The Children's Barnyard is always one of our first stops. There are always cute baby animals to pet. My country kids are not at all afraid to go up to a goat and feed it. Or a cow.
And another one of our mandatory stops is the Maple Tent. We always have to get a Maple Creeme. And this year we even tasted Maple Icees (basically syrup on crushed ice) and a Maple Milkshake. This must be NC's equivalent of the "Fried" phenomenon at their Fair.
Andrew fell in love with the horse races. And he wanted to stay and watch the whole thing. While Daddy stayed with him, I walked around a little with the girls. They wanted to get balloon animals and play in the corn box. Abi talked about the clowns that made her balloon for days. I thought they were creepy.
We usually run into lots of people we know. Abi had a fun moment "talking" to one of her friends from church beneath this big milk cow. :-)
We watched Racing Pigs and ducks. Andrew got picked out of the crowd to "bet" on a duck. His duck won! He got a medal and a little duck keychain. Required no effort on his part, but he felt so special.
Friday was Ride Day and the kids were SO excited. They remember last year getting to go on everything they saw. They were even more adventurous this year. They started out with this small Ferris Wheel (with Daddy on their side).
At first, Abigail was not at all thrilled about riding rides. She seemed like she was going to want to do everything her brother and sister did. She talked about the rides and told us all morning how she was big and liked the rides. Then she realized Mommy & Daddy couldn't go with her on most of them. And she cried. We took her off before it even went around.
Later, though, Brett got himself a ride pass so he could go on some things with her. She went on the big slide with him.
And they went on the train (Andrew's personal fave).
And the carousel.
And by the time it was time to leave, she was fearless. She wanted to go on these helicopters. By herself. The first time she went with Leah and Andrew. Then she couldn't get enough of it. (The fingers in her mouth don't necessarily mean she's scared. Quiet usually means she likes it. If she doesn't like it, she'll let you know.)
Leah's friend Joselyn wanted her to ride the big Ferris Wheel with her. And even though she's never ridden anything like before, she went, and she wasn't afraid at all. I can't believe how grown up she looks on that all by herself!
And Leah & Joselyn went together on the Carousel.
Leah decided to give the big curly slide a try by herself. And then went again. And again.
And Daddy went with them on the Roller Coaster that tosses you around.
And sometimes Abi was too small to ride the rides, even with Daddy. So Grandma got her cotton candy, and she was happy.
Daddy got silly pictures of Leah & Andrew while they were on the Ferris Wheel. Andrew was a little nervous at first about the height of it, but loved it once he got off!
The last day we took our international college student, Maria. We introduced her to American foods like the Bloomin' Onion and corn dogs. That day we got to watch the huge Clydsedale horses being hitched, and we learned a little about sheep and the process of making wool. Leah also got to be a part of a magic show. We've seen this guy's show more than once, so she was confident up there on that stage in front of a whole bunch of kids.
And the last day we discovered $1 kids ice cream cones. And after a second day in a row with no nap and lots of sugar in her, Abi was just plain silly.
The Fair left us all hot and exhausted (especially the one of us that is 34 weeks pregnant), but we wouldn't miss it for the world and already can't wait for next year. The Fair being over almost means there's only about 6 weeks left until it starts getting cold again in Vermont! But we won't think about that now.
No comments:
Post a Comment