Fun Times At The County Fair.

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I have a love/hate relationship with the county fair. The love comes from fond memories of the fair as a little girl, and the hate comes from the harsh reality of present day madness. I remember going to the fair as a little girl and loving every sight, sound, and event that took place. Back then, ride tickets were a quarter, cotton candy was $1.00 and we always ate at the taco booth manned by our church. Back then, my parents could take all ten of us kids and have a grand time even on a very tight budget. Back then, times were more simple. Then as I got older, I loved walking through all the buildings and gathering up candy, fans, popcorn, pens, pencils, trinkets, plastic crosses, note pads, hundreds of business cards, and whatever else was being given away for free. Ride tickets slowly increased to 3/1.00, and cotton candy became $2.00, yet, it was still reasonable. But somehow over the years, insanity has run rampant and my love for the family fair tradition has been turned into downright disgust. Present day ride ticket prices are $1.00 each. Now, that doesn't sound too awful bad, I mean, we have to expect inflation. However, when you consider that it now takes upwards of 3 tickets to ride one ride, simple math dictates that I am spending $3.00 for a 2 minute whirl in the air. Give me a break! And, don't even get me started on the $5.00 cotton candy. But, the thing that sends me completely over the edge and off my rocker is the endless row of GAMES. If there is one thing I despise in the whole world, it is carnie games. Huge stuffed monkeys, giraffes, teddy bears, you name it....all dangling strategically just out of reach. You think that with one pop of a balloon, two knocked over milk bottles, three rings tossed perfectly, an exact guess of your throwing speed, you will be able to win one of those prizes. But no, you get to choose a plastic seahorse necklace made in china.....unless......you want to go one more time and upgrade...and then a few dollars more....and just one more time....and a few more dollars.............and 17 upgrades later....ding...ding...ding....you just won a giant stuffed gorilla!!! Despite the fact that you just spent $75.00 *winning* it. Now, this story has no validity. I do not play carnie games, but I see it happening and I can't stand it. I did get suckered in to letting Hunter play the shark fishing game. He fished out a small shark, and we were almost conned into 'upgrading' for 3 more dollars, but I recognized the ploy and quickly picked out a plastic trumpet and got the heck out of there. He didn't care about the toy anyway, he just wanted to fish.

All in all, we had a great time at the fair this year, all except for Hunter's emotional and physical meltdown when I told him no more games. In the slide show, I captured a picture of it. Thank goodness Kieth was there to help. I guess one day he will have to learn the hard way, when he *wins* a pair of fuzzy dice for $50.00. Oh well.

The slide show is pictures from the fair parade and the fair. As I was looking at them, I realized that most of them are of Hunter. The other boys don't like pictures too much anymore. Hunter brought his own candy bag and then sat back while people came up and filled it for him. Riley and Jordan helped him gather up candy in the street also. It was a fun time. Enjoy.