Thursday, August 7, 2008

A Day At Our Town Fair

Well, I did it, I caved in and took my kids to our town Fair. Our town here does this really BIG Fair. We have gone in the past...many times actually. But the Fair is so expensive. So, I decided this year we would go, and let the kids have a great time. I planned the day with my friend Cindy, and her 4 kids. We put the date on our calendar.....and we met by 10am. Don't get me wrong, I do like the Fair, what I dislike is the RIDES!!! Our Fair is great. It's main attraction is the animals. We live among many dairy farms, and the Fair is full of showing cows, goats, chickens, roosters, you name it, a nice "country Fair". We even have a building of exhibits...."who made the best pie, best jam," you get it. Anyway, the rides, oh those, excuse me, darn rides. My kids love those rides, and they are so expensive, dirty, and, I think dangerous! So, yes, we bought Becca the "wrist band," it was $20.00. The admission for me was $11.00, Becca was $5.00, and Davey was free, thank God! Davey wanted to ride the rides too, so I knew there wouldn't be many "little boy" rides, so I bought him 10 tickets...yep 10 tickets. So I thought, he could go on 10 rides. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Each ride you had to pay 3 - 4 tickets!!!!! So, poor Davey got to go on about 4 rides or so......it was fine, cause unlike his big sister, he didn't care, he just wanted to be with his mommy. So, we arranged ahead of time that Becca would go off with my friend Cindy and her kids, and after Davey was done with his rides, we walk around just a bit more, I bought him a little toy, he loved it, and then we went home by 3:30pm. We got there by 10am, and I thought 5 1/2 hours was fine to be at the Fair......Becca stayed with Cindy and family and slept over their house tonight. I called Cindy tonight, around 8pm to see if all was going ok, and she said they were just heading back to the RIDES!!!! Wow, what an awesome mom Cindy is!!! I give her credit, I could never spend the whole entire day at the Fair, especially riding those RIDES!!!! We did get to see all the animals, and exhibits before the rides opened. We had a nice boxed lunch overlooking the horses. I know Becca had the time of her life, spending the whole entire day at the Fair, with another family.....riding those RIDES!!!

I, too, had a wonderful time here at home tonight. Davey and I got home by 4pm, we went in our much needed pool. My hubby woke up and bar-be-cued hamburgers. We had a nice "quiet" dinner. My hubby left by 6pm for work. I then put my very tired little boy to bed by 7pm....so, yes, I am having the time of my life tonight, all alone for once. The house is quiet. I sat outside on the porch on my swing...didn't have to talk to anyone, it was so nice and quiet. Davey will be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning, and Becca will be home tomorrow afternoon. Don't get me wrong, I miss Becca, but a break like this is nice for me, for once.

I suggest, you take your kids to the Fair, but make sure you find a very special friend who LOVES taking her kids to the Fair as well. Then I suggest you plan, ahead of time, to entrust your child with that special friend. Then leave the Fair early, like I did, go home and enjoy the rest of your day, just like I did!

11 comments:

Lois Christensen said...

I remember the last time I went to the fair with you. Michael and Becca went on all the rides together and you and Olivia sat on the bench all day...something with your foot. You two were so happy not to have to go on rides. And I kept trying to get Olivia to go on any ride because I bought the bracelet for her and she wouldn't go on anything! And I'll never forget the look on Becca's face when I "prayed" for lunch! Enjoyed the memory!

Liz said...

"Dear LORD!!!!" Ha, that's how you started the prayer...it was funny...and that's the first thing we did was go eat lunch.....ha!!!! They left the Fair at 10:45PM last night! I could have NEVER done that. My friend Cindy is amazing! Have fun at your Fair tomorrow.

The Crazy Bus said...

We were there too! But we got there around 4pm. I saw Becca with Cindy. They were SAFE and having FUN. i think I went on the elephant ride like 5 times. That's about as wild as my boys will get. Oh, and then Kev wanted to go on this little car ride that "whips" you around the curve of a small oval track. Boy was that wild! We were gettin crazy and screaming every time! woo hoo!

Jen said...

Sounds fun! I'm with you on the grossness of the rides - we definitely bring a gallon-sized purell with us when going to a fair! Glad to see summer is going well for you!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday to Becca!!!!!!!!!!and may she always have that beautiful smile!!!!!! love, annak.

Laurie said...

OK time to update your Blog, you were after me to update now it is your turn.

Lois Christensen said...

I agree. Take some time to post some pictures of the chicken coop...

Anonymous said...

We do the fair every year, too. We do one day (usually the Wednesday) to spend the whole day there just for the rides. The kids get in for free (all week, actually, if they want to, because they get the tickets free from being in their 4H Club). Parents get discounted tickets through 4H, so the cost isn't that big of a deal - all I have to do is buy the bracelets for the girls, and they go nuts with their friends for the day. I walk around (sometimes with them - sometimes not) and I make sure to get my 'bloomin onion', my zeppoles and then I get another bloomin onion. We usually go for just the one day, but last year the kids were invited to sing in the song tent for a christian rock song. They got to sing. It was on the Wednesday, so it worked out. This year, we spontaneously decided to go for dinner and just walking around on that first Sunday. Then, we went on the Wednesday for the rides, and then went back on Saturday morning for the Talent Show (because the children's choir won the Wantage Talent Show and had to perform in the one for the State Fair), so this year I was definitely State Fair exhausted.
Ugh.

eleanor

Anonymous said...

We do the fair every year, too. We do one day (usually the Wednesday) to spend the whole day there just for the rides. The kids get in for free (all week, actually, if they want to, because they get the tickets free from being in their 4H Club). Parents get discounted tickets through 4H, so the cost isn't that big of a deal - all I have to do is buy the bracelets for the girls, and they go nuts with their friends for the day. I walk around (sometimes with them - sometimes not) and I make sure to get my 'bloomin onion', my zeppoles and then I get another bloomin onion. We usually go for just the one day, but last year the kids were invited to sing in the song tent for a christian rock song. They got to sing. It was on the Wednesday, so it worked out. This year, we spontaneously decided to go for dinner and just walking around on that first Sunday. Then, we went on the Wednesday for the rides, and then went back on Saturday morning for the Talent Show (because the children's choir won the Wantage Talent Show and had to perform in the one for the State Fair), so this year I was definitely State Fair exhausted.
Ugh.

eleanor

Anonymous said...

You mean you got yet ANOTHER break from your kids?

Liz said...

Philip - I never get a break from my kids, or ever ask for one! Rebecca went with my friend Cindy, not Davey! Seems like you're implying that I leave my children all the time, which is never the case!