a day at the fair

we spent last friday at the state fair. grandpa and uncle brian came up for the "adventure". now if you are a parent you know that anytime you take a two year old and a five year old anywhere you only have a slight chance that the outing will be a success. you've got melt downs to worry about, whining (my personal favorite), pouting, sickness, the list goes on....

so we are three days post our visit to the state fair and i'm still undecided as to whether i should call this outing a success or not. if you ask the boys they had a blast and would go back in a heart beat - and i guess that is really all that matters. but if you ask mom (me), grandpa and uncle brian i don't think you'd get the same answer. and if you look at the pictures you'd think we had a perfect, norman rockwell day at the fair....but looks can be somewhat deceiving.....

the day started with lots of excitement and the rides were the biggest hit of all. blake’s favorite was the helicopter ride and michael’s favorite was the log ride even though he complained about getting wet both times he rode it.....

me: michael what did you expect – it’s a water ride? don’t you see all that water splashing around?
michael: well it’s just all your fault. you shouldn’t have let me go on that thing in the first place.
me: ok. you're right. let's go then.
michael: no, no – wait! i definitely want to ride it again.

and the animals were a big hit too, but of course there was complaining about the smell....

michael: i can’t go in there! it stinks and i’m allergic to cows.
me: you are not allergic to cows. you just milked one in the other building.

it wasn't log after that that the whining started.....there was whining because we used all the ride tickets....there was whining when the no fair toys rule was implemented....and then there was whining because we were walking so much and feet were hurting. and then mr-it's-not-fair showed up....you know him....it's not fair that we don't get a toy....it's not fair that we can't ride more rides. i love mr-it's-not-fair almost as much as whining....

it was about this time that our adventure to the fair came to an end. the ride home was all about learning to be thankful for the things that you do get to do and all the rides that you did get to ride. i even used the phrase "just think about all the boys and girls who never get to go to the fair and who don't get to ride any rides".....to which michael replied "well they didn't get a fair toy either then"....the joys of parenthood....