Sneaking Out to the Fair

I got the opportunity to sneak out to the state fair with the kids today with my free tickets from the local country station. Normally I buy a poppy pack (4 tickets, 4 monorail tickets, and a parking pass for $40) and I usually go several times but since we're in the middle of moving it didn't seem very bright to spend money on tickets that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to use. I was happy however, that Cliff and I found a way to make my free tickets work for me and that I was able to enjoy the fair as much as I normally do. 

Our plan, was for me to take all the kids in the morning (okay, afternoon, it doesn't open until 12 anyway), have Kim pick up the boys from the fair (probably around 4:30), then for Cliff to pick up Evelyn after work (around 5:30), and for me to be able to see whatever else I may not have been able to with the kids in tow. 

Our plan, was pretty much perfect. All the kids slept in, Isaac until just before 10am, so we had a light breakfast (or in Isaac's case-not eat at all), I packed lunch, and we headed to the fair. Parking was crazy, but I got really lucky and found a nice spot, not too far away pretty easily. And, I didn't have to try to parallel park, I was able to just pull in!

It was the perfect day to be at the fair. Not too busy, not too hot, and a nice breeze rolling through. This years attraction was 'big bugs'. Ick! The boys like it. I thought it was gross and Evelyn was a little scared. Really lifelike, very large, very ugly bugs. And also, some real creepy crawlies like scorpions and tarantulas. 

The kids and I went to camp Smokey first and each of the kids earned a Smokey the Bear Bandanna after we finished all the school houses. It was nice getting to do it this year when it wasn't so super crowded like last year. 

We headed over to the baby animals but the attraction was closed for the day. Boo. They had a farm life kids activity area set up where you could 'clean' a pen of animals, saddle a horse, play music, dress up like a cowboy, ride in tractor races, and milk a cow. All toys of course, but it kept all the kids entertained for a decent amount of time. We also went through the farm and looked at the big cows and silly goats, but it just wasn't as interesting or fun as the babies so we moved onto the garden to get all of our stamps there. They made it much smaller this year, but they put in some new plants like rice. It's always fun to show kids what their food looks like as a plant when they wouldn't have recognized it at all.  

My sunflowers weren't nearly as impressive this year, but I still love them so I took a quick photo as the kids ran though.

Oh my goodness, Evelyn wanted to touch every waterfall she saw, and of course, non of them are touchable. That girl is obsessed. Even the little water flow at the top of the touchable fish area she was obsessed over. When she saw her brothers touch the sturgeon she wanted to touch one too... that is, until it swam right at her. Then she was all done with the fish tanks. 

In the counties exhibits they had a mini f-16 that the kids were able to sit in. Evelyn just had to sit with Alex. 

When the boys went home Evelyn and I headed to one of my favorite areas to look in the buildings. The attraction this year was Golden Fairs and Rock-U. I was not a fan. As for the photography it fell flat this year, very little actually intrigued me. The cheese sample was good like always, but the bee people were very busy so I just skipped it. I took Evelyn into Fur and Feathers so she could see the bunnies and we found out we got to pet chinchillas! She did great and they were so soft, I couldn't believe it!

Since I had one ticket left I conned Cliff to join me at the fair so he could get fresh funnel cake. He chose instead an ice cream cone and then we got two ears of BBQ corn and a large lemonade. We did pass the deep fried butter and I think just seeing that sign grossed me out enough that I wanted nothing to do with anything else deep fried. Plus, Alex and I had earlier split a nutella banana crepe and I was pretty sweet-ed out. 

I wanted to get proof that Cliff went to the fair, even if only for an hour, but there just wasn't anywhere worth while to take a picture (and not be in the sun) so no hard proof. When we walked back to the car though Evelyn, who hadn't napped all day, was being so cute. Leaning all proper like in the front of her stroller and she was so happy when Daddy picked her a flower. 

I got my moneys worth out of my coupon book, but I don't think I'll get it next year. Finding the exact booth that takes that exact coupon was a really big pain in the butt. For example, even though there were about 5 fresh squeezed lemonade stands only one of them took a coupon, and there's dozens of BBQ corn stands but again, only 1 took a coupon. The stands had names and numbers that were supposed to help you, but it was so obscure it didn't help me at all. Most the coupons I was able to use were just pure luck that I found the right place. 

All in all, I normally spend 40 (or more) dollars just to get into the fair every year when I buy my Poppy Pack. Then I always get a fried food and sweet treat (another $6-$8 each). This year my tickets were free and I chose to walk in place of paying for parking. I got more food than I normally do but I still kept it under $40. It's like I went to the fair and had all that fun, entirely for free.