Going to the Fair!

Every year since the boys have been born, we have gone to the Clark County Fair. The first year we got stuck in horrible traffic once we hit the freeway exit. It took us over an hour to go the 5 miles to the fair. The boys were only 11 months old and we were stuck in the car during their lunch time. As time went by we tried to keep them distracted until they were having no more of it. They started screaming and I had to run to the back of the car to get their water and formulas. I think it was the first time we had feed them while they were still strapped into their car seats. Two good things came from that day. First, now we know not to go to the fair on a Saturday afternoon. Second, feeding the kids on the way to somewhere -what a time saver! Although every year at the fair we have fun, this year it was like no other! Some of our friends came as well, and while we figured sooner or later we would run into them, we actually ended up being with people we knew for about half the day.


First we got there at lunch time -and we all met up and had lunch together under a giant cottonwood tree. There was a beautiful breeze in the air and it was just so peaceful taking everything in. A clown drove by on his giant bike and we could see kids playing at different play stations near by.

Once lunch was over, the group of us walked around for a bit and then our walk came over to the carnival area. Walking up to the ticket booth came our other friends Michele and Greg with their kids! This was the first year we have had the boys ride the rides, and that they were able to do so with so many friends really got them excited.



What seemed like 2 hours later (and it really may have been!) the sun was in full heat mode in the sky and everyone's faces were bright pink. Despite only being half way through the carnival area, we got the kids out of the ride area with promises of snow cones in the shade. Once again we each ended up meeting each other in the grass area. We found Michele, Joselle found us, and then Andi and Jen came last as they were leaving the park. The boys were having so much fun running around, wrestling, jumping, even dancing. They just couldn't stay still! After we left the grass area, we figured we were on our own for the rest of the evening. Two of our friends were calling it a day and we had so much more to see before the Mutton Busting show later in the evening.


On our way out of the second animal pavilion, there was an lady with live animals on a table. She had a monkey, a half raccoon and something or the other, and then an armadillo. The boys caught her eye and she asked them if they wanted to hold it. All three got a chance and surprisingly, none of them freaked out and dropped it!


Off for dinner we went, and then off to watch the Mutton Busting (little kids riding sheeps instead of bulls). We ran into a family friend and sat with them while we got to have our first Mutton busting experience. Jax kept the stand in stitches until the riding began. He declared, "It was the best day in his life, ever!". And then while children's names were being announced, he would get excited every time someone was from Las Vegas. One child's (about 7 yrs old) name was Ethan (same as 2 yr old boy down the street) and Jaxon couldn't believe that Ethan grew that much!


The plan was to go back to the carnival rides and let the boys go through the second half. The boys rode on almost every ride they could with their height restrictions, and even went on a ride or two I was certain they would have backed out of. The ran through fun houses 3 or 4 times in a row, and couldn't get to the next rides fast enough.






Not many of my ride pictures came out clear, but you can easily see the boys just had pure joy radiating on their faces. It was crazy to see them standing in lines by themselves, playing around and wrestling like excited little boys do. To any passerby, I am sure it looked like they were hopped up on so much sugar -but it was all just excitement.






Two full hours later, we finished the last ride and bribed the boys out of the park with cotton candy. It was almost 9:30 and we had been there since noon. Luke was not quite ready -trying to parent us by saying he was choosing two more rides instead of the one we let them have- but with cotton candy in hand and his eyes growing tired, he smartly gave in.



On the drive home, I couldn't get the goofy grin off my face. The day was perfect -just the kind of days you picture in your head when you think about some day having a family. Packed lunches, snow cones, fair corn dogs and cotton candy mixed in with farm animals and carnival rides. I really can't imagine it getting much better than this.