Tuesday, September 22, 2009

meet me at the fair...


Here in small town NC - we still have the county fair, complete with rides, pig races, petting zoos and blue ribbons for the best pie. Every September, just after school starts, the county fair graces us with its presence for a whole 10 days. I can smell the funnel cakes and cotton candy before we even get out of the car.


This year I decided to surprise the twins and not tell them where we were going. Daddy was going to stay home with Bradley (who is not quite old enough to "enjoy" the fair) and the twins and I would go brave the rides. As I started to round them up to go, the questions began.
"Where are we going? I won't tell Tyler."
"Please tell me where we are going, I won't tell Nathaniel."
"Someplace Special"
"Puuulease tell me"
"Someplace Fun"
"McDonald's?"
"More Fun, some place you haven't been in a year!"
"Pepaw's?" (they were there last month)
"More FUN! You really want to go!"
"Puuleaassse tell me, it'll be a secret, I won't tell Tyler!"
"Someplace fun and a little scary"
"THE FAIR!"
"you just told Tyler"

In unison, "WE'RE GOING TO THE FAIR!"

Cash in hand (the fair doesn't take debit cards), we headed out the door. After parking near enough that we could make a mad dash for the entrance, we went about buying our entrance tickets and then wristbands. Wristbands are the only way to go - otherwise you spend more money that you ever wanted to think about. This year I even splurged and bought my own wristband so I could ride some of the rides with them. First up, the maze house, where the whole first floor is a maze made out of glass walls. Tyler made fun of me for walking with my hands out in front of me, but my face didn't get plastered into the glass. Some of the rides I skipped, I chose to keep my lunch inside my stomache. I have no clue how I rode all those spinney upside down spinney rides as a kid. Kids must have stomaches of steel and sometime after 20 they turn to mush.

We were about halfway around the loop when I spotted the swings, now this was a ride I could handle! A nice cool breeze, and some relaxation on a hot September day. We got in line and I explained to the twins how to latch themselves in. They kept asking me how we wouldn't hit each other, and I tried to explain the outward force of the swings. Tried being the key word. As we got up and moving I attempted to relax. But then I looked up and saw where the chains connected to the top of the ride, then I looked down and quickly calculated how far out I would project if the chain snapped. Instantly I realized I wasn't holding on tight enough. Trying to breathe through the rest of the ride, I couldn't stop looking at where I would fall, and how the grass would be better than on top of the funnel cake cart.

Luckily it was over as quickly as it began, and I was DONE! We moved on to something simplier, the slide. This was more my style. Although it wasn't long before the twins found a ride that they loved so much they rode 10 times straight.

How is it that I love roller coasters but don't trust the rides at the fair? How is it that I let my kids continue to ride, because I believe rides are safe enough for them, but I was done for the day? Is there anything you let your kids do that you won't?


"Meet me at the Fair
Don't tell me the lights are shining
Anyplace but there"
Meet Me in St. Louis ~ Andrew Sterling

11 comments:

  1. i do not trust fair rides, mainly b/c of the drug-infested alcoholics that are putting them together and tearing them down once a week - you mean to tell me a bolt doesn't get loose? c'mon!

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  2. Oooh, funnel cake. It's all about the funnel cake, for me.

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  3. How fun! I can't wait till my kids are a little older and can enjoy things like this. Our county still holds an annual fair as well.

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  4. I am totally craving funnel cake right now...

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  5. OH, I miss those days. I am the proud mom of a 2 yr college man. We used to hit every fair ,rodeo , car show and monster trucks in our area. But no more. It is all school,work,and his girlfriend now. Cherish every minute. And it sounds like you are. Have fun.


    http://alzheimersandmomblog.blogspot.com/

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  6. Hi there! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog, I hope you'll become a follower and keep stopping by :)

    Can't wait to read your future posts, have a great week!

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  7. OK - for all of those craving funnel cake now (Aunt Becky, Megan, and me) I stole a recipe from the Gracious Paula Deen

    Ingredients
    2 cups milk
    1 egg, beaten
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    2 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 tablespoon sugar
    1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) melted butter
    Powdered sugar, for topping
    Directions
    Combine milk, egg, vanilla in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar and gradually add to wet ingredients. Beat with a mixer until a smooth batter forms. Fold in melted butter. Pour batter into a funnel or squeeze bottle while using your index finger to stop the flow of the batter. Bring the funnel over the hot oil and release your finger to start a stream of batter while moving the funnel in a circular motion to create spiral-like shapes. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown and slightly puffed. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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  8. Love, love, love the fair! Our state fair comes around in mid October. I'm taking my girls this year as my son is too young right now also, his turn next year. I'm actually waiting on everyone to get old enough to ride the bigger/scarier rides with me...hopefully this happens before I can't take the rides anymore, which I hope that never happens!

    Even though the fair is soooo much fun, there is always that fear that was already mentioned..the crazy lookin' people that run the fair. That's why my husband won't go, besides the crowds that is. But we still do it every year, too much fun.

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  9. I love the fair!

    My favorite part is the food.

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  10. Yum funnel cake-the best part of the fair! oh and people watching too!

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  11. I love, love, love this post! It totally reminds me of home! In small town AZ where I'm from, every October the county fair comes to town and (even as an adult) I looked forward to it all year! In fact, the whole town did, and you can be sure you'd see the whole town at the fair over the course of it's 4 day duration (Thursday - Sunday). In fact we even got Friday off for Fair Day! Seriously, they would let all the kids out for school in the whole county. We had a huge parade that day too!

    Nothing beats the fair, the exhibits, the rides, the performances and of course, the food! Now in AZ it's a little different, I mean we still have cotton candy and candy apples, etc., but at our fair we also had Mexican food! The Catholic Church had the best booth for Mexican food, particularly their green chili burros! So yummy!

    I just want to say thank you. I've been a little bummed out the last few days (not just because of my extensive emergency dental work) but also because as more fall decorations go up in the stores, I am truly, truly sad not to get to experience any of the fall fun! Even AZ had a much better fall than Hawaii does, which is to say that at least they had a fall at all! I mean granted it wasn't as rockin awesome as fall on the east coast, but still, the temperature drops and you can just feel fall in the air!! Anyway, thanks for letting me vicariously live through you and your fall time fun!

    BTW-I totally put your button my blog! I adore your blog!

    Angela from Angela's Soliloquy

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