A Trip to the Fair

My parents kindly offered to treat the girls and I to a trip to the State Fair  a few weeks ago, and the girls had a blast.  The last time we went Claire was about 7 months old, and Melanie didn't remember going, so it was time for another trip.  If there's one thing I learned this year, it was not to go in by the grandstand, because then you're right by the midway rides, so it's difficult to hold off on those until the end.  I'll remember that for next time and plan out our day a bit better.

We started off by asking the girls if they wanted to watch a chicken get a bath or watch a cow get milked.  They chose the chicken bath.  Go for the milking demonstration.  The chicken bath was a bit lacking in my opinion, and the adults were not at all considerate of letting the girls get to where they could see.

Amelia kept creeping closer to get a look at what was being done to her beloved chickens.  That girl loves her some poultry!

Next were the requisite pig races.

We of course chose to go on the hottest day of the fair (90+ degrees and very sunny), so upon the suggestion of Matt's cousin, we stopped in the *air conditioned* Do Art building, an activity stop sponsored by a local art foundation that had free crafts for kids. With three adults and three kids it worked out just right for us to be able to help the girls with their chosen projects.

Melanie working on her space ship.  All space ships have hearts, right?

Grandma giving Claire a hand gluing some sequins on hers.

After we were all cooled off we made our way to the rides.  The merry-go-round was an obvious choice since Amelia could participate.

The big girls cruising along

Amelia wistfully watching her sister enjoy rides.

She was quite a bit too short to be allowed on any of the rides, much to her disappointment.
As a side note, taking the wagon was a much better option than taking the double stroller.  So glad my parents had that idea!

Amelia actually got out of the wagon and was pathetically rattling the entrance gate to the ride.  Poor kid, had to settle for waving at her sisters with Grandpa : (

Until...

...one of the carnival workers took pity on her.  The big girls had used all their ride tickets, so we headed off in search of a bathroom.  I looked back to be sure everyone was still following me only to see my dad handing Amelia to the ride operator so he could put her in one of the cars.  He had seen her suffer through not getting to ride with her sisters, so as we were walking by he asked my dad if she would like a ride, and he ran the ride just for her, despite her short stature, and for free!  He insisted the ride was on him, and even though it was a small thing for him to do, in the life of a 19-month-old, it sure seemed like big stuff!

It took her a while to get into the steering wheel, but it looked like she thought she was big stuff once she started spinning it.

She'd always wait until she was on the opposite side of the ride from us before she would wave.  Silly girl!

After a bathroom and lunch break, we wandered around until we found the Pride of Kansas building with all the giant produce, butter sculpture, and other various displays to pique your interest about various agricultural industries in Kansas.  There was a great little hands-on area for kids to learn about different farm related industries within the state.

The girls really enjoyed the cow milking simulator, especially when it "moo"ed at them.

Ah, the joys of posing in brightly colored photo-op cut-outs!

I realize posting three of these is a bit of overkill, but each one is subtly different, and the girls faces amused me too much not to include them.  Maximize the photos to get the full effect.  My mommy heart is beaming with pride (I think).

Melanie and the bug eyes, Claire and her trademark lack of focus, Amelia and food (if you consider "cheese" flavored popcorn an actual food).

We're big stuff now, "driving" a combine!

There was a big flat screen TV set up in front of the combine to make it look like you were cutting wheat.

Melanie's eyes got really big at some point.  Maybe she ran over a rabbit?  (kidding, kidding)

Amelia finally discovered the cow.  If only there had been a chicken she could collect eggs from, she would have been in farming heaven!

My silly cowgirls

Claire was not amused when I put everyone on her saddle for a picture. 

More cut-out fun!

Melanie is munching on a flavored honey stick in case you're curious as to what she's doing.

Our last stop was for some fun at the fountains, just in case the girls weren't totally worn out already.

I wish I had made this a stop earlier in the day when everyone was super hot, but it I'm sure it would have been crazy busy then.

We made a pit stop for some frozen custard on the way back home since we had promised the girls ice cream, but I knew they wouldn't eat very much and $4 per cone seemed a bit excessive to me for uneaten ice cream.  And you know what?  We left the fair without even eating a funnel cake.  Aside from the 4-5 fries I snagged off the girls at lunch, I didn't eat anything that was fried at the fair.  Now that I'm writing this late at night and I'm getting hungry, I feel like I missed out on the fair experience a bit.  Yes, it was my choice, and I wasn't at all hungry at the time and didn't want to force myself to eat one just for the sake of doing it, but now I want one.  *Sigh*  Guess we'll have to go again in 3 years so I can take care of this funnel cake craving.