South Plains Fair

We got to go to the fair twice this year!  Like last year.....we went first on Wednesday morning (September 27th) as part of play group.  At my friend Hannah's suggestion, I pulled Eve out of school for a couple of hours so she could come (like Hannah was doing with Naomi, Eve's friend).

It was cold and drizzly, but we had quite a group!  First stop, the sheep competition!  

Cora was so upset when she couldn't touch them.  (She didn't learn her lesson about touching sheep until later that morning.....)

Admiring the sheep from the comforts of the stroller.

The girls and their friends were quite content to play on these bleachers!  Unfortunately, Cora was not and was anxious to move on!  Her screams were drowning out the announcers reading the results of the competition, so we made our exit.

To the rabbits!  Oh, how Abigail wanted to touch them!

And Cora, of course.  

Definitely time for the petting zoo!  Goats and sheep for the touching!

Cora was in heaven!  They all were!  Halle wouldn't even hold still long enough for me to get a decent shot of her. 

Eve was mothering all the animals so nicely :)

Cora, unfortunately poked one too many eyes and the sheep decided to take matters into their own hands....

She was VERY wary of them after this incident and would start shrieking if their faces got too close.  I really, really, tried to not laugh, but wasn't successful.  

Eve still making friends....

Cora, on the other hand......

"Get away!"

Abigail really loved the goats and kept asking if she was allowed to touch their horns.  

Goats were a welcome change from sheep for Cora.

I tried to get a picture of our chicks with the chicks, like a do every year, but this was the best I got.  Cora would not hold still (even after all that happened, she kept trying to book it to the petting zoo) and she wasn't the only one not cooperating....

Like last year, they had a seal show.  We didn't see the show (it wasn't starting for a few more hours), but did have fun watching them swim around.  And it was nice to sit for a few minutes!

Llamas and ducks to see!  

Cora still determined to touch - I guess she wasn't too traumatized by the sheep encounter.  

Eve and Naomi - best buds!

Even more than the petting zoo, the girls LOVE the tractors!  

Eve, as she's playing with the gear shift, "Look, Mom!  It has a microphone!"

Eve and Naomi :)

After this, our group kind of went their own ways.  It was almost time to get Eve back to school, but the girls begged for one more time at the petting zoo.  

Cora kept a wary eye, but did just fine.  

Then we headed home!

I wanted to go back in the afternoon/evening before the fair ended on Saturday so the girls could do the rides.  And Andrew could come!  But with the rain and General Conference, our only available time was Friday afternoon.  And while the rides didn't open until 3pm, admittance to the fair is free until 1pm, so I picked Eve up early from school (again) and the girls and I got there just in time.  Unfortunately, Andrew couldn't get away from school.  So just us girls with 2 hours to kill until the rides opened.  So......we did all the same stuff we did on Wednesday....again......

But this time there were cows competing instead of sheep!

And I got the tractor picture I wanted!

More petting zoo fun - and no, it only looks like Cora is running from the sheep.  She loved every minute!

The South Plains Fair is 100 years old!  

We finished everything we wanted to do and still had like 45 minutes to kill, so just hung out with the seals for a while.  

Finally!  We started off big with the carousel - the only one Cora would ride.  (Although I mentioned in the prior post about their questionable height requirements - according to the doctor's measurements, she clearly passed the 30" mark.  Whatever.) 

Despite her calm exterior, Cora was thrilled!  She loves the carousel!  Once the movement started she was all smiles and laughs.  

Eve and Halle's next ride.  Abigail was too short for most rides and was super disappointed about it.  

But not too short for these race cars!  The girls all loved this one!  It's the kind that whips you around the turns and they got a big kick out of that.

Eve's all-time favorite ride that she does every year.  Halle too, as of last year, although, I don't think she loves it quite as much as Eve.

Abigail got one last, extra ride since she couldn't do all the ones she wanted to with her sisters.  

We finished off the afternoon with some cotton candy and Eve said, "The fair is delicious!"  Haha, and that's all we sampled!  All the expensive, fried food just doesn't call to me....

And Cora finally crashed, thank goodness!  Poor girl freaked out when I took her off the carousel and didn't stop fussing until she fell asleep.  She takes her fair rides very seriously.  

We saved her a taste of cotton candy for when we got home - she loves it too!

Home just in time for a quick dinner, then babysitting co-op at our house.  Whew!  I was tired.  And to make matters worse, I wasn't paying attention when the girls and I first arrived at the fair that afternoon and smacked myself in the head with the car trunk door trying to close it.  So whopper headache for the whole day (and since then til now - still waiting for it to go away!)

But guess what???  I'm now caught up on the blog!  Just in time to head to Colorado this week for Uncle Eric's wedding!