We picked a Monday...just because. No real reason why. But it turned out we picked the perfect Monday, because you could get in free if you had a shoppers card. 1 entry free for each card...and William and I happened to each have one, our kids happened to already be free. So SCORE on the savings! I felt a bit better about going and not so wasteful...as we got a late start and I wasn't really sure how long I'd last.
In previous years, we've had rainy cool weather. The parking lot was always crazy muddy. I remember one time I under dressed the kiddos and felt HORRIBLE b/c they were cold. :-( In September.
THIS year...it was hot. At least, I was hot. I think it was in the high 80s or low 90s? Somewhere around there. And boy howdy, did it wear me down. (I've since found I can go a lot further when it isn't hot...)
Leading up to the fair, I asked each kid what they most wanted to see/do. Rebekah was interested in THE robot as well as the fountain. Peter wanted to ride a pony and see a goat. So we made sure that we at least did the things the kids wanted to do the most.
As we were walking in, the horse barn was right by the gate. Peter started getting excited, pointing, shouting he wanted to ride one of those horses. So cute...but no. :-P We told him he couldn't ride those horses, but the pony rides were just a little further down the way.
Peter watching the horse rides, eagerly anticipating riding.
Standing in line...
Rebekah on her horse.
(In the car on the way, she determined the name of her horse would be 'Princess'.)
Peter on his.
He was pretty thrilled to ride and very disappointed to get off. Both kids loved the ride - and Peter pretty much beamed the entire time. I'd like to note, he has been looking forward to this since the rodeo a couple months ago. At the rodeo, he kept talking about wanting to ride the horses...and he did NOT forget we promised him he could ride some at the fair!!
We then went and saw sheep, goats, cows and the birds (chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys). Peter LOVED it. A few cows moo'd here and there. It didn't freak him out like I thought it might. I told him they were saying "HI!", which he got a huge kick out of.
And just because we were walking past it, we stopped by the famous butter sculpture next. In the building, there is a little enclosed play area for the kids. They can milk a cow, feel wheat and some other hands-on agricultural things that city kids don't see on a daily basis. (I'm sure country kids who live on farms think it is probably boring...esp the cow milking. HAHA!)
William got a pic of the kids with one of the cut-out things.
And then off to the butter sculpture. I wasn't impressed this year. I think the sculptor was having an off year. I didn't think it was imaginative at all. I mean really...sheep at a fair? OK. The kids weren't sure what to think of all that butter. I told them it would take us YEARS to eat that much butter!
I don't have many more pictures because at that point I was simply concentrating on walking. :-) I was getting pretty tired. We decided to give lunch a whirl. Kids obviously wanted a corn dog (well, Rebekah did...Peter had no idea...in hindsight, we won't get him another. He really isn't a hot dog fan.). For this part of fair festivities, usually I sit with the kids and send William off to get food. USUALLY the fountain is going, so the kids can play while he goes and stands in line. Makes for happier kids.
The silly fountain was NOT ON! AHHHH! So poor Rebekah wasn't happy she didn't get to play in the fountain. She was pretty bummed about it actually. So was I. Sitting and watching them play sounded heavenly at this point. So we found a table in an eating area and waited on William.
Just after he left, he returned (much to my surprise) to announce he had found the robot. So off he went with the kids to visit the robot. I sat. Did I mention how TIRED I was at this point? And we wouldn't want to loose our table...now would we? ;-) Both the kids loved it...and for some reason Peter determined later that the robot "ate Daddy's lunch". I have no idea how he came to this conclusion...but ooooook.
Rebekah was still thrilled she got to see it. This robot is just a motorized, remote controlled thing. A guy walks around (behind the crowd) talking through a walkie talkie type thing making the robot "talk". Rebekah has yet to discover the guy...but this robot has inspired her love of robots. She was on quite the robot kick there for quite some time. It has since died down, but she still has a fondness for robots!
Now - for me, I wasn't sure what I was going to do about fair food. I decided to try a turkey leg. It seemed like a good choice. William dutifully brought one back for me. I gnawed on that thing for forever, stuffed myself silly, and it still looked like I hadn't touched it. The best part is Peter helped me. (He preferred the turkey to the hot dog.) So TWO of us ate on it...and it barely made a dent. (Shoulda took a pic...seriously. This was one huge turkey this leg came from!) I'm sure my blood sugar was fine from it.
The interesting thing that both William and I found is that fair food did NOT have the appeal it normally does. I didn't feel like I missed out on anything (and could have gone without the turkey leg honestly) and the bit that William ate didn't sit well with him. TOO greasy...I guess all that healthy eating is rubbing off on us!
At this point it was clear I was just plain tired. So we stopped by the games and the kids played 1 and William played 1. We let Peter and Rebekah play one of those "no loose" games. Last year we didn't...we just bought them something. Seems like more fun if you at least do something ya know?
This was a fishing game and the kids each got a blow-up hammer.
Peter immediately ran off with his...
No idea where he was headed.
Rebekah got a nice girly pink one. She started to pick another one,
but the attendant pulled this one out. I guess she just looked the
princess type! :-) (And she totally is!!!)
William then tried playing a basketball game. He said the balls were over-inflated...no way to win really (ya know, since the hoops are oval and not round in addition to it?). I stood in the shade waiting and watching. Another attendant said "What did he [William] do to you?" I smiled and said "I swallowed a basketball." He chuckled then looked at R who was sucking her thumb. "Hey! What does that finger taste like?" She smiled at him and replied "Ice cream!" I was beaming...I mean really, everyone wants to raise a witty smart alec, right? And I can only imagine what that guy thought between the two of us!
Kids fell asleep on the way home. It was a another great day at the fair...although, we didn't see half the stuff we normally see (we didn't even go to ANY shows!!!). But that is A-OK...I had contractions all the way out to the car (very mild ones). So it was definitely time to put the ol' feet up.
Oh - and some lady we passed in the parking lot asked when I was due and chatted about how she was at the fair a few years ago just before she was due. When we got to our car, William says "Did you know her?" I said "Nope!" I had to explain that for women, seeing other pg women is often a nostalgic thing. I was happy to oblige her...because some day I'll look at a pg woman and it will remind me of something from one of the times I was pg...and surely she'll indulge me with my silly stories? That's what women do!
In case your wondering - Peter's hammer lasted 3 days before he bit a corner off. Rebekah's is still intact...
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