I felt a little bad for both the dog and the sheep, running back and forth in the near 90° weather. Just beyond the herding demonstration, a pair of Clydesdales were showing how they help clear downed trees from the property. From there, I went inside the equine center and caught the end of some kind of medieval horse...thing. A guy dressed as a knight, seated atop a lightly armored horse, was using a lance to spear a brass circle set in the center of the arena. After he was finished showing off his skills, a woman dressed in some kind of Renaissance gown (or maybe it was a different old time-y time period) rode in on a gorgeous white horse with a long flowing mane and tail. They did some fancy side stepping and then stopped to let people pet the horse. That was the end of the show; the knight came back out on his horse, as did a couple other fancy riders plus two miniature ponies pulling two small wagons each with a rider dressed as a jester behind the reins. All the horses were so patient with all the little kids trying to pet them.

From there, I hit up "the barnyard", where a number of farm animals were displayed individually or in pairs. I saw sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and a trio of alpacas. I walked around a little by the area with festival food booths and a fairly decent band playing 80s/90s hits and then walked further only to discover an entire part of the park I'd never been in. I'd only ever been to Lake Farmpark three times--once for a similar event to today's, once for a huge craft show and once for Vintage Ohio, a monstrous outdoor wine festival that draws wine aficionados from all around the country (and also attracts some decent bands, which I can hear from my house on a clear night). At the back of the property was a greenhouse with classrooms, an apiary, another playground for the kiddos and some really nice pavilions for picnicking . From there, I came back to the front of the park and "met" the newest addition: a month old calf named Peony. And then I was pretty much over it...

ETA--I think I overdid it a bit today though. I literally walked several miles through the park, during the peak heat of the day, and now I have a pounding headache, possibly from getting too much sun. Luckily, the sunscreen did its job though...I'm wearing a tank top with some interesting cutouts that would've made for a really funky burn "pattern" had the sunscreen failed <g>.