State Fair 2008

Anthony came home from a long business trip on Wednesday at lunch time and didn't have to go in to work that afternoon. So we let the younger boys nap, grabbed Jacks from school and headed down to Fair Park!

As soon as we walked in, the most immediate mission was FOOD! So we picked up a corn dog or two. Then Jacks played a game where he had to toss a ball into a bucket two times in a row, and he won a big plush dog! He was so proud, especially because Anthony tried to play right after Jacks did and he couldn't do it.

Next, it was time to check out the rides. Bumper cars, little boats, a caterpillar rollercoaster, and the log flume. They chose to do all those, rather then the big ferris wheel, the Texas Star. They'd been talking about the ferris wheel all week, so I was really surprised they passed on it. But they were seduced by all the lights and sounds of the kiddie rides right in front of them. :)

That last picture was taken about 2 seconds before the ride started and about 4 seconds before Cody completely freaked out. It was a pretty tame ride but it did go around in circles and the cars bumped up and down. After this, the bumper cars (which he enjoyed at first but then looked like he was going to hurl) and the Monkey Maze (where he kept bumping into walls), he refused to go on anything else. Poor guy, I think he was very overwhelmed by all the crowds and noise and lights and excitement, and then the motion of the rides just set him off even more. We did get him on the carousel at the end of the night, though.

So, it was time for something completely calm, involving just sitting as still as you can: face painting!

Jacks was SO proud of his snake face. He kept trying to walk around with his eyes closed to give everyone the full effect. We had so many people tell him he'd scared them and looked ready for Halloween!

Of course, we didn't figure in the fact that Jacks had Picture Day at school on Thursday. Boy, it was NOT pretty trying to get all that green off his face. He accidentally snorted soap up his nose in the process, so I think it will be a while before he gets his face painted that extensively again. Hopefully, we got enough of it off that he won't look like he has a black eye or is related to The Incredbile Hulk in his first grade class picture. :)

Meanwhile, Luke made friends with a giant pretzel. Anthony also gave him some lemonade in his sippy cup, so the little man was in heaven. Anyone who tried to take a bite of his pretzel was taking his life in his hands, for sure. Do YOU want to mess with him?


Then, it was off to the Age of Steam train museum where we could climb in and on all sorts of old trains. These pictures don't actually have much of the trains in them, but how could I focus on the trains when my subjects were so handsome in all their painted glory?

And finally, we hit the auto show. As soon as we walked in, Cody RAN right over to a red, Nissan GTR (according to Anthony, the coolest car ever) up on a platform, chanting "cool cars, cool cars!" He was entranced for a long while and ended up bringing home a poster to hang on his wall. Then he climbed inside an updated version of Anthony's old Z and "drove" us wherever we wanted to go.


On our way out, we stopped by Big Tex. Jacks and Cody thought it was pretty cool to see a cowboy that huge, but Luke was NOT amused. That giant man was moving and talking, and he was about 90 times bigger than anyone Luke had ever seen before. Can't really blame him for being a bit unsure.

Per Cody's request, we rode the Skyway back across the park to our car. He called it the Gondola (like the one we rode in Vail) and it was the one thing he wanted to do the whole time. So how could we refuse? And then we took a quick spin on the carousel on our way out.

We had such a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, we got in for $4 because we brought cans of food on a Wednesday, and it was the middle of the week so the crowds were minimal. We ate enough fried food that all of us can only eat broccoli for the next month, but it was worth it.

We can't wait to go back next year. And next year, we're definitely riding the ferris wheel. :)