the county fair

It's that time of year for the county fair. Would you believe I haven't taken Laci to the fair? Ever? Well, I haven't, and it's shameful and very un-countrylike of me. So, this little adventure was long overdue.

The girls' first trip to the fair was everything a trip to the fair is supposed to be. Hot and sticky weather. Overpriced and over-sugary food. Good ole country animals. Carnival and pony rides.

My parents and sisters joined us and we owe big thanks to Papa and Grammy who made riding the carousel four times in a row and one ridiculously expensive pony ride possible. We had a great time, saw all we needed to see within three hours, and all left with a bit of a tummy ache, myself included. I do have to add that it would have been a hundred times better if Ryan could have gone with us, but, as he has been most of this year, he was working. *sad face*

Of course, Laci loved the animals. Mia was a bit skeptical, but she was content to eat Cheerios in the stroller.  For hours.

The girls had their first tastes of fair corn dogs.

Laci rode the carousel many, many times. At first, she kept a pretty good poker face, reminiscent of her last trip to an amusement park. I think she was really just mad at the little girl who stole the pink horse from her. Then she rode again with Grammy and then with me and then with Papa again. And by the end, she was even waving.

Look close, there's a smile on her face.

Please pretend all these pictures are in focus, the story just wouldn't be the same without the blurry ones.

She wanted to ride the Jeeps, and the sweet girl riding with her tried to show her how to honk the horn.

Her facial expression never changed.  I hope that sweet little girl didn't take it personally.  Laci is that friendly to everyone.

And she loved going down the giant slide, which surprised me. Look close, another smile.

She loved it so much that she wanted to go again. With me. I was not so excited. It was not a graceful landing, but despite what my family saw, I wasn't going to fling her off the slide. I was hanging onto her the best I could while basically sliding into home. I declined a repeat performance and sent her back to the carousel to use up the last of the tickets.

Mia wasn't big enough for the rides, but I'm sure she didn't even notice. She was happy to continue eating and running around the grassy area. She practiced climbing up the front of the stroller and sliding out of it under the tray. She chatted with her Aunty Kristina (sorry sis, another blurry one) and watched her big sister ride the carousel. Okay, she was actually sticking her head through the fence and yelling, pretty typical Mia behavior.

She was really an easy little trooper until the last five minutes of our outing when we stopped to get frozen lemonade and all she wanted to do was run away. This girl is gonna need a leash.

Laci resumed her serious face when she rode the pony, which she insists is "not a pony, it's a real horsey!" (Please pretend this isn't a terrible picture). I wanted to stick Mia up there too, but she has an issue with horses. An issue of crying whenever she gets near one, even though there are two horses in my mom's barn that she sees regularly.  She cries when she sees them, too. She clearly did not inherit the horse gene, and if there's one thing I know, it's that you either love horses or you don't, and there isn't much you can to do change that. As a mother who loves horses, though, I'm hoping it's just an insecure phase.

We finished the night with a giant snow cone, or "pink baby ice," as Laci calls it. She darn near ate the whole thing and managed to not spill it in the car on the way home.  Impressive.

And now, the girls have been initiated into the world of the county fair. No doubt we will spend plenty of time at the fairs as they grow up, just like their aunties and their daddy, raising various livestock for 4H and FFA. Until then, we'll just stick to the sugar and kiddie rides.