Deep-Fried Fair

We experienced a very welcome break in the rainy weather this week and decided we would take advantage of the opportunity and go to the State Fair. The kids were happy to break out of the house/jail for a little while and see something new.

The kids are too young for many of the Fair attractions, but it was fun to observe them trying to make sense of it all. Norah and Justin were okay with the entry statue known as "Big Tex" until he began to speak. His booming voice startled Norah for a moment, but surprisingly she cheered and clapped when he finished his announcement.



Norah has shown an unusual interest in pirates, so we took the kids to a diving performance that featured a pirate cast. It really wasn't up to Disneyland standards, or Six Flags for that matter, but in general I think both kids enjoyed the costumes and the splashing.



We were certain that the kids would enjoy the frisbee dogs, but were surprised that they really liked climbing the bleachers and patting strangers on the back more than watching dogs leap 30 feet to catch a frisbee before splashing into a pool. They got a kick out of petting a few of the dogs after the show.

Cotton Candy was a big hit and brought about huge smiles and gleeful laughing for about 10 minutes. After that both kids refused to touch it. Go figure.


After lukewarm reactions to the first two events, the Children's Zoo was a big hit. Norah and Justin could identify and mimic most of the animals on display and were delighted to see them in person. Norah was somewhat disappointed that there were no elephants , but didn't let that ruin the trip. The playful, head-butting, baby goats were their favorites. They enjoyed naming the pigs, sheep, cows and giraffe as they saw them. I had not noticed our kids putting their hands in their mouths all day until we entered the petting zoo, at which point it seemed that they did so compulsively. Hand sanitizer was applied approximately every 60 seconds throughout the zoo tour.

By the time we headed home, both babies were exhausted, as evidenced by the following videos. We had a great time as a family, and will probably head back next year!