A Day at the Fair

It's fair season and the Carver County Fair ran from last Wednesday through today.  Looking at our schedules, John and I decided that Thursday would be the only day that we could make it there with Megan.  Since we won't be going to the State Fair this year, we went all out (with coupons, of course) at the county fair.  I told John as we were leaving that this was probably the most fun I've had at a fair.  It's so different experiencing it with a little one.  This was a whole new experience for Megan and she loved every minute.

We didn't get there until about 1:00 because we needed her to nap first and I am so glad she got one in.  But by time we got there it was lunch time so her and Daddy had corn dogs!  We also got garlic fries, cheese curds, pork burger and a pork chop on a stick.  Yum!

We lucked out with a really nice day, but Megan still got thirsty and loved drinking out of these fancy cups!

After eating and going through a couple buildings and watching a dog trick show, we were off to the animals!  I bet we stayed in the aisle with sheep and hogs for over 15 minutes with Megan running back and forth between the pens.  She'd pet an animal once, get excited and squeal and run to the next one!   There was no posing with these animals - they were too exciting!

We made it all the way through the small animal barns with goats, sheep, pigs, poultry (very intrigued by the geese.  They stood about her height and made the funniest noises she'd ever heard), and rabbits.  Finally, we reached the exotic animals petting zoo.  She didn't care much about this area until she realized that other kids were feeding the animals and she just had to do that too!  I didn't want to pay the quarter for the feed so John found a faulty machine that gave us feed for free!  Megan was not at all concerned with the big tongues licking her hands or her hands going inside the animal's mouths.  When we ran out of two big helpings of feed, she was still pointing to the dispenses as we left the area. 

The reason we had to leave the exotic animal area was so Megan could have her first real pony ride!  She saw the whole setup and knews exactly what this was!  I am not kidding when I say she was all smiles the entire time. 

Nothing trumped the pony ride but I had purchased some ride tickets prior to the fair so we took her on the Merry-Go-Round twice along with a couple car rides tht basically just went in circles.  Despite the Merry-Go-Round going a little too fast, she did a good job on those four rides.

Megan's fair experience didn't stop there.  Her Grandma and Grandpa Gennrich and Auntie Rachel took her to the fair on Saturday where she met some calves - one who was born the day prior - and even got to go in their pens to pet it.  Then, today we all went to the Carver County Fair parade here in Waconia.  The parade only happens every five years so there were a lot of exhibits - about 150, but who's counting!  It was long and we came home without sunburns but with good memories and about 3.5 pounds of candy! 

What a great fair weekend!