Lee County Fair 2011

We made our annual visit to the Lee County Fair last Tuesday night and had a ball!  Turner has been talking about going back to the fair since we drove out of the parking lot last fall, and she has specifically asked throughout spring and summer when she could ride the Ferris Wheel again.

We love to go back and look through pictures from our trips to the fair in years past  2010  2009  2008.  Each year we've learned something new - nostalgia is powerful, activities we loved in childhood aren't the same as an adult, the necessity of having more money than you planned at the fair, and the extreme value in wet wipes and germX at venues such as the restroom at the county fair grounds....I could go on and on!  This a family tradition from my childhood, and it makes my heart happy to have established this as something Mark, Turner, and I all look forward to each year.

Mark insists on getting a picture of me and Turner together on the Merry-Go-Round (to the non-rednecks I guess that would be Carousel?).  It is really fun to look back and see how we've both changed over the years!

The first roller coaster ride of the year!

Dancing to the music from Mommy's favorite ride from her teenage years...she danced so much she eventually tripped over a rock and landed hiney first in the dirt!  (She meaning Turner, not me.)

This ride makes us laugh because every time the car swings her around, she squeals the most high pitched little squeal!  You can see the anticipation on her face here...

...and how much she loves this ride here!

It's important to teach them the basics of gaming early in life you know?  In this game, you place your quarter on the color of the hole that you think the rat will run in when he's released from captivity!  Grown adults were losing big money on this game I tell you!

One of our favorite parts of the fair is the livestock show going on each night.  This year we went on the night they were showing sheep and we got to watch them shearing sheep up close.  As we were watching, this young man below approached us and in his most polite way asked if we'd like to come and look at his sheep.  We were thrilled and he led us to his pen where there were three sheep - Roly, Poly, and Oreo which was his sheep.  His name is Layne and his sweet little accent and his polite manner just made our night.  He was quite talkative and by the end of our visit (about 5 minutes) we knew where he was from, that they were going to kill Poly because she kicked someone, they were staying in a hotel for the week.  He was a doll!

Look at that little gentleman laying his hip into Roly to move him over so Turner could pet Oreo.  :)

Of course we had to ride the dragon roller coaster again - the one that we put Turner on when she was not yet 2 years old and I swore she'd have whiplash.  The one I thought DHR might have called us about.  She loves this ride!

Turner really wanted to play "games" this year, which is obviously the biggest money pit at the fair.

And of course we picked the purple dog as the prize.  She had several options, including an offer from the man "you can even have a character from South Park if your Mom will let you have it".  Seriously??

This year we felt like Turner was ready for the Glass House.  I took her through first with me, and then surprisingly she went through alone the second time around.  I was watching and ready to run in if needed if I saw panic...but then I got completely tickled when she got overconfident and sped through and ran face first into the glass right in front of us.  We're awful parents because we thought it was hilarious!  Even this week, she's still talking about how much she enjoyed this experience at the fair this year!

Pop - these are for you.  :)  In the 8 car.

One more turn on the dragon - ALONE!!

Check out those hands in the air!

One year I am going to ride this at the fair.  I'll probably regret it...but I have always wanted to try it just once!

One of her favorite things is the big slide.  Note that pink bunny and purple dog also got a ride on the slide!

Another fun fall evening at the fair!  Only 355 days until we can go back!