Thursday, October 28, 2010

The State Fair (2010)

We've made it to the North Carolina State Fair many years in a row. In fact, it's quite possible that I've been every year since I moved to North Carolina in 1999. It's pretty nice that we only live about 15 miles away, so it's no-brainer entertainment!

So this was year 5 for Ivie, and year 3 for Macie (yes, we took her when she was 6 weeks old). I didn't let my camera battery die like I did in 2008, and I've moved past the tiny collage pictures that I was addicted to in 2009. As I look back at the pictures from 2009, I laugh, because several of the shots from this year are from exactly the same position on the same rides.

Turns out that the ONLY night of the Fair that we could attend this year was Sunday the 17th. We generally prefer to go on a weekday evening, since it's less crowded. Oh well - missing the Fair just wasn't an option!

The Devers apparently had not tired of us during our morning together at Hill Ridge Farms, so they joined us for the Fair, as well. And, shortly after we arrived, we were joined by the Cherrys.

Our pattern with the kids by this point is pretty predictable. The first stop is generally the Merry-Go-Round, which Macie enjoyed much more as a 2 year-old than she did when she was 1.





Then we were off to the Dragon Wagon. Ivie and Emerson must have ridden this ride 5 times. They loved it! Macie wanted to ride, but she's still too short, so she'll have to wait until next year.




Next up was Jalopy Junction, with Dale graciously offering to jump in the car with the 4 kiddos (Ivie, Emerson, Will, and Macie).





Up, Up, and Away was the next ride on the agenda. We started out with all 3 of the big kids fired up to ride (with Macie watching from her stroller)...



... but Will, after learning how to unbuckle the seat belt and hopping up after the ride started, decided that he was far too advanced for this ride and wanted to move on to something more challenging. So it was down to Iv and Em.



By this point, Mac was tired of watching from the sideline. So she and Dale headed back to the Merry-Go-Round again (and I caught up with them for a couple more pictures while Ivie went with the Devers to more of the big-girl rides).


I THINK that it was at this point that we took a break from the rides to get dinner. But I can't be certain of that (it's all running together!). Dale got his yearly turkey leg, Ivie and I had nachos (not sure if that's better or worse than the popcorn that we let her have for dinner last year), and Macie shared with all of us, since there was plenty to go around. Dessert was cotton candy for Ivie, ice cream for Macie, a candy apple for Dale, and a Fried Snickers for me. Y-U-M. (Thanks for the pics of the girls here, Brooke. My hands were full of junk food!)



We had a few tickets left, so we headed back to the rides to try to get rid of them. The only "new" ride on the agenda after dinner was the Fire Chief. Macie was excited to be able to ride something other than the Merry-Go-Round, so she climbed up happily with Dale and Ivie. But that only lasted a few seconds. Once the ride started, she got scared and whimpered a bit. But Dale was able to talk her through it, and I think she ultimately enjoyed herself.



So another belly-filling and entertaining night was had by the Herman clan. We didn't even make it home until 9:15p, which is crazy late for our two girls who are generally in their rooms sleeping by 8p on any given night. Suffice it to say that they both slept like rocks all night. Gotta love the Fair!

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