Friday, August 28, 2009

Finally...the FAIR!!

Thursday, August 20th, was our day at the fair. Jason had taken the day off so we could spend all day there.

We started our day by going through all of the hobby barns and finally made our way over to the dairy barn. Ethan was "dying" to see the cows.
The cow was in the Birthing Center waiting to calf. She was due the week of the fair. Ethan took claim to this cow and we had to check back on her several times during our time at the fair to see if she had had her baby. Ethan wanted to see her baby so bad. (Take note, this cow was not even in labor during our visit but whatever makes the little 4-year old boy happy...I think he just wanted to keep visiting the momma.)
Strolling through the fair grounds...
Ethan was so excited to be able to pet this sheep. He had been wanting to pet the animals all day. (Especially "his" cow.) So, when the owner of this sheep told him that he could pet her he was very excited.
Once we made it through the first half of the animal barns, we told the kids they could go do the rides and we would hit the rest of the animal barns later. Here the kids are on the Dizzy Dragons. They look so big in this picture. It felt so weird just putting them all on rides...nobody needing a parent with them.
This was Ethan's first year on the roller coaster and he absolutely loved it. He was laughing so hard. It was fun to watch all of their expressions.We met up at one point with our neighbors. It worked out perfect for some of the rides. They had their friend Kyler with them so the kids all had a partner for a few rides and didn't have to be with their brother or sister. They thought it was a lot of fun. Alyssa was with Ava...Brenna was with Kyler...

And, Ethan did a few rides with Carter. They all had a lot of fun together. It's always kind of nice to "break-it-up" a little and be able to do rides with friends that we find at the fair.

Jason and Ethan hanging out, taking in all of the action around us.

After doing a bunch of rides, we took a break and went to see the smaller animals. This was hilarious. Ethan found this goose that was "squawking" and he started "squawking" back at it. They were going back and forth for several minutes. I only wish I had it on video. This would have been great for Funniest Home Video.

Once we finished the small animal barns, we headed over to the "Big Kid" Carnival, as our kids refer to it. We didn't think Ethan would be tall enough to do any of these rides. But...he proved us wrong. He wanted to do the Wiggly Worm roller coaster so bad with the girls. So, we measured him up, just in case, and sure enough...HE WAS TALL ENOUGH. Where has our baby gone? He had a blast! They all did! This roller coaster is much faster with more ups and downs and turns. Ethan could have stayed on this ride all day if we had let him.

We eventually took a break from the fair and went home for a few hours...that's the one benefit about living so close to the fair. We made our way back to the fair for the evening. It was nice to be able to let everyone rest their feet.

We had a realization this year...This was the first time in 10 years that we have been to the fair without the stroller. We had the "harness" on Ethan for safety reasons and for our peace of mind knowing that he was always with us, unless he was on a ride. And, all three kiddos were able to do rides in the "Big Kid" Carnival. That's what we get for having a tall 4-year old.

Before leaving the fair for the night, we did make one last stop to see "Ethan's" cow. He was so sad that she didn't have her baby. It was the cutest thing. I only wish I had taken a picture of him hanging on the fence rails talking to the cow.

No comments: