2008 Texas State Fair

We all went to the fair last week when Chris and I took off of work.  We decided to pickup Sam early from day care and go to the fair in the evening so it wouldn't be too hot. It was dinner time when we got there so we headed straight for the corny dogs.  We took all of these pictures with point-and-shoot cameras.

We got there just as Melanie was getting off of work, so she decided to meet us there and join in the fun.

After dinner we headed for the rides.  I was excited that there were lots of rides Sam could ride, and many of them by himself.

This was his first ride.  These little dragon boats went in a circle like a carousel.  I'm surprised he was so brave because he didn't even want to sit on one of the animals on the carousel at the zoo a few weeks back.

This was the second ride and was actually the ride that he wanted to do first.  (We had to test him on the safer one first though.)  On this one the canoes winded through the "river" then went up a hill, through a cave, and then down a hill.  He loved it.

The plane ride was a big hit.  Sam loved that it went up and down.  Chris had to cram his legs in there though.  He said he had to turn his feet out to the side.

Mimi rode with Sam on the Wacky Worm.  I was really surprised that he was brave enough to do this one.  He couldn't wait though and took off running when they opened the gate.  By this point we were getting a lot of "my do it."  He didn't want us to help him onto or off of the rides.

Here's a shot of the whole Wacky Worm.  You can see Melanie in the front car, but Sam's just a bit too short to see.

Sam wanted to ride this swing ride because it had Diego, Dora, and Boots on it.  This ride actually made me the most nervous.  I don't think I ever liked this ride as a kid either.

Sam kept wanting more, more, more rides.  They mostly let the adults ride for free.  It can get quite expensive very quickly.  We decided to do one more ride and then head off to the ferris wheel.  Sam seemed a bit daring so I thought he might want to ride another roller coaster or maybe some race cars, but he chose this little whale ride instead.

I suggest that you actually watch a ride operating before you decide to get on.  It seemed like an innocuous little ride at first glance.  Imagine the motion that whales make jumping in and out of the water.  Then imagine a little fair ride trying to emulate that while going in a circle.  I really thought I was going to get sick.

Here's a little montage of Sam on the fair rides.  

Next we were off to the ferris wheel. The 212-foot Texas Star Ferris Wheel has been the largest in America since it debuted in October 1985.

A group photo at the bottom.

Sam and Mommy at the top.

Mimi and DeeDah.

The Dallas skyline from the ferris wheel.

Sam loved the ferris wheel.  He pays attention now when we are "high in the air" - like when we go over a highway overpass he says, "we go high, Momma,"  which is always followed by, "more high?  more high?"

Sam up on DeeDah's shoulders walking down the midway.

Of course we had to stop and watch the trains at the feet of Big Tex.

We staid late to see Illumination Sensation.  It was billed as a Vegas type light show with music.  

Sam was glad to sit down and rest.

And then the "light show" started.  We somehow missed the pyrotechnics part of the description.  It was quite warm sitting that close.  There were fireworks, lights, and music too.  There was also video projected on a huge screen.

Sam was doing great and was even dancing along to the music, but then he got scared.  He climbed into my lap and buried his head on my neck.  He kept saying "I scared."  He talked about how much it scared him for about a week, but now he keeps asking to watch the "fireworks" video over and over again.  I'm glad because we thought the show was going to be mostly fireworks, and I didn't want him to be scared of fireworks.

We had to walk back down the midway to get back to our cars, so we stopped to let Sam play a game.  He wasn't quite sure what to do at first.

He had to pick two ducks.  All the ducks had S, M, L, or XL written on the bottom, which determined which prize you would win.

Sam got to pick a prize off the wall.  I thought he might be upset that he had to give back the rubber duckies, but he was happy to get this ducky instead.  We keep talking about how he won his ducky at the fair.

Melanie wanted to try a fried s'more before we left.  We tried to find one, but we found out that there was only one booth that sold them and it was way on the other side of the fairgrounds.  She decided to try a fried Oreo instead.  The batter was like funnel cake, and they put chocolate sauce and powdered sugar on them.  They were pretty darn good.  

We took a few last shots of the ferris wheel as we were leaving ...

We had a blast at the fair this year!  We got to do a lot more things than I thought we would.  Sam was very excited but he stuck by us pretty well.  I think going on a week night was great because it wasn't very crowded and it wasn't hot.  I can't wait to go back next year.  Maybe we'll go a little earlier and try to see some of the animals too!