Fair Food!...and other stuff

Back in the beginning of September we were able to go to the good ol' Utah State Fair while Chelsey & Audrey were still in town (on opening day it's only $2 to get in!). My brother Josh was able to join us too, and we all had a great time. I totally admit that the reason I go to the state fair is for the food - especially the roasted corn and fresh squeezed lemonade (and bites of whatever everyone else gets!) Yum.

Now, I have to mention that our fair isn't the same caliber as the Iowa State Fair that we enjoyed while living there, and there's no butter cow, but it was perfect for taking these three kiddos (all 2 years and under). I have to giggle that Iowa already has their 2009 Fair info up complete with a countdown already! (if that gives you an idea of what a big deal the fair is there)

Anyhow! For our 2008 experience we first of all saw the animals, and Audrey & Noah even got to go brush some baby cows. Audrey was a bit shy about things, but Noah was actually pretty brave and after a little bit of coaxing enjoyed petting and brushing the cows.

Then it was off to the 'little hands on the farm' exhibit which was so cute. They planted their own "seeds"...
...and "watered" them too. (such cute cousins, huh?)

Then it was harvest time.

Next it was time to transport the produce to market. Noah was apparently quite concerned that we have enough gas for our journey - he spent quite a while very carefully "gassing up"!

Noah was freaked out about sticking his hand into the cages to collect eggs at first until we convinced him that the chickens really were just pretend. I had to include this shot to show the sweet blue ink that Noah got all over in his hair (from his hand stamp).

Noah was quite excited to show me that he got an egg. Then it was off to "sell" our goods (aka put them away) and they even gave the kids fake money to take into the little store to buy something. Noah was quite pleased about buying some crackers, which he promptly devoured.

I had to include this cute shot of Chelsey and Audrey on the carousel. Audrey was all smiles the entire ride.

Mark taking Noah on the big yellow slide. I was afraid Noah would get scared, but he loved it (he can be so unpredictable).

I told Noah that he could choose one treat. Anything that he wanted. This is what he chose. A carmeled apple with sprinkles.

And then it was over to the rodeo where we enjoyed some mutton bustin' before the bull riding. Noah loved all of it - the kids getting bucked off the sheep, the music (which he had fun dancing to), the cowboys, everything. Here's a random, quick clip of things. A couple of things about it that crack me up though...right after handing me his carmeled apple, so that he can concentrate on things, he pulls out his "laser gun" (his wrist) and starts shooting. I have no idea what made him think to do that. I'm guessing the thought process went something like this: cowboys...Woody...Buzz...laser gun. It always comes back to Toy Story somehow for him. Anyway, you can tell when the bull rider comes out because Noah stops "shooting his laser" and starts pretending to ride a horse. Then he's sure to let me know that the cowboy "fell down!". I love this kid.


I mentioned Noah being unpredictable earlier...yup. As you can see, he was NOT happy about getting on this ride, but we knew that he'd like it once it started - and this was a practice run before going to Disneyland, so that he knew better what to expect & we could do the coaxing at the state fair instead of at Disneyland.

Sure enough, the minute that the ride started, Noah realized "Hey! This is fun!" In fact, he loved it so much that I couldn't get him to look at the camera for a video clip, and we had to pry him off the ride.


I threw Lincoln's little cowboy hat on him for the fair since it seemed like a fair-ish thing to do. He was a good little dude and just chilled in the stroller most of the time that we were there.
I have to mention how strange it seemed for me to think that last year when we attended the fair, this little guy was still hanging out in my belly with still a couple of months until his debut. Feel free to take a look at the first picture on this post, which is from the fair and also happens to be my first blog post ever.