Take Me To The Fair

We had a great night at the Ashland County Fair. As soon as we parked the van, Cooper's mouth dropped open at the sight of the lights and the rides. We went in and since it was Veterans' Night, Jimmy was admitted free. Saving $4 was cool, but even cooler for him was when some older Jarheads noticed his U.S.M.C. hat and said "Semper Fi" to him as they passed.

In we went and Abby started naming off the rides she wanted to go on. First was the swings. She had a blast. She actually got to ride two times in a row. At one point we wondered if she was about to barf over the side of her swing, but she didn't! She had a blast. Ride pictures will get added later!

We walked around and Jimmy made his way for the Fair Food. He says it's the most important thing about going to the fair. Italian Sausage, Blooming Potatoes, Cheese-on-a-Stick, Gyros, Funnel Cake, Elephant Ear, Deep Fried Oreos, Apply Dumplings ... so much food. No, we didn't get all of that. We just had the sausage, the funnel cake and the deep fried Oreos (which were SOOO surprisingly good!) Abby got sick of the food before Jimmy did:

















After we ate, we headed to the barns to see the animals. Cooper loves horses so going through the horse barns were his favorite. The picture below was taken next to a HUGE horse. It's head seemed bigger than Cooper's entire body!
















Abby really liked seeing all of the rabbits. She was amazed at the ones with big fat waddles hanging down. Personally, I never knew rabbits got as fat as some of these rabbits did. Her favorite, though, were these little mini-rabbits.

















Cooper and I had fun with these parrot sheep. That's not what they're really called, but whatever variation of "Baa" we said to them, they echoed and Cooper laughed. It was funny to watch.
















It's such a neat thing to take our children back to our own childhoods. It's why the Jersey Shore is a big deal to me and why my daughter has been to New York City four times in her four years of life. It's why taking my kids back to ACU is special to me and why Jimmy wanted me to learn how to make chocolate syrup. Jimmy made the comment last night that when he thought about going to the fair, he was thinking about the things that he wanted to do. It meant even more to spend the entire night doing what the kids wanted to do. It brings together who he was as a kid and who they are as kids. Here's to helping our kids know where we come from as they learn who they are.