AK State Fair

I have diligently avoided the fair for about nine years, but felt pressured to let Seth enjoy the experience this year. Seth goes pretty much no where without me, so I had to go, too. I was NOT looking forward to it in any way at all, but actually THOROUGHLY enjoyed it! I was expecting to just follow behind everyone, pushing Seth in the stroller, taking pictures of the kids as they rode rides and played games, but found myself participating in the fun because it really was fun. We were all smiling and laughing almost the whole day.

First the kids rode some rides. Amazingly, all of the children behaved nicely the majority of the time and rode some of the rides together.




I was afraid that Seth would be stuck in the stroller for all those hours, but there were toddler-appropriate rides that he LOVED! I tried three times to get a good video, but had to settle for three short not-so-good videos: part1, part2, part3 :-)



This was the best ride in the whole place: the Cliffhanger (it really should've been named the Hang-glider, though). Makenzie loved it, Luke liked it, Joel felt woozy and nauseated by it.


This is one of the cutest memories of the day: Luke helping Seth get on the "baby" ferris wheel . . .

. . . and making sure he stayed seated, nice and safe :-)


Then Makenzie decided that she wanted to ride this ride again -- with me! Since we were full-body-boxed-in no-chance-of-moving-in-any-way, I LOVED it!!!!!



Next it was time for some games. Seth went "fishing" for a duck . . .

. . . and won a penguin.


When the older three kids saw how easy it was to win something, they all went "fishing," too, and each won a penguin.


After a couple more games, Joel, Makenzie, and Luke rode the big ferris wheel. Makenzie wanted me to ride this one, too, but I had to draw the line somewhere :-) A rocking chair suspended millions of miles off the ground is NOT my idea of a good time! But the kids liked it.



So up to this point, that ferris wheel was the most stressful event to me -- Luke up in the air, not strapped in. I was imagining all kinds of ugly possibilities. But they made it through the ride with complete calmness and not even a hint of danger. Then the bottom dropped out of the safety tank! Makenzie, Luke, and I went into a little shop to look around. Luke told me that his feet were hurting really badly, so I told him to go ask Dad (who was right outside the door with the rest of the family) if Seth could walk for a while so that Luke could be in the stroller to rest his legs and feet. When Makenzie and I came out of the shop, we all started to walk. Two steps later, I realized that Seth was still in the stroller. WHERE'S LUKE??????? We thought he was with you. I sent him out to you to get in the stroller. LUKE?????!!!!!!! To make a long story short, Luke had walked out of the shop and turned right. He didn't see the rest of the family because they were to the left. He walked down the road quite a ways, decided he'd better turn around and go the other way because he hadn't seen the family, and was on his way back our way when Rich and Richard saw him. Jason was down the road the other way looking. Sandy was looking for the "lost child" authorities. Joel, Makenzie, Seth, and I were sitting outside the shop waiting. As soon as we saw Luke walking towards us, Makenzie and I started crying with relief and the realization of what COULD have happened. When I could loosen my hug on Luke and stop crying enough to talk, I asked Luke if he'd been scared. "No, Mom -- I'm a tough one!" Oh yeah, silly me -- I forgot. He told me his detailed plan for defending himself against kidnappers. I'm pretty sure no one would survive a Luke-attack, so maybe I don't need to worry so much about him (and, of course, he'll be on a child-leash next year!).

Our next stop was the hoola-hoop pile. Makenzie seems to have a real hoola-hooping talent (click for a little video). Joel and Luke were a little envious.



At the entrance to the animal-petting barn, there was this funny tractor thing:





Joel, Makenzie, and Luke fed the animals. Makenzie and Luke didn't really love that activity, but at least they tried it. Joel was less grossed out by the animal slobber.


Seth LOVES animals as long as they're on tv, in books, or stuffed. He didn't go inside the fence :-)



We found a free ride :-)



The kids wanted to ride the Cliffhanger with me again, so I went with Makenzie and Luke . . .


. . . and then again with Joel. After that third time on that thing, I was feeling a little bit queezy.


Seth got to ride the little train right before we left with our caramel apples :-)

Except for the "Lost Luke Scare," this was one of the best days with the kids EVER! I'm glad I gave in to the pressure :-)