Puyallup Fair 2011

We took the day off school today, and headed out to the Fair.  It was crowded, sunny, and hot, but we had a good time.  We spent the day with a good friend, which always makes things even better.

Because it was opening day, we watched the parade first.  We found a good spot near the end of the parade route.  It isn't a fancy parade, but it is fun nevertheless.

Maddie enjoyed everything about the parade except for people who wanted to interact with her.  She's much too shy for that.

Mika wanted to find a cowboy hat to buy, and she succeeded.  Ever since we went to their first rodeo, my older two kids have wanted a hat and boots.  Today, they got their hats.

On the way to see some animals, we found the fire truck and firefighters.  Josh loved his new tattoo.  I put Maddie's on her forearm,.

We spent a good deal of our time looking at animals.  We loved this chicken.  We think the black-tipped feathers are gorgeous.  If we ever get chickens, we want this kind.  It's a Wyandotte.

We also enjoyed looking at some rather odd looking birds: pigeons (I think) with curly feathers, chickens with wild hairdos, and another with while tuffs of hair on either cheek.

We thought the coloring on this duck was particularly pretty too.

A row of sleeping ducks were just begging to be photographed.

On the way to a restroom, we found the 4H cats.  One of them was decorated with Doctor Who.  We love Doctor Who in this family, going to great lengths to see the new episodes even though we don't get broadcast TV or cable.  (We all sit huddled up around my laptop.)

We decided to head over to the Mutton Busting where kids under 60 pounds get to ride sheep bareback in an attempt to win the contest, much like a bull riding contest.  We were in the direct sun waiting for the show to start.  Doesn't Josh look hot and tired and a little bored?

The show turned out to be a lot of fun.  I caught this spectacular wipe out.

With no qualifying rides half way through the lineup, the announcer offered this kid $5 if he stayed on all the way to the other end of the arena.  He made it, and won the round.

Here's cowboy Sam watching the show.  He loves his new hat.

After mutton busting, we headed out for rides.  Each kid was given the choice of one ride each.  Sam wanted to go on the wooden roller coaster, but it was closed.  He chose a spinning ride and rode it with my friend's daughter.  My friend and Mika went on the Ferris wheel.  I took the littles on the carousel.  Maddie had initially spotted the canoes and took off running in an attempt to board one, but she was too short for the ride's requirements (a silly requirement for that ride).  She was pretty unhappy about that.  But she loved her first carousel ride.

After the rides, we all met up at the Pavillion for the arts displays.  The quilts, as usual, were stunning.  The art was good, though some were fabulous.  I love the photo salon, but I didn't get to see the whole thing.  I suddenly felt very sick and went to sit down for a bit.  I feared heat exhaustion/stroke, and after a while I was concerned that I wasn't feeling better.  Then my friend offered me some nuts and that did the trick.  Apparently, my blood sugar was low even though I never got hungry.  I hate that.


We headed out after that and were thankful we parked close to the gates.

And here's what happens when boys were flip flops to the fair.  Ewwwww!