Fair Fun

Let me begin by saying I had my "good" camera all packed and (what I thought to be) ready to go. We were headed to the fair! I just knew there were going to be some amazing shots I was going to capture with my Nikon.

We get inside the fair gates and I immediately grab my "good" camera. I go to click annnnnd, nothing. The battery was at home, in the charger, where I'd placed it earlier in the day so it would be fully charged for the fair. Awesome.

Because my best friend, Amy, and I grew up two hours from away from each other every summer our parents would ship us off to the other's for a week. I firmly believe I got the better end of the deal when I stayed with Amy. Amy lived on a farm and raised sheep, hogs, and cattle. I lived in town - so boring.

I didn't mind waking up with the sun to walk sheep, or washing hogs, or filling bucket after bucket with field corn to feed the calves. In fact, I loved it so much that I would offer to do Amy's sister's chores for them (I bet they were as happy for my week long stint as I was).

After all the work with the animals they would be corralled and taken to the fair. Each year Amy and her sisters always did well, especially with their sheep. One of the girls was always winning Grand Champion, Reserve Champion, Market Lambs, and so on. I was always so happy for Amy and her sisters when I heard how well they each did, and even more tickled I could help out each year.

With all those memories of fair I knew we had to take Marcus to a fair this summer. When we learned admission to the Orange County Fair was only $3 on the weekends, and Marcus was free, we were out the door.

Just seconds after stepping onto the fair grounds the intoxicating smell of any and everything being grilled mixed with the smell of batter being deep fried filled the air.

The bottom three photos were our splurges: Scott had a bacon wrapped hot dog, I had a turkey leg, and we all split a shaved ice.

As with every fair, there is always so much to see and do.

300 TONS of sand made up this sculpture. Insane.

We were thisclose to playing a few carnival games, but instead enjoyed all the unnecessary and gaudy prizes from afar.

What do people do with this stuff?

Marcus enjoyed an area that had an assortment of toys perfect for his age.

The "foam pit" was genius. When it gets cooler, and we empty the baby pool, I think I might need to get a bunch of pool noodles and cut them up to create our own foam pit.

My favorite part of the day was spent in the animal barns. Naturally.

The "farmer's gold" saying had me chuckling. Growing up I remember hearing farmers say the smell of manure did't stink, as that was the smell of money!

Daddy pointing out the animals to Marcus.

This wasn't Marcus' first experience with livestock, but he still wasn't totally sure about the large animals.

Upper left: The hog didn't seem to mind Marucs' little foot in the hog's snout.
Lower left: Marcus wanted nothing to do with posing with the calf.
Upper right: Getting a few nibbles from a sheep.
Lower left: Checking out the 3,000 pound bull. 

After seeing all the other animals we made one last stop in the goat barn.

The goat found Marcus' shirt to be tasty. Marcus found the goat to be pretty funny.

After a few hours of fun it was time to head back home.

We can go ahead and chalk the OC Fair up as a giant success!

Until next year's fair...