Fair frenzy!

October = S-T-A-T-E F-A-I-R T-I-M-E !!!!



Every October, the State Fair comes rolling through Little Rock, and is one of those "must do" activities for just about everybody. And that everybody totally includes us. I love the atmosphere: throwing on some jeans and a jacket, all the lights and fun sounds, animals in the barns, the "typical" Ferris Wheel standing high above all the other rides, and last but not least-FAIR FOOD! Whoo hoo. Who doesn't love a super large $5 pronto pup?? Comon' now? This was Elem's 3rd year to go to the fair, yes we took him when he was just 5 months old-not really sure why, but it sounded good at the time, and this turned out to be such a great age to go to the fair. From the minute we entered the gate, he was mesmerized by all the lights and all the people. I kept looking over at him to see his reactions and they were so genuine and sweet, I just couldn't get enough of it. Eyes wide open and cheeks flushed, with a huge smile, pretty much sums up his overall demeanor of the day. It made it worth every single $3.00 we spent on rides, hehe and the overly priced duck game that was so cute to watch it could make someone sick. You know the one where all the ducks are floating in the baby pool of water, each with a number on the bottom, and every number is a winner???? If you were 2 years old, I tell you, when the person behind the duck game tells you "you won, you get to pick any prize you want" it must be one of the best feelings in the world. :)

All bundled up and ready to go. First stop? A massive monster truck that even seemed a little extreme for me? Why anyone would enjoy driving one of these around will never make sense to me. But the overly large tires, do make for one great photo op. :)


With the state fair comes many new and exciting opportunities for someone so little. Here we have Elem's first attempt milking a cow. Hmm. Plastic cow, with rubber utters, that actually spits out milk, if you "milk" them just right. Very strange, but fun at the same time. We couldn't miss out on this thing.


So much to do, so much to see, barely even time for a quick pic with the Shelby boys. Notice any resemblances here?


On to the Children's Barnyard-better known as the petting zoo, which is a must at the fair. I love love love petting zoos, and Elem seemed to love it too! On our way in-


Yep- he loves it! The pigs were one of his favorite . He thought they were so goofy. He let most of the animals eat the feed out of his hands, but was a little timid when they go up to him. I kept seeing him get this look on sheer adrenaline across his face every time they were licking it out of his hand. I could only imagine him thinking that they were going to bite his little finger. But he enjoyed it, and just kept on laughing and smiling the whole time.


The first "official" game of the fair-the duckies in the pond game. Elem and Cecilia waited so patiently to pick the perfect duck of their choice in hopes of winning a prize. Luckily they were both winners, and sissy chose a huge purple kick ball, and Elem chose a huge purple football. Good prizes if I do say so myself.


After the game, we moved on to the rides. Seth and I were a little apprehensive about the whole ride thing, and there were only a few that we thought he should even set foot on. This I must add, was not one Seth or I were too excited about him getting on. We thought it was going to go too fast, and didn't have any "real" sides holding him in, incase he flew off, just one tiny little seatbelt. But as you can tell, he loved it, and he and sissy did just fine. They actually did more than fine and this was probably one of their favorite things they did the whole day. In the end, after he was safely off the glittery blue 4 wheeler, I am happy that he got on. Hehe. :) Just look at that face. Who could say no to that!


The kids rode a couple more rides, including a train that made about 4 teeny tiny circles, but that Elem LOVED, and some insane dragon roller coaster that was almost impossible for me to catch on video, but I will post that another day. The rides turned out to be worth it, and we were lucky enough to catch a few for free, and not the $3.00 for 20 seconds of fun that they were listed as. So that made it a little better! We sure did make time for some good food though. Corn dogs were high on our list of things we HAD to stop and get, and even though Elem seemed to eat a little bit of just about everybody's corn dog, he still had room for some yummy cotton candy. As you can see, he is thankful for the sugar. He and Grammy enjoying some fair sweetness!


One last photo before we leave. Almost too hard to get a good one with everybody looking at the camera-when there is so much going on around us, but this one will do.


We had so much fun, the pictures almost don't even do our trip to the fair justice. Another great time with the Shelby's and the Suitors, beautiful cool crisp weather, plenty of good food, a few nerve racking rides, and more smiles than I could count made for one of those early fall unforgettable memories. Can't wait to do it again next year.