The last time we went to the fair was when my daughter was eight and the moment we got there was the first and only time a child of ours has slammed their finger in the car door. She swears that this is why her thumb on her right hand is slightly larger than the other. I say it is the best souvenir ever. She doesn’t quite agree. Well, we went to the fair again this summer. I told her maybe she could get a souvenir for her other hand this time and then they would be even. The kid was not amused. I’m not sure why. I am very helpful.
When we got there, they had Monster Trucks that were tearing around the dirt arena one at a time. We made it through watching one truck. They are loud. And, well, how many times can you watch a truck go over a dirt hill?
That is a serious question.
My limit is seven. For life.
Have you ever heard a pig cry? I mean really heard a pig scream? Because we had not before the trip to the fair this summer. It is the most horrifying sound we had ever heard. The pig was ginormous. In fact, in searching for this picture on my camera, I had to do a double take. In my memory, the pig had been coal black with raised tufts of fur and gleaming red eyes. I was shocked to see a plain pink pig instead. Funny how the crazy mind works.
The pig was bellowing in a way that only monsters in my dreams do. Or kids slamming their fingers in car doors, but we won’t go there.
And then after terrifying everyone in its vicinity, the pig let out a torrential flow of urine that I thought was never, ever going to stop.
It was madness.
None of us will ever be the same.
The fair. It changes a person.
So, we decided to go eat some food. As one does after watching an animal relieve itself. Doesn’t that always make you hungry? In fact, I am sure you are thrilled just to be reading this right now.
We ate.
And we ate.
And then we could not eat any more. The best thing we had were the Tasty Chips. They were, well… I think you can guess.
We had fifty ride tokens to use from our Costco package. None of us wanted to do any rides. But we persevered. The kids went into The House of Mirrors. I stayed outside. I still find it terrifying. I am not the most space oriented person, and as a child I got helplessly lost in The House Of Mirrors. Then I watched “Watcher In The Woods” and I never went in the contraption again.
But sending my innocent children into The House of Mirrors?
Priceless.
They made it out in less than three minutes. They obviously take after their father.
And we played some games and lost $30. Or rather, we paid $30 for a small stuffed zebra that I do not think has migrated himself from the jungle of my car. Poor guy.
We rode on the carousel two times and my son went down the giant slide twice. He loved it. Times sure have changed since I was a kid. We used to fly down on burlap sacks. Now the kids have these fabric bags with straps. So fancy. It still looks frightening to me.
The kids had their sculptures made. That post can be found here.
We found a gnome hidden in the bonsai trees. So, he, of course, must be included in this post. He did not cry. Nor did he create any bodily fluids, but I still like him the best.
I had to take an outfit picture with my pink $10 H&M dress against the pink ride.
It was a pink day.
Pink ride.
Pink dress.
Pink pig.
Later that day I saw a pink elephant and I was tickled…
Have you been to a fair this summer? What memories and souvenirs do you bring home? Some folks go home with large stuffed animals. Some folks go home with full bellies. As for us, we go home with longer appendages and nightmares of screaming pigs.
I think we must be doing it wrong.
What a fun post! Great pictures! I just love fairs too. I love getting a corn dog and fresh squeezed lemonade. Of which sometimes I eat WHILE walking through the animal barns! How funny we can be sometimes. Our son is going through a phase of being scared of many things he used to enjoy – toddlers change their mind all of the time, right? So he really surprised us when he asked to go on some rides at the fair we were at a few weeks ago. He and Dad went on a few together, and then he actually went on some (age appropriate) by himself!!! We were so proud!
I saw people eating and walking through the animals! I drank so much fresh squeezed lemonade there. It was amazing! I bought the giant cup and refilled it! Yum!
Toddlers do change their minds all of the time. I always said I never had the terrible twos, I had the terrible threes. My kids were constantly testing at age three. But they are so stinking cute at that age. It was the best age! I love that he went on some rides by himself. He is gearing up to being a big brother! : )
Have a fantastic Thursday!
Jenni
Oh the fair! I grew up going to our county fair & state fair every but haven’t been in 15+ years. We tried taking our kids 2 yrs ago so aged 1 & 3 & when we got there a bit of a tornado scare happened. It ended up fine but running through the fair with wind blowing booths over & dust & dirt flying, well I hope our kids don’t remember. ANYWAY!!!
The Watcher In The Woods! My all time FAVORITE. Movie from childhood! Oh how I love it! NERAK!! Funny story about that movie. My younger brother (5 yrs younger) was having a slumber party & I put that movie on to scare the buggers (mom was fine with it. It was a disney movie…) all the boys were a bit freaked but watched it. However one of the boys who I frequently babysat, went in the kitchen & was terrified. He ate a whole bag of ruffles then got sick. He & his family (he had twin sisters I babysat as well) moved shortly after that. I only babysat for them once more as they moved about 35 min away. Fast forward to 2yrs ago & mom mom found this young boy on facebook (she’s an addict & has friended everyone she’s ever met in her 70+ yrs who has a facebook acct). He’s now in a pretty successful band from the twin cities. They even played at SXSW last year. My mom even asked him if he ever watched that movie. He said no. Anyway, long story about one of my favorite movies 😉
That fair story is scary! I would definitely try again! I bet they do not remember. But that would have been such a scary experience!
I love “Watcher in the Woods”! And I love your story about it! We are always going around saying, “Nerak” here, but you have to say it in that creepy voice. I still cannot believe that was a Disney movie. I still think it is terrifying. I have made my kids watch it with me, but they did not think it was as creepy as I do. But it was a definite watch as so many sleepovers! Thank you for sharing! And for taking a walk down memory lane with me!
Have a sweet week!
Jenni
Oh I’ll be buying that movie soon so my kids can experience it. I’m wondering if age 5 is too soon! Yes. Gotta have the creepy Bette Davis voice! NERAK!!! I can hardly be friends with people who didn’t enjoy this classic as a kid…
That is so true. Five might be too little. I am trying to remember what age I showed my kids. I think it was seven and eleven. But Nightmare Before Christmas was introduced before they were three. Needless to say, they loved Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and it is still their favorite ride! : )
Have a joyful day!
Jenni
I am laughing so hard right now, crying laughing!!! This post was so funny! Love the pic of your pink dress and the pink ride. If you ask Ryan the question of “how many times can you watch a monster truck go over a hill” it would definitely be at least 50 times, lol….glad you went and had fun and had a few shocking moments too, no day at the fair is complete without them;)
Thank you Amy! I miss you! : ). I love Ryan. I would watch Monster Trucks with him. My son’s limit was seven, too. He did not appreciate the noise. I agree that the fair is not complete without some shocking moments. We went on kids get in free day, so I gave our extra ticket to a teenage boy when we were leaving. I think his day was shocked in a good way. : ). I loved that Costco pack. It saved us so much money.
Have a great day! I want to see you soon!
Jenni
I love the last photo with all that pink. I love that dress and cannot believe that it cost $10.
My favorite part of the fair is seeing the livestock. There are some beautiful chickens and ducks. Luckily, I have only seen the cute smaller pigs.
Whenever I see carnival stuffed animals my mind goes to Goodwill and how they will most likely end up there someday.
I love that bonsai too!
Have a great day,
Stacey
Thank you Stacey. I could not believe it was only $10 either. And it breathes pretty well, too. I purchased one for my daughter also and she loves hers, too.
They had some pretty chickens that I had never seen before. That was neat. I did not get any pictures of those, though. It was fun.
I always think of the stuffed animal from “Romancing the Stone.” Which reminds me, I need to watch that movie again soon. I have been craving it.
Have an excellent week!
Jenni
Glad you guys had a good time! Honestly, pigs are what made me vegetarian. They are so smart, funny and sensitive. I even adopted a pig through Farm Sanctuary (the pig doesn’t live me with 🙂 but I send a monthly donation for her care) and I drove to Nor Cal two summers ago to meet my pig! It brought tears to my eyes, she is so sweet-her name is Blossom 🙂
Have you seen Ester the Wonder Pig? https://www.facebook.com/estherthewonderpig
The pics they post are too cute!
Love your blog!
Cameron
That is so awesome that you adopted that pig. I stopped eating pork for two years after hearing that story about the pig that laid down in the road to stop cars after his owner had a heart attack. But I succumbed to temptation. You are a better woman than me! My sister still will not eat pork or beef. She hadn’t for twenty years.
I had not seen Ester the pig before. Now that’s a cute pig! She looks like Wilbur.
Thank you for the sweet words, too! I appreciate it! : )
Have a lovely week!
Jenni
Clearly, the pig was passing a kidney stone. Explains both the crying and the torrential urine.
I love your pink dress. It’s a beautiful colour on you.
Ha! I love the kidney stone idea. Now I desperately need to know if a pig can get a kidney stone. See, you are always making my brain stretch. You think of things I would not. I love it!
And thank you about the dress. I bought it two weeks ago and they were flying out the door.
Have a beautiful week!
Jenni
Oh my that giant slide was always one of my favourites. What is this about special bags with straps? Fancy schmancy.
Seems every time we went to the fair we’d eat a bunch of junk food, go on tons of rides and become violently ill. Or it could have been all the junk food & soaring temperatures that made us ill. Either way, we were almost alway sick when we got home. You hadn’t partied hard enough at the fair if you didn’t come back sick.
The pig bit was funny. I guess now I can say that “he peed like a race-pig”. LOL
I hate to think about why the pig was squealing or crying. Maybe Charlotte had just died. : (
bisous
Suzanne
Last time we went to the fair, I gluttonously decided to try every single fried thing there. Fried snickers, twinkies, oreos, butter… I tried it all. I have never been so sick. So this time I limited myself. Plus, I did not like anything I tried last time, so I knew better this time. But I will be going back next year for more Tasty Chips! Those were amazing.
I had not thought of Charlotte dying. Maybe he scared her to death. My whole family was staring at each other with our mouths open.
The bags are pretty awesome, but you have to schleck them up the steps and they look pretty heavy.
Have a beautiful week!
Jenni
Oh, have I got a gross pig story for you. Friend of mine got taken to the fair as a child by his grandma, where he saw one pig start to pee and another just walk up and drink the pee – while the first pig was still peeing! Apparently his two Muslim colleagues take this as 100% vindication for not eating pork, and I can’t say I blame them! 😉
That fair sounds insane. You cracked me up with all your descriptions of things. Of COURSE grabbing some food is the only logical recourse after watching a pig pee. How funny that you remember it as this black, fuzzy haired demon pig! Maybe you actually saw its soul… O_o
Also, you look very cute in your pink dress! 🙂
Ack! That is an awful pig story. Of course, I have seen many animals do insane things. Including humans. I will never forget watching this one show on television. The family took their dog pooped on tablecloth and flipped it over to eat their Thanksgiving dinner on it! I never watched that show again. I just couldn’t.
And, yes, eating food after watching that is the only logical solution. ; )
Have a happy day!
Jenni
ARGH! That’s disgusting!! How could they eat with that smell right underneath their food? UGH!
They are disgusting! Ugh! I almost threw up!
Jenni
Amazing pictures, I enjoyed seeing this. I like going to the fair even though I haven’t been for quite a long time.
Thank you Imogen! I had not been in awhile either. It was much more fun than I remembered it. I do think this was also because I did not make myself sick with food. ; )
Have a wonderful week!
Jenni
Love the pic of you in front of the pink ride. Pretty in pink!
Last time I went to the fair was to see Duran Duran. It was the Orange County Fair. I dragged Freddy with me. It was 1 week before we got married. I went nuts! My 34 year old self turned into my 13 year old self – screaming and swooning and singing the lyrics at the top of my lungs with all of the other over 30’s in the place. Freddy couldn’t believe it. It was like Beatles mayhem and I was an active participant. Glad he didn’t ditch me!
Oh! And then he thought it would be romantic to ride that dangling box thing that goes across the fair. I spent the whole ride crying I was so scared. But I think I may have told you that story already. Like I said – glad he didn’t ditch me! I think I will never to to a fair again!
I had not heard that story before! It is hilarious! I can completely picture it. And I can picture Marcy picturing it. : ). I hate the fair rides. They scare me! I think I was traumatized as a child by them. I do not think I weighed enough when I was eight to really be able to ride some of those rides.
And thank yo about the dress! I promptly dropped ketchup on it on the ride home, so I hope that comes out!
Have a happy day!
Jenni
I love your pics! I have a love/hate relationship with the fair. I hate hate the rides and will probably refuse to ever let my children on them! Too many squeaking and screeching metal to seem very safe to me! I would gladly do an amusement park for them where stuff is bolted into the ground!
I do like the animals and the food though! That burger looked amazing!
Pig racing is my very favorite thing at a fair. It is hilarious and glorious and everything you would want with racing pigs!
You know I don’t recall pig racing. I know that they had it at the fair growing up, but this fair is monstrous. I do not think we have even gone through the whole thing. I remember one year there was a rope maze the kids loved but I did not see that this year. Hmmmm. We are definitely going back again because we had such a good time!
Have a lovely weekend!
Jenni
i loooove fair food! those swirly fries and corn dogs are my favorite! looks like such a fun day 🙂
xo jac
thesunshinedistrict.blogspot.com
Thank you Jac. It was a great day! I was kind of worried after our last experience but we all came home full and happy and longing for more fair food (which is good, because usually we make ourselves sick).
Have a lovely day!
Jenni
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