Ventura County Fair

Tuesday morning we got up bright and early (good practice for kindergarten!!!!) and headed to Mimi and Papa's for a day of fun.  We started with breakfast/second breakfast in the back yard, complete with figs straight from the tree! Heaven in my mouth!!

Then we headed out with Mimi and Papa, Auntie, Parker J and Eden to the Ventura County Fair.  Parker J has been going for the last few years and was through the roof with excitement.  My kids have never been and weren't really sure what to expect but Parker's excitement definitely rubbed off on them. 

I'm not crazy about fairs, hence why my kids had never been.  It had just never worked out in years passed, although Mimi and Papa had invited us before.  This year worked out perfectly and I put aside my distaste for crowds, heat and smells and we had a magical day.

We started with all the animals.  The boys went into one exhibit to see a reticulated python.  Since it cost extra to see this I opted to stay out.  But it was a highlight for sure.

Loved this little calf named ChaCha!!

And we spent a good amount of time swooning over the baby pigs.  I have been pestering Brian for a while about getting a teacup pot belly pig as a pet (he is horrified at the idea) and totally unprompted Scott said, "I want a baby pig as a pet!" And then says, "They are so cute I can't even stand it."

Chickens:

And baby goats...

The boys were good sports about all the fair photo ops.

We stopped for lunch at this stage and listened to some fun jazz music.  We were probably the only ones who brought hard boiled eggs, cut up veggies and fruit etc. instead of indulging in fair food, but I just can't deal with fair food.  Ugh. Nightmares.  The mascot came through while we were eating and did a little dance, and Parker joined him.  Awesomeness.  You have to look closely but this a picture of parker getting down the mascot (I don't know exactly what it was but it looked like a germ, coincidence?)

After lunch we started on rides.  My two were not about the swings so Auntie bravely rode with Parker J.  I would have barfed.

Then the helicopters.  The big boys rode together and I though Owen would just take the back seat.  Nope.  He wanted to drive and was just fine going by himself.

Big boys in the police helicopter.

Then the carousel where Owen got a turn to ride with his cousin (Scott sat this one out because he didn't get the horse he wanted.  Life lessons. Sigh.)

The boy really wanted to do this but they weren't tall enough, thankfully, because it looked pretty dangerous. I really wanted to go on it and sing Grease songs though...

Hilary and I then took the big boys on the big ferris wheel. Poor Owen was too short.  They were a little nervous at first but ended up loving it.

Going up...

Love those views.

There is something magical to me about ferris wheels....

While the big boys were doing that Papa took Owen and the bumblebees and he had a blast.  Well, I think they both did.

Then we were on to the bumper boats.  This was probably the biggest hit of the day, especially for Owen.  So much so that he begged and pleaded to go on it again.

The last thing of the day was playing a little duck game where all the boys won a prize, and of course they all picked inflatable swords that were as tall as they are.

Thanks for a fun day at the fair, Mimi and Papa.

Loving these end of summer memories.