The Fair

Last week, we went to our county fair and boy was I tired afterwards! It is a HUGE fair, actually, the largest in FL, from what I hear. Who knew? lol Anyway, the kids always enter stuff into the exhibition, so we like to check out the exhibits when we go to see how the kids placed. That's always fun. Many times Nicky has to work overtime during March so he doesn't get to go, which is a bummer for two reasons: (1) he really likes to go and (2) I have to watch all the kids alone...yikes! Well, this year was typical and he couldn't go and having split age levels of kids with one adult doesn't make it any easier. After thinking and thinking of scenarios as to best handle the issue of 2 age levels of rides, I finally came up with a plan. I decided to let Savannah and Ashton each take a friend then the 4 of them could walk around together, keeping in touch with me via phone. (Aren't phones great...for this sort of thing anyway.) So that's what we did and I only had to walk around with the boys. It was fun, but man, exhausting. I guess the fact that we were there for about 7 hours would have something to do with it, huh? lol

After we got our ride bracelets, Indy first wanted to go on this giant slide, but he was too small to ride alone, so we got the big kids to ride with him before they took off. I asked Juan to ride with Indy, which they did, and then they raced down. All the way down, Juan and Indy were behind, but in the end, they were heavier than all the girls, so they flew past them all to the very end and won! They were both so excited and of course, rubbing it in the girls' faces that the boys won. It was funny.

Here's the big kids getting ready to take off on the big swings.

Indy and Levi wanted to ride the bumper cars, so here they are. Indy drove pretty well since he'd done it before. This was Levi's first time actually driving, so he wasn't quite sure how to make the thing go. Indy was yelling at him the whole time to turn the wheel and push the petal. It was so cute. He finally got the hang of it and took off. Of course, about that time, the ride was over. lol

The boys love playing those silly carnival games. I hate paying for those since they're so darn expensive and you get a cheap toy you have to carry around the whole time. Here they played this water shooting game and Indy won. He got a little dinosaur doll. Then we played a second time and I played against Levi and he won. (Can't imagine how that happened!) He got an elephant doll. They were both happy.

Levi really liked these little rides and even though Indy wasn't impressed with them, he couldn't stand to stand by while Levi rode, so he rode them all with Levi. lol

This was a flying ride that Indy really likes. Here he's waiting for the ride to finish loading so he can take off. Levi was too little to ride this one, so he rode another one of the little rides beside this one. I thought this was a cute picture of Indy.

A little later, the boys rode these little swings that were two-seaters. When they got on, the guy was helping some other kids to get buckled, so Indy buckled himself and then he buckled Levi. It was so cute how he took care of his little brother and Levi watched him. It was neat. I noticed that many of the other swings had single riders or riders with a parent. I was standing next to a dad who was "whoo-hooing" to his son each time around and it struck me sad that that little boy was all alone. I looked at my boys who were sitting side by side talking and pointing out things to each other. It was so sweet and I was sooo grateful (1) to have them and (2) that they had each other. They really love each other. I hope they will always stay close.

After the swings, Levi really wanted to go on this slide and even though he was just a little bit short of the required height, the guy let him on, which I was very grateful for. He had never done this before by himself, but he did, and of course, Indy, too. He was so proud and had so much fun, and thankfully, the line was very short, so they got to do it again right afterwards. Levi was so happy.

Next we went through the exhibit hall to find all the kids' entries. Indy got a first place and a second place, Ashton got a second and third place, and Savannah got a first and second place. Indy was so excited since this was the first time he was old enough to enter an exhibit. The kids earn $5 for each 1st place, $4 for each 2nd place, and $2 for each 3rd place. It's a great deal for the kids, but not for me since I don't get any of the earnings, but I pay for all the supplies to make the entries. Argh. Oh well....the things we do.... lol

After the exhibit hall, we found the animal tent. It was neat with all the chickens, rabbits, cows, etc. This was taken at the 4-H booth.

After we left the animal tent, the boys found the fishing game, which is their favorite. I let them play and they both got swords. Yay, just what they needed. Hey, I made them carry their own stuffed animal and sword. But, when I sat down to rest, they decided to sword fight. Of course they did. I'm sure some people walking by thought I was a terrible mom and how dangerous that was, but oh well. They had fun and the swords were very flimsy, so they were fine. I did make them watch out for people passing by too closely. That's responsible, right??

Then they wanted to ride this Nascar ride when they saw that there was a "17" car, which is Nicky's favorite as you can see here and here.

We finally found the big kids and we rested and ate. Starting from left to right is Indy (laying on the bench), Juan, Levi, and Savannah (eating a funnel cake), and Ashton and friend Abby (also eating something). The big kids wanted to ride a few more rides, so we did. By now, you KNOW I'm pooped, but hanging in there. lol

Here is Ashton and Abby on a crazy ride. Look at the far right group of people. See the purple high tops? That's Abby. Ashton is to her right (our left) with the black shoes and bare legs. Wow. I can't believe I actually got a picture in focus from that flying ride!

When we were getting ready to leave, Ashton and Abby walked a little bit ahead of the rest of us and Levi took off after them. The girls didn't know he was following them and I didn't know if he would even find them, so I yelled at him to come back. He didn't hear me, so Juan took off after him. Levi thought Juan was trying to keep him from the girls, so he ran from Juan... in circles. Juan followed him...in circles. It was really funny. Finally Juan caught him and brought him back to me. Of course, I corrected Levi about running from Juan or any of the big kids. He looks happy, right? lol

Overall, we had a lot of fun, but boy were we wiped out afterwards. Whew! I'm glad we went and I'm glad the crowds weren't too bad and I'm glad it's over and we don't have to go back again til next year!! lol