2014 NC State Fair

Grant was jazzed about the idea of going to the fair this year. Since he remembers some of what we did last year at the fair, when he found out we were going this year he talked a lot about what he wanted to do. This year's trip was a little shorter than years past. I work at the fair for my job and I've spent entirely too many days at fairs this year. But I couldn't not take him, he was just too excited.

Usually we go on the last Sunday. This year I decided we should go on the last Saturday and I could have Sunday to recoup before work on Monday. Bad idea. Saturday at the fair when you're already anti-fair is just plain silly. 

Grant's Fair To-Do List:

• See animals
• Eat a hot dog
• Eat ice cream

I used our staff parking (yay!) and the poultry stuff was closest to us, so we visited that stuff first.

Checking out the pond

This thing was big and mouthy 

Check out the one-legged guy in the middle (it's not
standing on one leg...it only has one leg)

And there was more interesting stuff inside the poultry tent:

Purdy duck

Baby things

Fun spotted things

Poultry with fun hair-dos

Grant's favorite were the big turkeys. Loved 'em and had
to point out all of them for us.

I find them creepy and slightly ugly.

We made our way towards the kids tent which was pretty crowded but Grant got to see the T-Rex skull in there so that was exciting for him.

We meandered through the building with the dairy cows (and to say hi to my co-worker)...

Best seat in the house!

And then over to the Expo building to get a better view of animals and some over-sized produce.

Fun balloon display!

Huge pumpkins!

My friend & co-worker, Penny, was set up in the Expo building which is also where the milking booth is. She asked Grant if he wanted to pet a cow. Of course he did. So Grant got to go behind-the-scenes to see the dairy cows that weren't being milked right then.

See animals: check.

Telling Penny "It's so soft!"

I was kind of amazed that he was so willing to pet her. Penny asked if he wanted to milk one and he said yes. Again...kind of amazed. So after his VIP cow petting experience, we hopped in line to milk one. He'd been very shy that day, maybe the crowd intimidated him. But he sat right down with the girl and she showed him how to do it.

He says he sort of got milk to come out :)

After that we got some lunch and walked around trying to avoid the busier spots.

Hot dog: check.

There was a fireman giving out hats...he wears it all the time now.

Grant remembered going on the kiddie roller coaster last year so we stood in a crazy long line to do that again. It acutally moved pretty fast though.

Sadly, that's where our fair experience ends. One ride. We were there for about 3 hours and after walking back through a crowd...I just kind of had had it. I felt terrible because Grant was disappointed but I had to go. We didn't get ice cream at the fair so we took Grant to Cold Stone when we left. As it turns out, chocolate ice cream makes you forget that mean Mama made you leave the fair early :)

High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren and Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) Friday I got to wear a new scarf that I made!

2) Friday night Grant spent the night with his Gramma & Grandpa so Husband & I could go to the Hurricanes home opener. We were very excited! Then they lost. But we haven't had a date night in a while so it was nice to just spend some time together.

3) We practice a lot at home with Grant helping him learn to write. He's gotten so good at writing his first name (I can't believe it's not all over our walls yet because he loves to write it!). Now we're working on his full name and he's even more excited about that!

He was so proud of himself!

4) After consulting with a friend who told me how to make real chicken & dumplings, I tried it out on Sunday (since I had a chicken in my freezer). It turned out great! Seriously, I've been eating it for lunch all week. The best part of making it, though, was my helper. Grant begged to help me. So when it came time, he was the official adder of the dumplings (and stir-er...very important jobs). 

5) Our State Fair started this week. Which I sort of dread since I have to work out there. BUT this will be our last fair of the year. I am looking forward to taking Grant, though. As much as I don't enjoy it when I'm working out there, it's much more fun when we get to watch Grant enjoying himself!

Throwback to my first year working at the fair...back
when I still got excited about it!

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

High Five for Friday

It's November! Which means the state fair is over and my fall season can finally begin! Today I'm linking up with Lauren to share some of the good stuff from my week (and then end of my October).

1) The state fair does fireworks every night of the fair at 9:45, which is way later than Grant's bedtime. But as a treat on Saturday we met for dinner after my shift at the fair was over and then parked near the fairgrounds for Grant's first actual fireworks display. They were much closer than we thought they'd be but that wasn't a problem. Grant loved them! I'm so glad he's not scared of them (my sister was for years...now she just hates clowns) because fireworks are great!

Waiting for the fireworks to start!

Open-mouthed amazement the whole time. Except for the
few minutes that he spent pointing out to us that the fireworks
didn't come from where we first told him to look. Smarty pants.

2) Even though I spent 6 days at the state fair for work, I couldn't let Grant miss it just because I was sick of it. So on Sunday, the last day, we took Grant to the fair. We ate, went on some rides (ok, I was the only one who rode with him), people watched, ate...the usual fair stuff. Grant had a great time and even rode one ride by himself! (That doesn't sound like a big deal but, to me, it is considering it's the fair.)

Riding all by himself!

His souvenir from the fair...love at first sight!

3) Monday I surprised Husband and Grant with some cupcakes after dinner from Sugarland in Cameron Village. They were so good!

I bet you'll never guess which one was for Grant. 

It's possible that I may have stuck his face in it...

4) I didn't have time to carve any of our pumpkins this year, which makes me sad (but I will definitely be harvesting their seeds for roasting - which makes me happy!). However, Grant and I made time to use this Mr. Potato Head Pirate kit that I bought after Halloween last year and have been saving! It wasn't nearly as easy as they lead you to believe, but we got it!

5) Halloween! I baked a Halloweeny cake for my coworkers and last night we took Grant trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. No hesitation this year! He loved every minute of it.

Cake for work - fun!

Trick-or-Treat!

6) BONUS: Did I mention the state fair ended and my schedule is back to normal! Thank goodness it only comes once a year.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I hope you have a great weekend!

2012 NC State Fair

This is a favorite time of year for many people but not for me. I rarely "enjoy" the state fair since I have a job that requires me to work there and this year was no exception. I had intended to make our "fun" day at the fair the first Sunday (since I was off) but after being there for work I just couldn't do it. But for the last half of the fair, I had to go on a business trip to Greensboro, NC for a conference. And that nice break from the fairgrounds made me want to take Grant on the very last day of the fair. We managed to avoid the biggest crowded areas and actually had a good time. Grant had a great time! It's always fun to watch him play and discover new things.

That morning, having been told we were going to the fair, he kept reminding us "I need see cows." We assured him that he was going to see cows. "I need see pigs." We promised pigs. "I need see goat." (I guess he only wanted to see one) And we promised goats. And he got to see all that and more. Cows, pigs, chickens, goats, horses, bees...the works. Throw in the police helicopter and motorcycle and he was one happy little boy.

Amazed by the animals.

Probably my favorite non-Grant picture of the day.

Grant said "It's night time? They sleepin?"

Look at the ears on that cutie!

Grant loooves buses so we went through the school bus exhibit

 He got a little nervous but we made it out.

 And he was very excited about his bus-shaped eraser (and
sticker) that he got at the end!

Having made my way around the fairgrounds more than once (but managed to miss the fried cheese booth every time), I knew where to head next. The UNC-TV kids tent! I had noticed a cardboard figure of Buddy from The Dinosaur Train out front so I really wanted Grant to see that. He likes to watch The Dinosaur Train...and pretty much loves dinosaurs in general.

Very happy about seeing Buddy. Grant kept saying "Dinosaur camp out?"
Because he often picks out his Dinosaur Train book to read at night
and it's the one where they camp out.

Brief distraction of a race car. I think it took him about
10 seconds to spot it and make a bee-line for it.

Then back inside the kids tent where they had some cute
activities for the little ones.

Then we found some Linner (too late for lunch but not quite dinner?):

Always hungry for french fries. What kid isn't?

Then rides! I was very excited to take Grant on his first fair rides. We ended up on the merry-go-round. There was a monster truck ride that he was very excited about but it looked too small for me to ride with him and there was no way I was letting him ride alone at the fair.

"Hi Daddy!"

Enjoying a post-merry-go-round cake pop.

Our second (and last) ride of the day was the dragon ride. You sit in the belly of the dragon and it just kind of goes in circles. I let him choose between a pirate one and the dragon one that both did bassically the same thing. He picked the dragon one.

And I make really bad faces when I'm trying to get Grant to wave.

After that we headed back towards the car and stopped so Grant could say so long to Buddy. And exhaust some of the endless supply of energy.

Hugs for Buddy.

Running around like a crazy man!

So that was that. We made a quick stop for some roasted corn (double dipped in butter and sprinkled with salt - YUM!) and headed home. It was fun...probably the first time I've enjoyed the fair in at least 3 years!

He had a good time too.