The State Fair

While Ben was bow hunting over Labor Day weekend, Diane and I met cousins down in Salem at the State Fair. I went into the day purposing to have fun despite traffic, long lines and ridiculous prices., and to say "yes" as often as possible. We talked over expectations for the fair and the boys said that they really wanted to see the draft horses, go on two rides, and eat a treat. Clear expectations and good attitudes helped make for a really fun day!

The boys were so excited to see Draft horses. This is such a sweet picture of the boys:

We had lots of fun at the Forest Service booths. Josh and the turtle were friends:

Sam learning how to fight fires

I squeaked out a "yes" when the boys asked to go on a pony ride for a ridiculous amount of money; I'm so glad I did, because all the boys were so thrilled to go on their first horse ride. 

Sam

Don't you love this expression on Josh's face...a little unsure

Seth

Fair food: SO GROSS! AND EXPENSIVE! And the kids called it their favorite food ever. Eating gluten and dairy free is always a bit of a challenge at places like this, but we settled on a turkey leg, curly fries, corn on the cob, and pulled pork nachos.

Seth tackling the turkey leg

Sam's turn

For dessert the twins were thrilled to tried ice cream dots (Seth, Sam)

While we waiting in line for our final ride (the Ferris wheel), for which we had just paid an exorbitant amount of money, it started trickling rain. But we had just bought the tickets and it was our last thing before leaving, so we weren't too concerned about a bit of rain We hung out in line while others started abandoning. Then it REALLY started raining...then it started pouring, and kept pouring. And we were no longer laughing, and Josh was crying and we were soaked. So we huddled under the umbrella next to the line, and hoped to be first on the ride when the rain stopped. Then we found out that the ride wouldn't open for a long time because they had to wipe down each seat and all the wheel spokes. All we could do was laugh and keep a good attitude. 

And then the Lord gave us a wonderful beautiful rainbow as the rain stopped. 

And the boys asked if they could jump in the puddles and I said "yes" because they couldn't get any wetter. And it's a great memory.

Then, because we needed to wait for the rides to be dried off, we headed to the horse arena and got to see a great show: 3 teams of 6 draft horses pulling buggies. It was awesome!

When the draft horse show was over, we headed to the Ferris wheel...and the line was enormous. So we counted our losses and hit the carousel.

Seth on his reindeer

The day ended with soaking wet clothes but full and happy hearts. We were so thankful for Grandma DiDi for joining us and thankful for memories made together.