Family Night at the Fair

For FHE this week Andrew took the night off from work and we took the kids back to the fair. It was nice to be able to take 2 nights to see all the sights and ride rides, instead of trying to fit it all into a mad dash on 1 single night. We bought 30 pre-paid ride tickets from Fry's, so we were able to save A TON compared to the regular ticket prices. Basically, each ride was $1. Do you have any idea how long it takes to ride $30 worth of rides?

Because both my kids are midgets, Mom had to go on some of the rides with them, so I thought that we'd be using up the tickets faster. However, the big-city fair is different from the small-town Safford fair. Here, they don't bother charging the parents when you have to ride. Also, their little electronic scanners kept jamming so they'd just let us on for free! To top it all off, some very nice, well-meaning family that was leaving the carnival handed us 2 ride cards with what they thought was 1 ride each on them. No such luck. Turns out we got 6 more rides! Now, I'm not complaining, everyone that knows me knows that I LOVE the fair. However, when your little boy has a bloody lip from tripping on the asphalt, you have 10 more rides to use, and it's already 10:00 pm, you'd do just about anything to be done and go home!
I was really excited this year because Frank got to ride all the rides this year. And, Emma was big enough to qualify as his "big person", so Mom didn't have to ride hardly at all with them.

It's amazing how different my kids are. Anyone within 1/2 mile of Emma knows when she's having a good time. She has this blood-curdling, ear-piercing shriek that lets everyone know she's happy. On the other hand, Frank was so amazed and entranced with everything that he would just sit there and stare around like he was on Benadryl or something. I asked him constantly, "Are you having fun?" He would just reply "Fun, yeah." So much for great salutations of great joy, huh? That's my little guy. Sober and somber. But the next day he kept saying "Cars fly, Mommy. Cars fly." Apparently the flying Jeep ride was his favorite.

In case you were wondering, Mom is thinking "Oh, my. What have I gotten myself into?" This ride SUCKED! Emma was so small that she kept slipping, and my chest was being smashed FLAT by the weird plate that was in a rather inconvenient spot. A man definitely designed this ride.

These were AWESOME little bumper boats. It was weird that they didn't have seat belts or anything, and the height restrictions were very tight. Only kids from 36-42 inches could ride. So there were tons of little tiny kids cruising around the pool. Luckily there were 2 very nice carnies (is that an oxymoron?) that towed them around and kept them from getting stuck spinning in circles. This was definitely my favorite ride to watch Emma do.

The only ride that Dad rode was the biggest Ferris wheel I've ever seen. Ironically, my husband is deathly afraid of heights. His hands were sweaty and he was nauseous while we were just standing in line! You should see his reaction if the gondola sways a little or 1 of the kids leans toward the edge. Honestly, I thought he was going to throw up! Frank was ENTRANCED by seeing the sights from way up in the air. He wouldn't even respond to me when I tried to talk to him. This was definitely a winner for him.

I'm very blessed to have such a great family, especially a husband that would rather be with his family than do just about anything. We had a great time, and Emma has already started asking when the fair will be here again. I haven't dared tell her that it hasn't even left yet!

Until next year......