Fair Fun

I have so many memories of fair from my childhood. Hanging out all day there, as we took pigs to the fair. I loved the smell of the sawdust we used for the pens, the siphon tube setting contest (which I proudly won a few times), and fair food!

So when I heard that Kathryn was clogging her last performance at the fair, I made sure I was there to watch. We got there to the blistering heat, only to have to wait FOREVER until it was her performance, she was one of the last to perform. So the kids complained about being bored and hungry the whole time. Good thing Melanie and I had each other to keep us sane.

Reed also decided to escape and had to be rescued by his older brothers, which he wasn't to willing to go back with. So instead he decides to lay down on the grass and sunbath for a while.
Quinn and Dane take time out of their playing for a photo op moment.
Dane had to sport his cowboy hat since he was going to the fair. (Along with his T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes. He was quite the cowboy!)
Malcolm had to go with the rock star look and is sporting his sunglasses.
Finally after much complaining, Kathryn's group was up on stage.
Isn't she cute! (Of course they had to step out into the direct sun, which doesn't make for a very good picture!) She is so cute to watch, and I'm going to be sad not to be able to watch her clog anymore. (I ALWAYS wanted to clog, I even let my cousin Cherise teach me routines when I went to her house!)
After the clogging came the fair food. The space burgers were just as good as always, but the prices were outrageous. (I miss the days when my parents paid for the food and I didn't have to concern myself with those trivial things!)

After eating we noticed that there was going to be a tractor pull starting soon. In the meantime, we went to watch this little performance by these guys, Brothers from Another Mother, or something like that. Just as we were sitting down, they asked for a volunteer from the audience, and who did they pick, Nathan. He got to go up there, put on this crazy helmet, which they made reference to Madonna about, and hold to stick. Then they spun balls and placed them on them, and had him balance on one foot.
Then for being such a great volunteer, they rewarded him with a Ricky Martin trading card! Haha!!
All the kids, excluding Winston and Reed, were able to participate in the tractor pull. My boys were so excited, it being their first time and all.
Can you see how excited Quinn is jumping in and putting his had in there. He's a little shy!
Nathan was up first from our group. I love the face he is pulling here, trying so hard to make it to the end. The kids don't compete with anybody but themselves. They have to peddle the tractor, while it pulls a bucket with weights up to the top of the trailer with a pulley. Nathan is tough and got it all the way to the top, making it into the next round.
Then Malcolm went, and the poor kids foot fell off the peddle before he was done. He didn't care though, he just enjoyed himself.
Dane was a stud and got the bucket all the way to the top, just like his brother, so he made it to the next round as well.
Kathryn tried her hardest, and was only like a 1/2 inch from getting that bucket to the top. She did an awesome job.
Here comes little Quinn. The announcer guy told Quinn that he was pocket size, and that if they ran out of weights, they could just put him in the bucket. He did a great job, but didn't get the bucket to the top.
Winston really wanted those tractors, but he was pretty good to just watch at the end.
Reed was pretty content in his stroller, although I don't know that he was appreciating me taking this picture.
The two six year old boys resting on the fence. True cowboys only do that! (Really Dane's birthday wasn't for a couple more weeks here, but who's counting!)
After the tractor pull, we were off to see all the animals. I tried getting this picture of the boys with the big mama cow, but they weren't too interested. They actually kept looking behind them, like they thought the cow was going to come after them. They so are not farm kids!
If you can see behind all the kids, they are petting a pig here. One girl let them go in her pen to see it.
Winston is meeting some baby chicks and their mama. He was trying to make the cheeping sound back to them.
This nice girl also let them pet her sheep. Now go wash your hands kids, you've touched way to many animals in one day!
That was our fair experience. Melanie and I with eight kids (she was sporting one extra for the day), which we somehow survived. We ended up being there for almost 4 hours. I know I wouldn't have lasted that long if I didn't have Melanie to keep me company and help keep me sane. We rewarded ourselves and the kids with some snow cones and elephants ears. We are just too nice!