This year, I moved out Texas trip a bit earlier to coincide with the Labor day weekend, so the only state fair visit we were getting this year was in Alaska. Unfortunately, the schedule moving meant we only had one Friday to choose from and Matt wouldn't be able to join us thanks to his busy hunting schedule (and work, obviously). I figured the boys were getting big enough that the three of us could split food and still get a reasonable sampling of fair food awesomeness!
I purposely wore them out this morning* so they would fall asleep in the car well prior to their usual nap time. This had the added benefit that we got to the fair right at lunch time. Nothing like corn nuggets and cheese curds to start the day off right! I also wizened up this year and brought bowls along for them so they didn't have to deal with unwieldy paper plates and boats. Plus they could keep eating while being pulled around in their trusty wagon!
Of course, the most important thing for boys to see at the fair is the lumberjack show. It is the highlight of their day. Thomas was seriously stressing out about making it to the show on time and kept pointing the show area on the map. You show that kid a location on the map one time and he does not forget it! (I think the map may be his second favorite part of the fair...)
Also, the day turned out to be gorgeous and sunny, so we were totally over dressed. Henry kept complaining he was hot while we were sitting there, but refused to leave to go find a t-shirts. I finally had him stand behind me so he could sorta be in the shade. Thomas was hot, but not going to miss his show to remedy the situation.
Most of the lumberjack activities involve actually chopping or sawing wood in some manner, but those honestly don't look very exciting in photographs. But the lumberjacks trying to knock each other into the water? That turned out some awesome expressions! And just like wrestling, it's totally over dramatized and stages, but still hilarious.
The log rolling was my favorite - even with it being staged, I would not have the balance to run on a log and still manage to kick water at the other guy. So kudos to you, lumberjacks!
After the show, we wandered around to find some indoor activities. We found a craft station to make lollipop spiders. Henry needed a little bit of help from the volunteers, but Thomas managed to make his spider by himself! But Henry did turn his hat backwards all by himself - he's naturally that rad. ;)
Finally my favorite part - the barnyard animals! This farmer pulled out one of the newly hatched baby chickens for the boys to see. They seemed impressed, but didn't want to touch the little chick... It's times like this I feel my kids are missing out on not having I ton of farm animals like I did growing up. :(
On to the petting zoo! I tried to convince the boys to feed the little animals, but that was a firm "nope".
They would try to pet the goats while I was feeding them though. In their slight defense, these goats are intense trying to get food from the people in the enclosure. If you even act like you have food they are all about you!
Henry checking out the goat house and trying to convince the goats to go in their house. Ha - not while there is food around!
After walking around the barn, that little taste of freedom meant they no longer wanted to ride in the wagon. I let them pull it around for a little while, but managed to convince them we would get to the rides a *lot* faster if they would let me pull them. (You can probably tell by their footwear what weather I was expecting...)
Ride time! Henry is still short enough that I have to ride the rides with him, but the two of them decided they wanted to ride in the front of the dump truck. I wasn't sure if that was ok, but the ride operator told me it was fine to ride in the truck in front of them and just keep an eye on them. Perfect for photos!!
We had planned out our meal plan for the day before we came to the fair and I planned our route accordingly, but somehow I forgot where the mini-donuts were. The boys could not be persuaded to eat an elephant ear instead, so we had to wander around until we found the donuts. Thankfully, the boys were appreciative enough of my efforts that I didn't grumble too much about pulling a super heavy wagon in the heat. (Just a little grumbling, I promise! Mostly under my breath, too!)
But as usual, all good things must come to an end and it came shortly after the donuts. A mix of sugar, heat and pure excitement all combined to a little bit of a toddler melt down. Thankfully the (best) wagon (ever) has seatbelts in case you have to strap your kid in to get them safely back to the car. And Henry was mostly recovered before we left, so we had time to stop and grab kettle corn for the drive home. It's the little things in life... :)
*Thank you bounce house for enabling me to wear these two out almost any time it is really necessary. I don't know how we would survive without it - especially in the middle of winter!
Job well done! :)