Fair Time

This weekend was our little county fair.  My husband and I grew up with very different takes on "the fair."  I grew up doing 4-H.  The county fair was a time of culmination for our projects.  I was busy getting animals ready for fitting and showing, and then for sale.  I had sewing projects and cooking projects.  I was busy with many things that kept me away from the carnival.  Not to mention that my dad was not going to shell out $5 a ride for me to spend 2 minutes making myself sick.  My husband grew up walking into the opposite entrance from where I was.  He spent his time throwing darts trying to win Farrah Fawcett posters and riding rides until he couldn't see straight. 

The first year we lived in our little town we took our kids to the fair.  When we got home, we were frazzled, frustrated, and feeling a bit sick.  Rick could not understand why I felt like we hadn't seen the fair.  We had walked in on the carnival end.  The kid's eyes instantly glazed over and they started to drool. Then they started pulling on our arms and begging for money.  We caved and let them ride a few rides.  My blood pressure was rising by the minute.  I just wanted to see the baby pigs, and maybe see one session of fitting and showing.  The kids quickly spent all of our cash, and had headaches from being flung around for five minutes.  We ended up going home early and taking naps.  Rick and I had a lively discussion about what exactly going to the fair meant to each of us.  It was an enlightening conversation.  We now revisit it about this time every year.

Our younger kids get to visit the fair with their classmates during school.  They see the animals, and the balloons.  After school I took everyone down to check out the sights.  Jubilee had no idea what a fair was, and I wanted her to be able to see what we were all talking about.  She discovered fair food, which is also quite interesting.  Why flour and sugar soaked in grease suddenly becomes worth $5 for the weekend is beyond me, but it does.  People even wait in line for hours for it, weird.  After about an hour and a half I was ready to go home and never return.  I had convinced the older kids that it made more sense to get the wristband for the rides on Saturday so that they could ride the rides all day instead of buying them late on Friday night and only having a few hours to ride.  (Not to mention I was going to a cross country meet, so dad would have to have all the fun.)  As it turned out, Rick did get to spend a good deal of time at the carnival on Saturday while I watched the big girls at the cross country meet.  I think he actually likes it, even if Farrah Fawcett is no longer available.

When I got home I had to take some of the kids back to the fair to meet their friends.  They were hungry and I was broke, so they ended up going home to eat.  I didn't see much of the exhibits since I spent most of my time there counting kids to make sure I hadn't lost anyone.  I lost visual on Nes for a few minutes, but he slowed up at the Lego's long enough for me to find him.  It was fun in a weird way, but I won't miss it until next year. 

BK ended up coming in third in her race.  She improved her time, but I think the course was a bit shorter.  She was beat by the girl that she beat last week.  I had a good talk with her mom.  It is fun to meet the kids that you run again week after week every fall and spring.  They are a good group of girls, and they push each other to run better.  Mads couldn't run this week either.  She will be able to run on Tues.  I think she was glad for the break.  Cross country is definitely a different game than track.  It is a lot of hard work, and unless you are really fast, it can be kind of a grind.  Both girls are glad they are doing it, and they know the hard work is making them stronger.  We have much to be thankful for this weekend.