County Fair

County fair time around here has come and gone, but we sure had a lot of fun this year.  It is something we anticipate all year, as we drive by our county fair grounds several times a week.  The kids love to see the trucks arriving with the rides on them...seeing the fair grounds come to life before their eyes.  Such fun!

 And this has to be my new favorite picture!  Just look at the looks of pure joy and happiness on these faces!  The girls loved this ride and I'm so thankful I was able to capture their joy.  It makes me happy to "see" them so happy:)

The kids loved looking at all of the animals, and also enjoyed learning their names when they were posted on the cages.

 Sam had a close encounter with this cow who was getting groomed at the time:)

They were all excited to be able to pet a horse and all seem eager to ride.  I can't wait to take them all horse back riding for the first time (not sure when that will be yet, but I am excited already!).  Emmeline already knows she wants to ride a white horse:)

 And farm/lawn equipment is always a huge draw!

Sam has reached 48 inches, so he was able to go on a few new things this year.  The girls are just lucky they have each other, so that they always have a partner.  Now if they could just agree on the same rides, that would make things much easier:)

Sam and Mollie tried out something new called Sea Hamsters at our fair this year.  They were each inside of a huge plastic ball in a pool of water and then could move around in there like a hamster.  They LOVED it and both had fun.  Emmeline decided she wasn't quite ready for that kind of fun yet!

 They all enjoyed slushies when we needed a break.  It was quite fun to just sit and take in all of the action.

All of the kids tried this jumping while in a harness attraction and loved it.  Wish we had something like this in our backyard because I'm sure Mollie would be doing flips in no time.  She was so frustrated that she couldn't figure out how to flip during the 5 minutes she had to jump.  But they all did great and had fun.

Emmeline chose the teacups and Mollie didn't want to go on, so Ed went with her.  I have to say it was adorable and that Ed is such a good sport (and good dad:).

Sam tried the bumper cars for the first time because he was finally tall enough!  It was quite funny because while everyone else was busy bumping into each other and getting stuck, Sam was driving around the outside.  He just wanted to drive and figured out where he needed to go to avoid getting bumped!

Sam and I enjoyed a ride on the Ferris Wheel.  It's our tradition to do this every year together at the fair and I love it:)  I told him that even when he is 16, we are still going to take a ride together because it's a special thing for us to do.  He said that was fine, but I'm not so sure what he'll think when he's 16!

So another year of county fair memories are behind us.  It's hard to believe because we always seem to wait ALL year for the short-lived fair to come, and then it is here and gone in the blink of an eye.  But never without fun memories, for which I am so thankful!