Our State Fair is a Great State Fair

Yesterday was our big day at the State Fair. We got McKay out of school early and took the kids up. We arrived at about 2:00 and we stayed until 9:00. It was a full day.

I better get this early admission out of the way first.

I admit it. We did not see any pigs, or cows, or sheep. We saw horses from afar. We intended to see them.

But we never got that far.

We came in on the side by the carnival rides and well, we never left. The kids wanted to go on a few rides. We thought, well, sure. But the pricing was such that buying individual tickets for the rides was not a good deal at ALL. So, we got the wristbands for the kids to ride as many rides as they wanted. They had a grand time. They rode every ride at least twice. Some they rode MANY more times. I went on some of the rides with the kids when they needed an adult. I am also still dizzy from the experience.

So, there you have it. Since we spent all that money on rides, the kids rode on the rides for all the time we were not watching the Veggie Tales.

Whew, ok, with that admission out of the way, I can go on.

Since the Fair is a big busy gathering of people, we went prepared. Every child had our cell phone number on their arms in magic marker. We had water, two double strollers, extra clothes, etc. We needed it all. We were glad for some snacks and water, because the Fair prices for food and drink are...well, they aren't fair. The strollers were nice for carting around all the stuff we brought, as well as toting tired kids around as it got late. The extra clothes were good, since Ella had a blow-out early on. That was fun. Luckily, we didn't test the phone numbers on the arms of the kids.

At 5:45 we went to the Grandstand and found our seats. We were SO happy we arrived early in the day and got the tickets immediately. Our seats were really good. We were on the ground and about 10 rows from the stage.

McKay was in heaven. Of course. Michael was the big surprise. He LOVED it. They had to solve the mystery of what happened to Bob and Michael was enthralled. He is really into detective stories lately. Garrett loved dancing along. Ella tried to nap (unsuccessfully, since it was loud). Hannah enjoyed catching the streamers they shot out at the end of the show. For mom and dad it was mostly just fun watching the kids have SO much fun watching the show.

I just brought my point and shoot camera. I had gotten my cool camera back a couple minutes before we left for the fair (from being fixed), but the battery was not charged and I was afraid to lose it, have it stolen, or have it break.

So, let's start with the most important part first. The Veggies!

Bob, the Tomato!

Larry, the Cucumber!

And McKay, squealing in delight.

Oh the kids had such a great time. They loved it. It was great. Fun non-stop. Oh, wait...what is this face? Hmmm, let's see...

Ah, ok, better. See? They DID have fun non-stop.

Uh...hmmm, he DID like the ride. (What a face!)

Ah, better. Garrett actually was so good. He could ride on nearly all the rides. There were just a couple he could not go on and he was very patient while he waited with Darwin and watched. As soon as the bigger kids were off of the rides he would say, "I'll try now!"

Ella viewed the whole adventure with tolerance.

This picture might make you a little queasy. (It does me.) The kids enjoyed riding the little jerky roller-coaster a lot. (McKay really really loved this ride called Moby Dick. It went around in a circle while the riders were strapped into seats and it kind of felt like free-falling when it dropped the riders from the highest point. I have no pictures of that one, since I was on it every time McKay went on it.)

Hannah had a little mishap in the middle of the day when she lost her bracelet that let her onto the rides. It was looking bad for a bit, but we were able to straighten it out and prove she did have a bracelet, so they replaced it. I later realized it would have been easier for us to prove if I would have pulled out the camera and shown the people her bracelet in the pictures just a few minutes earlier. Oops. (So, if you lose your bracelet at the carnival, pull out your digital camera for proof.)

The kids were crashed pretty much as soon as we loaded them into the van. They didn't even fight a bath this morning before school. It was a good thing, since the water in the tub bore witness to the fact we took home half of the dirt from the fairgrounds on the kids.

A very fun, dizzying day.