OC Fair 2011

On August 4th, we headed to the fair with Auntie Chrissy, Uncle Kevin, Cody and Eva. I have to admit that I like going to the fair...I was discussing this with some friends the other day, and, while it might be hard to believe, some people just don't dig the fair. I know you'll throw your hands up with exasperation when I say this, but it reminds me of being a kid. When I was young and a dancer, we would perform every year at the Harvest Festival in Irvine. Since there are no empty lots left in Irvine, there is no more Harvest Festival, but the fair is the next best thing. So I like braving the heat and the crowds and the price to enjoy the nostalgia and of course the fried Oreo's!

We started by checking out the animals and produce at the attached Centennial Farms.

Then we headed to the kids section, an area of the fair that I have never been too before. Wes was too little last year so we didn't even venture over there. But this year he was ready for some fun. Here's Wes and Daddy playing the squirt gun game (I'm sure it has a name, but beats me what it is :)

So we thought Wes was ready for the kid section, but it turned out that he is still too small to ride any of the kid rides, even if Michael was going to ride with him! We learned this the hard way after waiting in a short line to ride the monster trucks, which he was totally excited about. But there were no tears when the ride operator turned them away, so he settled for watching Cody and Uncle Kevin get bounced around in a circle!

Then we stopped for lunch, Cody decided on a ginormous (which is apparently an actual word, it's even in spell check) corn dog! I think he shared a bite or two with Auntie Chrissy.

Wesley had a slightly smaller corn dog, which he wouldn't share a bite of and I had my fair favorite (besides the Oreo's) a giant turkey leg.

Heading to the Giant Ferris Wheel

On our way, we stopped to see the Clydesdale horses, some of the animals, and the boys went in to see the Giant Cow and the Giant Horse. We girls passed, those are my least favorite things to see at the fair)

We live just down the street from the fair grounds, so every time we see the ferris wheel, we have to discuss it. If it's early in the day, Wes says "ferris wheel not workin' yet" (because the fair opens at noon) and I'll ask "when does the ferris wheel start?" and he'll say "after noon!" If we pass it in the afternoon or evening he'll say "ferris wheel workin' now!" And now that we've ridden on it, he says "I went on that ferris wheel yes'erday" (it's always yes'erday!).

A view from the top!

We stopped to play a game or two, so here are the boys throwing darts at balloons. This guy was really sweet, he let Wes and Cody have a practice shot to see if they could even get close to the balloons before we had to pay. Wes' dart went right into the bin of prizes below the balloons, but Cody popped a balloon on his first practice shot (but didn't hit a balloon after that!)

But he still gave them each two little prizes, a very successful day of gaming at the fair (and we don't have to store any giant monkey's like Mike won at last year's fair!)

Here's Auntie Chrissy and me, just to prove we were also at the fair that day.

Wes was such a trooper! Since the fair doesn't open until noon, we had to push nap time back a ways, so here we are waiting for the pigs to race and Wes finally slowing down a little bit.

I was a little too early with this pic, but I caught little pig #2 who did win the race!

And of course Wes perked up for our final fair activity, getting a treat on the way out! Wes had an ice cream cone, Cody had a chocolate shake, and Mommy got her Oreo's! I have to say, that we all had fun, though we are considering making the fair an every other year activity...I don't know though, I'm not sure I can go two years without fried Oreo's!