Deep Fried Fun

The fair turned out to be a great family night.  We really had so much fun!  The "people watching" was stellar, although not much different than a late night trip to your local Walmart.  The food was pretty special, too.  Not something you'd want to eat very often, but great for a one night treat.  We ended up partaking in a few different fair specialities.

We started out all sharing an order of ribbon fries and curly fries, which isn't too bad for two families.  Then each family got their own funnel cake.  Mark and I kept our eyes peeled for our favorite fair foods from our years at the Tulsa State Fair (grilled corn, deep-fried cheese on a stick, cheese curds, pineapple whip) but we couldn't find any of them.  We were so excited when on the way out we stumbled upon a little grilled corn station.  It was so good!

 Can you tell we liked it? 

MMMM...funnel cake!

Right away the kids wanted to ride rides.  We were a little hesitant because Monroe talks a very big talk, but when it comes to actually following through on things, she's a bit of a pansy.  We hated to waste money buying tickets we couldn't return.  We learned this lesson the hard way at the Apple Festival.  Mark got a few tickets and the kids found something they all wanted to do.  It was a maze-like thing.  The kids had to climb a rope wall, then stairs, walk across a wobbly bridge which led them to the exit--a huge slide.  I knew right away that this was not the best activity for Monroe, but she was adamant that she wanted to do it.  Just a few seconds in and the carny man had to help her over the climbing wall.  She made it up the stairs to the bridge and froze.  All kinds of kids were trying to get around her and she would let them, but it made it harder for her to ever get started across.  Finally, she gave up and just started hysterically crying.  There was really nothing we could do.  She was 20 feet up and we were standing below trying to cheer her on.  The nice carny gentleman came to her rescue.  He climbed up to get her and she embraced him like he was her long lost best friend.  She buried her head in his shoulder and wept and he gently patted her back.  It was really quite sweet to watch, until it hit me that this was a fair guy who I didn't know from Adam.

This whole situation freaked her out and she was not interested in any more rides.  We had a few tickets left and we tried to coax her onto a train ride, but that wasn't going to happen.  Finally, we forced her onto a boat ride with Brynley.  They held each others hands like their lives depended on it.  Rosie cried so hard, but with every turn she looked less and less terrified and by the end she was giggling.  After that, no ride was off limits.  We ended up having to buy more tickets!  She even rode a fighter pilot ride, which never in my wildest dreams would I have thought she would do.

I love this picture.  She looks like she's really into it.  

 How fighter pilots are born.  

Kiki wasn't tall enough to ride rides, much to her chagrin, but she loved clapping and laughing whenever she saw sissy fly by.  Aren't those shoes too much?!  I just love 'em! 

Good friends ready to conquer the fair.   

 Daddy and Rosie 

Monroe really loved the farm animals...the goats, the baby chicks and ducks, donkeys and calfs.  She couldn't get enough and begged for us to find more.  Sadly, it was almost 10pm and we needed to head home.  That's pretty late for two girlies whose bedtime is usually 7pm.  They did great though and we'll definitely need to make this an annual family outing.