The County Fair

We decided to all go to the fair this year.  As opposed to last year, where Craig took Bentley one day, and then Kendra another day.  In the hope of maybe one day becoming the "fun" parent, I thought I should get to be involved in the fun this time around.  But then we got there and I immediately understood that there's a reason I'm never the fun parent.  Because I don't really like the fair.

I love the idea of the fair-- I picture some sort of homey, local, happy kick-back to a bygone era of innocence and trust.  Like we'll be magically transported into The Music Man, or something.  But in actual practice, I find myself looking around wanting to refer to all the workers as "Carnies" and hoping that I don't actually belong to the same class of people that I see wandering around near me.  (And feeling guilty because I'm such an awful snob.  But not guilty enough to suppress those feelings of supremacy, apparently.)  I have thoughts like, Why is it you see more pregnant women at the fair than anywhere else?  Is it really only poor people who are breeding any more?  Or has that always been the case?  Does having four kids automatically put me in the same category?  Or does my master's degree-- and the fact that I still have all of my teeth-- put me in a different rank?  I know, I know.  I'm a terrible person.  You don't need to tell me.

I did my best to try and keep all this turmoil at bay, and managed to have a pretty nice time with the kids.  I absolutely loved the fried Oreo's-- good thing I can't get my hands on those very often!  And there was one hilarious moment when some teenage boy sat down on the bench I was making a beeline for, hoping for a spot where I could feed Colton.  He got there before me by just a few seconds, completely oblivious to my designs.  I looked at him.  Pondered my options.  Saw that there weren't any.  And sat down and proceeded to feed my baby.  I was very well covered, but I still figured he'd be more embarrassed by it all than I was.  And I was right-- he left about a minute later.  Win!

But then we got home and Craig made the mistake of telling me how much our charming little evening had cost, and I vowed never to go back again.  It was a decent evening, but not worth that price tag!

Anyway, here some pictures from the night:

Happy Colton, chewing on his butterfly

Kendra and Ryder were very excited for the pony rides

Ryder was actually upset by how large his pizza was.  Not having any way of cutting it, I finally just folded in half New York style, and then he was happy again!

I like Kendra in this picture

I ordered a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, which turned out to be both expensive and gross.  So I gave it to Bentley to try...

This is the face Craig pulled when I said I wanted a picture of him with his fries.  Now I know where the kids get it from...

Rather than the ponies, Bentley opted to ride the bumper cars

I'm sure that rust is perfectly safe...

Ryder was too short for this "train" ride, as he called it, so I had to ride it with him...  Lucky me!

A very tired Ryder musters the energy to steal one of my fried Oreos...

At the end of it all, I took the baby home and Craig stayed with the big kids for the Monster Truck Rally.

The fact that we were all excited about this truck tipping over probably means we're as much white trash as everybody else...  {Sigh.}  Let's hear it for the Fair!