August 06, 2015

A day at the County Fair

Yesterday was a looong day, and when I got home last night, I pretty much just crashed and didn't wake up until this morning.

The kids have been asking to go to the Monroe County Fair this year, and even though fairs are definitely not my thing, I felt like it was important to take them. The Fair is really big around here, but I actually hadn't gone since I was pregnant with Eli. All I remembered was walking around in the heat and seeing farm animals (Noah was too young and I was too pregnant for the rides). Interestingly, Jerry and I had NEVER gone to the Fair together, and we've been a couple since 1999. When I went in 2005, it was with a friend of mine who was pregnant, also.

Anyway, we decided to take the kids to the fair yesterday. Jerry was off work, and it happened to be $1/ride day (all rides were $1 each, where normally, they are $3-4 each!). Kendall met us there, because she's never been to the Fair and was curious to check it out. Nathan was working, unfortunately.

The kids were hungry, and even though my August goal is to not eat out, I figured the Fair was exempt from that--it's only here for a week of the entire year. I hadn't eaten lunch, so I should have been hungry, too, but something about walking around in the sun just made me not have an appetite (which is probably good, because there was SO MUCH JUNK FOOD). Eli got nachos, and Noah got a pulled pork sandwich. Then we headed over to the rides.

We learned at Cedar Point that the kids are kind of scared of rides, so I was glad to see they had a few familiar ones. The Scrambler (Eli's favorite ride) was the first one they went on. I stayed off to hold our stuff and to try and get some pictures. That ride is fast, and hard to get pictures!


The Himalaya was similar to a ride at Cedar Point, only it went forward and then backward as well. Eli was nervous because of it going backward, but we got in line for that next. Jerry and Kendall went on a different ride while I was waiting in line with the kids, and they weren't back in time for us to get on, so I ended up riding solo while Noah and Eli rode together. Since Eli was really nervous, I was a little worried about how it was going to go.

Jerry and Kendall got back just as the ride was starting, so Jerry managed to take pictures. The pictures are hilarious! Eli hated the ride, and the progression of the pictures make me laugh. First, everyone was all smiles, going forward:


Then it progressed to the Eli getting a little nervous while going backward:


And then when it was at top speed going backward, it was just sheer terror ;)


Even I was ready for it to be over when it was going backward really fast. I didn't realize how dizzy it would make me, and I'm just too old for that! After that, we chose a ride that looked nice and gentle, so the kids would (hopefully) enjoy it. You basically lay flat on your belly, while it takes you up and and around in circles, while gently going up and down. I rode with Eli, and Noah rode with Kendall, while Jerry held our stuff and took some pictures.



I loved this ride! It went pretty high, and both the kids didn't like it for that reason, but it ended up being my favorite ride of the day. I had promised Eli if he went on it with me, he could go play the pitching game afterward. It was $5 to throw three pitches!! A total ripoff, but I was proud of Eli for doing the rides, so I let him play it once.

We went on a few more rides, and ran into several people we knew, so we chatted with them. We were dying of thirst by that point, so we got some frozen Cokes to sip and walk around to look at the animals.


We walked through the barn with the goats, which are pretty much my favorite farm animal. They were so funny to watch, and the little ones were adorable.


I was getting completely fried in the sun, so it felt good to walk in the shade for a little bit. We were ready to head home by that point, so we decided to go on one final ride together as a group, and we chose the Scrambler. All of us love that ride, so Jerry rode with the boys, and Kendall and I rode together. I had no idea Jerry took this photo, but clearly I was having a blast ;) (I think this was actually before the ride started... our seatbelt wouldn't unbuckle, so the only way to get the seatbelt on was to step into it. Two adult women stepping into a seatbelt on a cozy ride was pretty funny!)


The whole day at the Fair totally changed my attitude about it! We had so much fun, and I will definitely look forward to going to next year's fair.

3 comments:

  1. We were there yesterday, too! Too funny that you liked the Scrambler...it was the only ride I went on and I screamed pretty much the whole time. I just don't like carnival rides anymore, ha ha! JJ was so amused by his screaming mom. ;)

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  2. Glad you had a great time! I basically can't ride any rides that spin around (ever since 8th grade when I actually puked on a ride--utterly embarrassing), but I still have fun at the fair! I used to love the Himalaya because it squishes you into whoever you're sitting with, so I'd always try to sit with a cute guy ;)

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  3. Glad you guys had such a good time. I used to love going to the fairs, especially fairs in the Midwest. Friends and I went to several when I was in grad school in IL. The rides were fun, but my favorite parts were the animals (yay, goats!) and the quilts.

    The OC marathon/half finish at the OC fair grounds. I may just have to go back and see the grounds with an actual fair going on.

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