State Fair, take 2

We went to the fair for the 2nd {and last} time of the year on Sunday. We were excited. We got up and ready early and were off. We were in the fair grounds, ready to "do the fair" by 8:30. I was much less crabby this time and things were just generally looking better then they did for our first fair attempt of the year.

The kids on some tractors. They must have each sat on at least a couple dozen tractors over the course of the day!
A typical Joe moment. He just sat down and decided he wasn't going to go anymore. Thankfully, it wasn't as crowded as when he laid in the middle of the sidewalk when we were at the fair the first time . . . on the ever-popular Thrifty Thursday . . . in the middle of the afternoon . . . right by the food building. You can't get much busier than that at the fair. The funny not-so-funny thing is that we'd only been there, maybe 23 minutes or so at this point! Maybe it will be another long day after all! Thankfully, he did get over it relatively fast and we were back on track.
Poor buddy. It must be tough, huh?
Rebekah enjoying a ride on the swings. She said she could see most of the fairgrounds from up there.
The kids with Fairchild, the state fair mascot . . . or is it Fairborne? I'm not sure. They just look so much alike! In any case:
Strapped to my back. This was Anna's vantage point for most of the day. I think she was just gearing up at this point to eat her first ever state fair cheese curds {we didn't think they were developmentally appropriate last year . . . you know, since she was only 5 months and had only ever had breastmilk. Cheese curds are not our pediatricians recommended food for beginning solids!} But this year was a different story. She tried them, and she LOVED them!!! Her legs would kick like mad and I could tell without even being able to see her how super excited she was about them.

Little piggies:
{looks like they all "stayed home", and I'm quite sure none of them "ate roast beef"}

My "baby" and my best friend:

Yup, Al, Justin and the kids joined us at the fair a little before 11. It was so fun to be there with them! It's an annual tradition that we try hard to keep each year!

The boys on the giant slide:

Rebekah:

Best friends . . . with shirts to prove it:

An extra-cute mother-daughter pair
You gotta love those pigtails:

The fair at night:

We stayed from about 8:30 in the morning until about 6 in the evening. Thankfully, though, my mom was there with a friend in the morning and left about 2:30 and willingly took away the 2 crabs {who will remain nameless} while the rest of us stayed and enjoyed a few more hours of fair fun! They had fun with Ama and we had fun without them! Kirb had to work at the Northwestern College booth in the Education Building from 5-9. Well, I supposed "had to" isn't quite accurate. He volunteered. What a guy! So the remaining 3 kids and I took off about 6ish and Kirb biked home about 10:30 after enjoying the fair night-life a little following his shift! A great day was had by all and much unhealthy food was enjoyed by everyone: Sweet Martha's, cheese curds, Hawaiian Shaved Ice, french fries, cotton candy {2 visits to the cotton candy booth, if you must know}, big pickles on a stick, deep fried pickles, mini donuts . . . I'll have to make a few extra trips to the Y in September to recover! But it was all worth it!

We drove by the fair today and it's just so sad to know it's all over for another year. Oh well, the years go by so fast these days, it'll be fair time again before we know it!