State Fair Time

This past weekend was our annual trip to the State Fair. And as usual, it was a ton of fun. Here's the deal with the State Fair. Ever since before I can remember, we all packed up and headed to the State Fair every year. My family never really did the vacation thing when we were growing up. So we did the little things and they were pretty much our traditions. The fair being one of them. Now, I don't remember it much as a little one, but I had no idea just how different the experience is through the eyes of a child. We did things this year that we have never done. Boat ride, train ride, water pad, etc. It was so much fun to see Alex and Abby enjoying themselves so much. Of course, I was hesitant about going with cold and flu season upon us, but we risked it and went anyways. It was worth it too. The great thing about this, is that when I first dragged Josh along before we were even married, he was pleasantly surprised. It's not the most fun in the world to him. He's probably rather spend the day in various other ways. But nonetheless, he enjoys the idea of it being a tradition. (I know the pictures are small, but I had quite a few to share so just click on them to make them a bit bigger.)

We got to enjoy the exotic petting zoo. Alex was fascinated with the zebra and the tortoise. Abby loved petting the baby kangaroo.

We then went for a ride on the little train that goes around the whole fair. I don't have any pictures of that because my mom has them on her camera, but I did get a couple of great pictures of Alex driving a boat around a little pond they have there. I do believe it was his favorite. While we (me and Alex) were waiting in line, he was jumping up and down in eager anticipation for driving the boat. He looked so cute in his life jacket with a smile from ear to ear.

The fair means a whole heap of walking. My parents were Alex and Abby's own personal transportation. As the kids are so used to me telling them they can walk as opposed to me carrying them, they were thrilled when Grandma and Grandpa would carry them around at any moment. They also enjoyed pulling the wagon. It was a nice break for me. :-)

Alex got his temporary fill of tractors and big vehicles. Both him and Abby had a blast crawling around on them. Alex and Abby also had a blast on the giant slide (so did Josh and I).



There were also a ton of interesting things to see. One of the oddest things was the scarecrow contest that people did. They made different scarecrows and it was very interesting.

When the day was done, mostly everyone slept on the way back. It was a great day. And for once, it wasn't raining. It'll be interesting to see if my kids keep going back when they are my age. Carrying on the tradition that's been going on in my family for many generations.