We went to the fair!...in June

We went to the Upper Missouri River Valley Fair again this year. Tons of fun!! (You can see pictures from last year HERE) It had been pouring rain for days before but luckily it warmed up the day we were planning on going. We had so much fun as a family the first day that while Bret was working the nest day us girls decided to go back for round two!

Our first stop was the ferris wheel!

The greatest view is always from the top.

 

Next stop, the carousel.

 

We got to the fair before everything was ready to open so we spent time checking out the petting zoo and the little side shows. You know, 25 cents to see the 1,000 pound pig. 50 cents to see the largest horse ever. Those sort of side shows. (Which makes me think of the children's book The Smallest Elephant In The World by Alvin Tresselt. Its an older book but if you haven't read it, you need to! Its like $3 on amazon.)

Back to the fair... and the 1,000 pound pig and 9 foot horse.

 

There was this scary looking fairy lady with a "pet turtle" (like a parade float only built on a wagon) carrying around the fairy house on its back. Honestly it was a little creepy but the little kids loved it.

 

 

There were all sorts of little doors and windows with puppets and old pictures of fairies. Even a sunflower that sprinkled glitter everywhere.

 

There was a whole area set up for little kids. Ring toss, giant checker boards, bowling games, noise maker things. All sorts of stuff. Oh, and a bunch of bouncy houses... we spent hours there!

 

The girls each brought a couple of dollars to the fair to buy treats with but they both ended up spending their money to ride the ponies. They were so excited!

 

 

We went to the petting zoo where the girls brushed a cow, fed sheep and goats, watched baby chicks hatch, milked cows and saw a few new animals. (I have a couple videos I'll try and post at the end of this post. I don't have the best luck when it comes to posting videos.)

 

 

This next animal is my absolute favorite! Its called Indu Brazilian Zebu. They're originally from India but in the late 1800's thousands were taken to Brazil. It looks like a strange mix between cow, horse and giant dog. The longer I stared at it and watched it move and play the more I felt like I was just watching a puppy play...but it was a HUGE puppy. Its wrinkles and flaps of skin were so smooth and soft. Is it even possible for wrinkles to be smooth??? Anyway, if I had a farm I would definitely be buying one of these for a pet!

Haylee looks terrified only because this guy stuck his tongue out and it almost touched her head!

Surprisingly, Maycie wasn't scared at all!

 

Next up... the rides!

 

First up was a ride like the spinning teacups, only we were in a spinning bear.

 

Next up were the kiddie rides. I love that Haylee seems to be having such a great time on these rides. I could walk around them at the same speed. They were not the most thrilling rides but she was making them fun for Maycie.

 

This picture cracks me up! Haylee's pose is so funny!

 

Then the ride that we went on over and over and over and over and OVER again... the ride that spins around and the centrifugal force squishes everybody together. I lost count of how many times we rode this ride. More often than not the ride operator would just let us stay on the ride because he knew we'd be racing back to get in line. I have videos of this as well! 

 

 

On a little side note, there is a dirt race track on the fair grounds. There are races there all the time. During the week of the fair, my work, CUPS Drug Testing sponsored one of the tow trucks. That's the tow truck. The girls spotted it when we were riding the ferris wheel so before we left we made sure we took a picture of it. 

 

 

After two long, fun filled days at the fair, the girls were asleep before we even pulled onto pavement!

 

The end.