Headin' to the Fair

J and Banany waiting for ice cream

J and Banany going down the big slide. She loved it!

Tying on Meatball's balloon. That's really all he needed to keep him happy.

Meatball and Papa looking at tractors.

Love this pic - Papa peeking.

Post-ice-cream

J and Banany up on the ferris wheel. She wasn't even remotely nervous.
Gettin' a little squirrly.

My dad took this pic - I love it.

Making decisions

Banany going down the kids slide.

Papa took Meatball on the Merry-go-round.

Getting onto the Ferris wheel.

Fuzzy chickens. They looked like muppets.

Meatball and mommy in the poultry barn.

Meatball was dancing to some music nearby. Nice move, huh?

Banany on the pony ride.

Meatball on the pony ride. He cried when it was time to get off. I, on the other hand, was happy to be done side-stepping horse urine and poo.

We hit the County Fair last night with my parents and the kids. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had a great time. We got our fix of a little fair food - a primer for the state fair - we need to start prepping our stomachs. The kids did a few rides and we walked through some animal barns. It was actually one of my favorite fair visits to date.


Of course, that reminds me of my least favorite fair visit, which I will share with you.



It was August 2006. I was HUGELY pregnant with Meatball - within a week or two of when I delivered him). And I do mean huge (he was 10'6 and I had a 1 pound cyst...I looked like a hot air balloon).


I was pretty housebound in those last few weeks, well frankly, the whole time. I was sick and uncomfortable for this entire pregnancy. I desperately wanted to get out and just feel "normal" for one night and we always liked going to the fair, so we decided to head there for a nice evening out.


J dropped Banany and I off near the animal barns so that I wouldn't have to walk far, and he went to park the car. I took her into a barn to look at the animals while we waited for him to join us. As we walked in, our eyes not adjusting yet to the dark inside of the barn, something came flying at my head and then continued to dive bomb me. I frantically am covering my head, swiping at the air, almost fell backwards over the stroller and Banany. She sees all this and is totally scared and starts crying.


I pick her up (keep in mind, she weighs about 40 pounds at this point, I suppose), try to push the stroller out of the barn and see a bunch of teenagers who work with the animals sitting in the corner, laughing and pointing at me. I notice one of them is holding the end of a string to which a fake bat is attached. They were dropping the bat on people as they walked into the barn.


I burst into tears. Naturally, J was concerned and confused when he saw Banany and I trying to stop crying outside the barn. I told him what happened and before I knew it, he was marching into the barn, grabbed the bat as it started to dive bomb him, ripped it from the "pulley" or whatever it was on and threw it on the floor. Don't mess with Papa Bear.


I always intended to write a letter to "someone" at the fair to let them know this was going on and it could have been potentially very dangerous had I or Banany been hurt. But I got busy with Meatball and never got around to that letter. But I tell you what...I never enter those barns anymore without checking the ceiling and the corners.