Hudsonville Fair

We live in the same town both DJ and I grew up in.  It is a {not so small} small town.  It is a {sort of used to be} farm town.  Every summer we have our town fair.  It is one of the high lights of summer.  The fair runs for 1 weeks, we went every day, except one.  The kids' loved it!

One of the first days, the is a deal for $1 rides.  It was packed, but the kids had so much fun. 

Poor Ellary was too short to ride anything, but we sneaked her on the slide and train.

Waiting for the train....

Silly Daddy thought she would be ok riding on the same seat as him, while Big Brother got to ride in the seat in front of them. :)

Two minutes later, and Sister was up next to Karson.

Also, it is impossible to get a picture of them both smiling and looking at the camera.

 

Or a picture of them both looking away from the camera...

I could not tell you how many times we walked through the animal barns.

They loved the bunnies and the chickens.

Ellary LOVED the horses.

Sister likes horses, a lot!

Also, farm animals stick.

 

Outside the animal bars is full of tractors and farm equipment...Little Boy Heaven!

Karson loved, loved, loved the rides this year. 

Last year we put Kars on this ride, because he wanted to ride it.  Two seconds later and he was sobbing, and we couldn't get him off.  He asked a million times to ride it, and we said no a million times.  They he told me "Mama, Me big and strong now.  Me not going to scream and cry."  So I let him on it.

I lost track of how many times he rode it.

He loved it!

The next day a guy waked up to me and asked if he could give Karson tickets to ride a ride.  So sweet.  Karson was so excited to ride the Monster Trucks again!

 

While I have no doubt that Ellary would have loved it, Sister is much too short.  Maybe next year...

The fair is such a fun summer memory!   I have so many memories of the fair as a kid, I love that my kids are making the same memories.

Also, if you are at a fair and you see a sign for deep fried oreos buy them.  A.ma.zing.  We bought them purely out of curiosity.  But only eat one, or just a bite of one, because you will feel like death if you eat more than that. YUM! It may be my new favorite fair food.

Demo Derby

Before Karson & Ellary came along, before we were even married (which was really only 6 months before we found out Karson was on his way), DJ used to run race in Off Road Derbies, and Demolition Derbies.  He stopped doing them because, well, they cost money, and require a lot of time.  Two things we don't have an excess of. :)  That and I wouldn't say that purposely crashing into other cars is a particularly safe hobby.

Last weekend, we went to the Hudsonville Fair's Demo Derby.  DJ got the itch.  He mentioned in passing to a friend of his after the fair that he was itching to get back out and race/crash.  Well, he had a derby car that he was going to scrap out, but it still ran if DJ wanted to use it for the Derby.

A few days later, we were doing this...

 

...and this...

 (baby + red paint = covered)

We agreed that we would turn it into a family event.  If DJ was going to go work on the car, the kids and I were going to join, too.  We gave them each a paint brush, and set them  free to paint the back of the car, while DJ and I painted his sponsor's name all over it. 

Karson was so very excited to see Daddy in his "crash 'em up" car!

For anyone who doesn't know what a demolition derby is...

12 cars in that wooded rectangle & crash into each other until there is only 1 car left running.

Telling Daddy Good Luck...

 

Watching for Daddy...

 

Going for a walk with Nana...

Then it was Daddy's Turn.

DJ was the 6th car out.

His car stalled, and he couldn't get it restarted.

Bummer.

But still, he had so much fun.

 

It took them five minutes.  

Five minutes in the pits and they were playing in the dirt.

We are very proud of our Daddy.

You watch...he will be back out again next year. :)

Our Town Fair

Every year, the end of summer is marked by our Town Fair.

We live in a small town.

Which isn't really that small.

But we claim it to be.

We also pretend it to be a country town.

Which it really isn't anymore.

But regardless, the fair is a big deal around here.

Animal Barns

Karson absolutely loved the animals.

He spent the whole time in the Cow Barn trying to convince me they were 'goggies.'

Karson: "Goggies, Mom!"

Me: "Munchkin, those are cows."

Karson: "No, Mom.  No.  Goggies"

He saw chickens, bunnies, pigs, cows (aka: goggies), goats,  and horses.

The cows were his favorite.

I love this picture.

Because, Karson is his Mother's Son.

I hate, hate, hate crowds of people.

I always grabbed onto my Mom's purse or shopping cart whenever there were a lot of people around.

To this day, if I am in a crowd of people, especially in an airport, I grab onto her purse.

Karson did this on his own, when we were walking through a crowd of people...

Rides

Be impressed.

I let my germaphobic ness go for the evening, and let DJ take Karson on the Carousal.

I do not do rides that go in circles.

Roller coasters...up and down...fine.

Circles...absolutely NOT!

I thought Karson would love it.

He looked a bit nervous though.

We had to wait a while before the ride started, so we tried to entertain him.

how big is Karson?

SOOOO BIG

It started moving, and he grabbed on.

...see the sliver of a smile?

Oh wait, this thing goes up and down too???

And this is what I saw when he came back around...

My kid is not going to be a fan of amusement parks...

I know the picture is blurry, but it makes me laugh.

Elephant Ears

We went for elephant ears twice.

Once with Nana.

And once with Daddy.

He may not share my love of french fries...

But he agrees.

Fried dough, with cinnamon and sugar is to die for!