county fair

When I think of the county fair, I imagine one like Charlotte's Web. I picture pigs with blue ribbons, yummy pies sliced up, quilts and handiworks on display. I'm not sure why I think of the fair like that. The only thing I ever remember from going to the fair when I was younger were the rides. And the cotton candy.

And I'm pretty sure that's the only thing my kids will remember, too.

This caught our eye as soon as we got there. Some large spider like contraption the kids could bounce on.


Isabela got tired pretty quick.


Then there's Joaquin.


He figured out how to do back flips on it.


As soon as we got there, all they wanted to do was ride the ferris wheel. But first I dragged them down the dusty path to see the animals. It was really only a few lonely animals that looked too hot, although it was a gorgeous day...and I didn't see any competition for prettiest pigs, but there were other people trying to get you to slap down a handful of dollars to ride a camel or a pony.

Instead, we saw this plastic horse and cow sitting all by themselves...so we thought we'd give the old lasso a try. Much harder than it looks.


My favorite part of the day was the FREE hayride. It took us on a loop away from the fair and was very peaceful.


But they begged and begged and wore me down, so I gave in to the ferris wheel. Except I didn't have that much money, so we could only get enough tickets for the two of them to ride it. Can you believe I let them go up that high in the air without me?


A teenager rode in their same car with them, so I asked her to make sure they didn't jump out. They loved it, of course, and it was amazing (and relieving) to watch their faces as they came around each time.


We did not play any of the games...but did we really want an eight-foot tall gorilla stuffed animal anyway? And who would have carried it?


The kids spent most of their time staring in disbelief at all the crazy rides. And I must admit, we did enter the one craft building that had all those handmade items on display, but I didn't take any pictures of it. It really wasn't that interesting, unless you know the people that made them.


And so we left with the necessary snow cone in hand and although there was no Charlotte, there was hay in the stoller, tree-top breezes in their hair, and smiles on their faces.