Me, Fair Lady

We went to the fair a few weeks ago. Ohhhhhhhh how I love fair food. That's the main reason I go. For the food. And also for the people-watching. There is always good people-watching at the fair. My wonderful folks paid for all of us to get in, which was extremely generous. Ben and I couldn't go last year because of the expense, and I was so grateful we got to go this year because of my sweet parents.

First we made a beeline for the quilting/crossstitching building. My mom entered a cross stitch that Nat had made for her a few years ago, and we wanted to see if Nat won anything. She didn't, which we thought was a travesty. Check out the detail on that mother:

Such craftsmanship. And such patience.

I ran into Mary L. from my ward (I ran into like ten billion people from my ward that day), and she said that Colette J. from my ward had entered a baby quilt, so I searched and searched for it and finally found it:

Cute, huh? Colette is an amazing quilter. And it looks like she won some kind of award. There was this thing where you vote for your favorite quilt, so I voted for hers. And then I ran into Colette J. at the fair later that day and told her I voted for her quilt. And she acted really embarrassed. I often embarrass people, I think. Anyways.

Then we were all starving and decided to head over to the food section. Aw yeah. On the way there, we were offered some 4H balloons for our kids:

We should have walked the other way. Those dang balloons wapped me on the head every second. Every time a kid was near me (which was all the time) or every time I pushed the stroller (which was also all the time), I got wapped in the head with a balloon.

On the way to the food area, Jake was upset about something - I'm not sure what - and Nat bent down to talk to him. I'm not sure what he said at this moment, but I love that look on Nat's face. I think it is a really precious picture:

Dylan and Sadie wanted cotton candy, and I was really reluctant to get it for them. They always say they want cotton candy and then they never eat it. Plus, it's so sticky. But we let them get some, and they actually ate the whole thing:

I think cotton candy is gross. Dylan offered some to me several times, but I wasn't interested. I was saving myself for the Bread Barn:

I know the lady who kind of runs the Bread Barn, and Ben works with the lady's son-in-law, so when we went up to say hi, she gave all of us free pieces of bread with that lovely raspberry honey-butter on it, aaaaand free drinks! How generous! I tried to take her picture, but she kept dodging my camera, which is why Ben is alone in the picture above.

I had the nastiest Navajo Taco for lunch that day. I regret it. The people used some stupid flat bread at the bottom of the taco instead of lovely fry bread. Blah. I wanted to get myself a deep fried oreo, as well, but I was too full. Bummer. I really like those. I know they sound gross, but dang. You should try it.

Then we stopped in the animal barns. I love looking at the animals. Ben took this picture of Nat - I have no clue what she was making that face about, but it makes me laugh:

I get really embarrassed when Ben takes pictures of me. I'm just not very photogenic, and I feel weird having a camera on me all the time. When I saw him aiming at me, I just kind of smiled uncomfortably:

Ben says it's a "smirk." I smirk? Am I a smirker???

Then we went to the petting zoo, and my mom fell in love with this little basset hound that was for sale:

She had a basset hound growing up whom she loved. She almost bought a basset hound at the fair last year, and she has talked all year about how cute the dog was. She almost got this one, too, but decided against it. I love how the dog was just loving on her. Poor thing.

Then we headed over to the rides. While Dad waited in line to get some tickets, there was loud music playing, and Mom and Jake started having a dance-off:

Mom would dance, then put her hands on her hips while Jake took a turn, and then he would stand with his hands on his hips when it was Mom's turn. It was so cute.

Jake can bust a move:

Nat signed him up for hip-hop classes, which I think is such a great idea. He is disappointed that they haven't taught him how to "pop" yet, but I figure they will in due time.

The kids rode the carousel, and I didn't realize that Dylan chose one of the dumb stationary benches. I think he thought the benches would go up and down or something. His confused look as he's going by is so funny:

Like, "Wait a minute... I thought this was supposed to do something!"

We took the kids to this dragon ride, and I have never laughed so hard in my life. Brock was petrified:

Every time they came near the ride attendant, he would scream, "Help me! Help me! Stop the ride!!!!":

We laughed and laughed. He is so cute.

The kids rode this airplane ride. Troy needed an adult with him, and Dad reluctantly went. He gets really motion sick:

He was making a barfing face in the above picture. My sentiments exactly. I can't ride very many rides; I get really nauseated.

Ben rode the ride with Sadie and couldn't get his long legs in properly:

My favorite thing about the airplane ride were the illustrations on it:

All I have to say is, what the crap??? Who on earth did they have airbrush these images? A three-year-old? What is that weird thing on his face in the top picture? Does he have thyroid disease in the bottom picture?? (My neck looked like that when I had thyroid disease and didn't know it.) The weirdest pictures ever.

Sadie's name got drawn in this drawing thing, and she won a free all-day ride pass, worth $30. Since we knew we wouldn't be going back to the fair, Ben scalped the pass for $20. We spent it all on more food! Hahaha!!


We had a blast. It was very, very hot and humid, but at least we had some cloud cover. I was exhausted by the time it ended, but happy and full of yummy apple dumplings and limeade.

Here are some slides:

Thanks again, Mom and Dad! We had so much fun!!