We left as soon as I got out of school and the day before I had told Casey not to let me forget the camera because I would be SOOOO devastated if we went to the fair without a camera. I came home from work, changed clothes, got the diaper bag all packed with snacks, water, and the camera, grabbed jackets for everyone and we were out the door.
We had a nice ride down, Gabe gabbed the whole time. We packed in the way back parking lot and walked to the admittance booths which had HUGE lines. We found out what was up with the huge lines when we finally got to the window of the ticket booth. Anybody with a coupon from a local Ford Dealership could get into the fair for just a $1. So, we stood in line for five or ten minutes, got to the window and discovered we didn't need to be in that line at all. So, we moved to the next line to be let in the gate. Then, we joined yet another HUMONGOUS line and waited for a few minutes before we discovered it too was the wrong line for picking up "will call" Disney on Ice tickets. We found an information booth, and he pointed us in the right direction. No real specifics on where to go, just the right direction. We walked all the way to the opposite end of the fairgrounds, found an entrance with a "will call" sign. Yay! We'd finally found it...well, the building at least. We followed the arrowed signs around to the opposite side of the building and found yet another LARGE line of people waiting. We found our place, and were thanking our lucky stars we decided to come early. I ran to the bathroom while Casey held our place, and when I got back he had moved to yet another line because the first one we were in was the wrong one for "will call" tickets. The good news is, this line was tiny. Just two people to wait to get to the window. So, let's review....that was five lines total to get to our tickets and approximately an hour of walking/waiting time. GOO!
Moving on....we hit another lucky break when I discovered the FFA stalls were right next door to the ticket place. We strolled over, I got out my fancypants camera (cause I wouldn't want to miss a minute of Gabe's reactions to seeing cows up close and in person), and realized I didn't put the durn memory card in the stupid thing! And, I'd really like to use some other words, but I won't. And, I didn't. I was very upset, but kept myself verbally restrained. Then, I had a wonderful idea! I knew there was a "general store" on site, and I was just sure they were going to have memory cards. We walked across the fairgrounds yet again, found the "general store" and was majorly disappointed to discover it was but a small booth with tshirts, sanitary items, first aid stuff, and sunglasses. Oh, and for five dollars we could buy a disposable camera. We walked away disappointed again, when Casey had a brilliant idea! He would just leave the fair, walk down the street to WalMart and buy a memory card then meet back up with me for supper. So, Gabe and I strolled the booths in the building and Casey successfully found, purchased, and delivered a gorgeous four gig memory card to his elated wife just twenty-five minutes after having left.
We chose a food stand (of the million and three there were on site) and ordered barbecue beef sandwiches and potato chips. The sign said $7 for the meal, but she only charged us $5 a plate. So, for fair food it was pretty cheap and really delicious. Gabe got right to work on my pickle and then when that was finished begged for "kicken?". Well, I didn't have any chicken so I assumed he was trying to say chip. I handed him a chip and he "accidentally-on-purpose" dropped it. "Uh-oh", he said. Then, repeated "kicken?!" I had a little bit of sandwich left and thought oh, he must think I'm eating chicken. I'll give him a little bite then. Well, he scarfed that right down and demanded more "kicken" so I handed him a chunk of meat. He rejected it immediately and replied, "KICKEN!" Okay, then I guess Gabe can have the whole rest of the sandwich....and he did and he loved it....well, loved sucking the barbecue sauce out. Seriously. He didn't eat the sandwich, he sucked on it until there weren't any juices left but his own.
His daddy was feeling bad for him because he didn't eat much, so he went and bought him a corndog, complete with ketchup and mustard. Which of course he got on everything he was wearing. But, I was a good mom. I let the control freak, keep it clean, mother go and we just enjoyed that danged corndog with mustard and ketchup. And, actually it was pretty delicious. After Gabe declared he was done, I got out his bag to find some wipes to clean things up and instead of finding the wipes, I discovered a diaper bag without any diapers....and we were on hour four in the same diaper at that time....and planning to not be home for another 4 or so hours. CRAP! Who takes a child, that isn't potty trained, an hour from home, to a fair where you plan to spend an ENTIRE evening?????
I'm majorly desperate, and I actually start scanning the tables around us looking for strollers and children the same size as Gabe who just might not be potty trained and just might have a mother willing to give us a spare diaper. Because of course at this point, there really isn't time to walk to Walmart before the show. Then, my brain turns back on and I remember the "general store". If they sell sanitary napkins, surely they've got diapers! And, by golly they did....but only in a size three! Gabe wears a five, but a small diaper would be better than no diaper. Lucky for us they were Huggies and I have now learned that those Huggies are quite stretchable.
We head back across the grounds to the building where the show will be held. We took a quick detour through the FFA stalls and stopped to watch a portion of a stunt dog show. Gabe loved both. And, thanks to my stud of a husband, I was able to catch everything in pictures.
So, for today I shall share what I like to call the pre-show photos. In the next post, I will share show photos, and in a third post-show photos.
Without further adieu...
Major over stimulation with the lights, crowds, and sounds.
Pickles are yum-yum-yummy!
Intense.
He looks mad, but really he was just saying, "Cheese."
Delicious barbecue.
Suck, suck, suck....
Suck, suck, suck...
Finally, real fair food!
And, Gabe was very happy to eat it.
He was looking on to the next cow already.
It's hard to tell, but he was so excited.
This was his reaction to the dogs. He was clapping and laughing and loving it.
The stunt dog and trainer.
They were very good.
And, what is THAT?!
Get that out of your mouth, right now, young man!
QUIT!
Not really sure where the thumb sucking has come from recently, but it's not very often. So, maybe it's just in my head.
More to come in the next post. No guarantee on when that will happen...probably a good chance it will not happen until Sunday evening though.
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