Fun at the Fair

Our annual trip to the State Fair, was as usual, lots of great family fun. Nanny and Papa rode out with us this year (hooray for a comfy, spacious new van!)
Nanny was smart enough to plan ahead and suggested face painting first so it could be enjoyed for our whole day at the fair, and our early arrival meant for a shorter line, too. After face painting was accomplished we headed for the rides. Sycely took her very first ever trip on the Ferris Wheel-with Papa! They sure looked to be having lots of fun. Papa, in his usual, mentoring demeanor, took advantage of the spectacular views atop the ride and pointed out lots of interesting sights to Sycely. Ella took in some rides of her own, finally tall enough to have more than one choice this year-thank goodness there's no minimum weight requirement!After rides, us grown-ups got some good ol' fashion fair snacks- particularly important: cheese curds! The girls enjoyed some cotton candy while the rest of us munched on a variety of other tasty treats, including delicious ice cream. That's right, we got such gorgeous weather at the fair this year, we were actually HOT and needed some ice cream to help us cool off. Praise God for clear, blue skies, no rain and LOTS of warm sunshine! We put in some time at the petting zoo-Mommy's favorite. The girls, as usual enjoyed this probably more than anything else. It's so much more fun than just looking at the farm animals in their pins-though we did that too, accompanied by Uncle Gary and Aunt Lynda who we'd just run into while walking around.

The girls both got to go on their first "pony" rides. They had a super cool arrangement where they led them around a big, looping trail, rather than just going around in a circle on one of those tied up to the wheel kind of things. The girls both enjoyed the experience immensely and seem to be hooked.

We'd ridden about everything we could, seen everything we could muster the energy for, and eaten everything our stomach's could hold so we regrouped and headed back to the car for the drive home. Another successful family trip to the Alaska State Fair-and another year staying dry!