The Day We Went to the Fair

I hadn't been to a county fair since my early teen years....as far as I can remember.  Around here, I didn't even know about any county fairs - just the state one.  And that one is too far away and costs too much for us to even consider it with young children.  But yesterday, we had a real treat.  Some friends invited us to join them at the Isle of Wight County Fair, which is about 45 minutes from our house.  We had planned on going today, but since there was rain forecast for the entire day (and so far, they were right), we made some last minute adjustments and went yesterday afternoon and evening.  

Here are some of the highlights.  

 Marissa is obsessed with horses right now, so one of the top two highlights of the day for her was getting a pony ride.  Her first ever.  She was just in heaven.

 Annika enjoyed it just as much.

Grant with his girls - we were watching a K9 acrobatics show - dogs doing jumping tricks and such.  The girls thought it was amazing.  

First ride on a Ferris Wheel for all the kids - here is Annika (far right) with her best buddy Lydia and Jenna (Lydia's aunt).

Natalee, Corban, and Marissa

Ellia got her first ride on a merry-go-round - she liked it pretty well.

Another favorite ride of the kids was the giant swings.  Natalee and Marissa here.

The older children insisted on going down this giant slide - fun but obviously not the longest ride out there.

We got to watch an alligator show - very cool.

The favorite event of the evening for both Grant and the kids was getting a ride on a monster truck.

Check out those laughs while they're rumbling and bouncing around a field!

Nothing like laughing with good friends!

Natalee and Lydia's grandparents own a specialty ice-cream and tropical treats trailer that was selling their goodies at the fair - so we got to hang out there some and the girls were peeking out of the trailer window.  

One of my favorite events of the evening - since being almost 37 weeks pregnant, I couldn't exactly go on the rides - was enjoying a chocolate dipped coconut cream pie on a stick from their business.  My goodness, that was awesome!  

There were more rides, a bull-riding competition, a cool magic show, and a great fireworks display that we also enjoyed throughout the evening.  We didn't get home until after 11:30 pm, so needless to say, we're a bit worn out today.  But it was well worth it, a night to remember for all of us.