Time for the county fair!

It's that time of year again! The fair is here, which means summer is almost over...of which I am still in complete denial! This year was so much fun with Holden. He understood in advance what the fair was, and talked for two weeks straight about "riding creecles" (motorcycles) with Colin and Cade, and "eatin' a corn dog." I was so happy when the day finally arrived so I could stop saying, "Soon, Holden" and say, "Yes, it's today!"

We went with Annie and the boys, and also our friend, Kim, who brought her sweet little girl, Lauren, and her nephew, Jay. Apparently, it was "green day" at the fair so Jay got his head sprayed green!:) Made him easy to keep track of.

I love this picture of our "stroller caravan" with every one's balloons.

Our first stop was in one of the agricultural buildings. They had baby pigs to pet and gave the kids some hilarious pig ears to wear. Lauren wasn't so sure about those pigs...they squealed REALLY LOUDLY! Holden kept saying, "Whatsa matter, oink-oinks??" There were also two tractors with a video simulation set up so the kids could pretend to drive. Holden surprised me by being scared to go on the big combine. I think it was the tall ladder you had to climb up. He settled for a small tractor and was perfectly content. Check out the hilarious picture in the top left of the collage! The kids latched on to this wooden cow and were all fighting over it!

Another building housed the rabbits and poultry. We saw all kinds of rabbits, from giant ones about the same size as Holden (seriously!) to little dwarf bunnies. There were some available for petting, and there were baby chicks which the kids really liked. I didn't get a picture of it (I know, shocking coming from the "camera lady!" Ha!) but my favorite memory is when Holden put his face up close to the turkey cage and it gobbled at him! He took off running down the aisle with a look of horror on his face! I am mean, but it was SO funny! I think a similar situation happened to Cade. Speaking of Cade, I love the sticker on the back of his shirt that says, "See me in the Barn!" Priceless.

Lunch time! We had the typical expensive, artery clogging fair foods, and it was so funny watching the kids eat. What cuties!

After lunch, we checked out some of the motor vehicles. Holden and Colin were really into that race car, despite their lovely expressions in the top left picture. It just cracked me up so I had to include it! I think they were more than sick of the cameras at this point! The three of them enjoyed climbing in the fire truck, too.

The petting zoo was set up just like last year. Do you remember that yak and its nasty tongue? Yep, now it is a tradition for me to snap its picture. Terrorizing kids at a county fair near you. Holden really liked feeding the goats this year and did a good job divvying out the food. Until an overly pushy one got a hold of his entire cup, yanked it out of his hand, and ate it. He freaked out after that and I had to help him feed the rest. You can see by his expression in the shots where I am holding him that he is a bit traumatized. :)

Just like last year, the pony rides were a big hit. He was a little more serious this year, but he has not stopped talking about them. I look forward to next year, when he hopefully will be able to ride without me walking around with him, dodging fresh doo doo!

Ahh, the good old fair rides! Holden was pumped for these this year. He loved riding with his buddy, Colin. Some of them just whipped their heads around like bobble heads, and he giggled the entire time. Poor little Cade was just a tad too short for the height requirements, and nobody would let him on anything. He stood there pointing at the rides and saying, "ME? ME?" It was SO sad! Finally a nice carnie lady (can you say "carnie" and "lady" together? I guess it was more like "carnie female") took pity on him and let him ride the very last ride the boys went on, which was a little boat. He could have fit with the other boys, but he wanted his very own boat and he wanted to be up front. Such a little daredevil! He was so happy to be on that ride.

A few more shots of our cute kids. They did have such a good time. It's fun to watch the world through their eyes. Remember when there was nothing better in the world than perching on a tiny plastic truck and letting it jerk you around a track? :)

Holden and Colin cried leaving the fair, and the first 5 min. in the van all I heard was Holden lamenting, "Wanna go BAAAACK!" over and over. By the time I got home, here was my view. We've had some cute sleepy balloon moments lately! :)

We head back tomorrow with Daddy and his family. It's wristband day, so he'll get to ride to his heart's content. (Jay, or Holden, do you ask? Well, both!) :)