Fair Day

Yesterday was our annual trip to the Fair, which is much anticipated in the Loudshoes household. I think the kids start counting down about a week into August....it certainly makes the return to school much more palatable when the fair is only a week later.

The weather wasn't good, and it did put a damper (hee!) on our evening. Rides are not as much fun when you are getting pelted with rain and creating your own wind chill factor. Plus, as the girls found out, wet slides leave you with a distinctly soggy bum for the rest of the night, plus they are much more slippery, resulting in you coming off the end like a Japanese bullet train. But we did manage to get in a couple of hours of rides before the rain got serious, and that was sufficient.

The one ride none of the kids would even consider going on was the Zipper. I went on it once, when I was about 11, and to this day, when I think of hell, I think of that ride. It is unpleasant in the extreme, and I'm pretty sure I've scared my children for life about that ride. (Thing 1's friend was game to go on it, but didn't, I notice.) My friend Carri's two brothers went on it last week, and one of them lost a couple of two dollar coins at the first revolution. They spent the rest of the ride not only spinning around and reeling and gyrating until their lunch came up, they also had to endure those coins pinging around whacking them in the face at random intervals. One more reason to hate that ride.

Because the crowds were so sparse, the usual compliment of crazy people were not there. We did see a guy answer his phone in the midst of riding the Tilt-A-Whirl. (You know you don't have to answer your phone every time it rings, right?) And there was one woman there who clearly was dressed to go out for some fancy night on the town, but instead found herself at the fair. (How else to explain the white leather trench coat, the 4 inch black heels and the little gold purse?)

There is one aspect of the fair in which the Loudshoes family excels, and that is the eating. We managed to consume pizza, caramel corn, french fries, a funnel cake, an elephant ear, a sausage on a bun and a deep-fried Mars bar. Oh, and we took a bag of cotton candy home. (Now, just to tell you, we did share most of that stuff; otherwise we'd have collapsed from the assault on our livers.) Thing 2 woke up this morning saying she was still full from last night. I notice that did not stop her from taking a wad of cotton candy with her for "snack time" at school today. (I'll bet I've got the teacher's vote for "Mother of the Year".)

As usual, I made the kids go see the animals. ("I took you out of school for this, we've got make it educational.") We all decided that if baby pigs could stay the same size for ever, we would get one for sure. (Unfortunately, the grown pigs do nothing for themselves in the PR department, and would not be welcome.) The girls got to hold two-day old chicks in their hands, and were able to pet some newborn lambs. The Mister and I once again put "farmer" into the category of "Jobs We Are Glad Someone Else Does".

Even though we had to cut our night short because of the weather, we still had a good time. After all, even the lousiest night with a deep-fried Mars bar is still a good night.