On Friday, we drove to the Texas State Fair. Our original plan was to take the kids to the Heart of Texas Fair in Waco, but Jeff wanted to take the kids to Dallas to see the State Fair. We piled in the car and started our drive, only to screech on the brakes in Bellmead where traffic stood at a standstill. UT-OU traffic! We quickly diverted our route heading toward Corsicana and took I-45 which smoothly delivered us to the State Fair with no hiccups. The kids were anxious to get out of the car and really enjoyed the tram ride to the admissions gate. We were super surprised with how long the admission line was at 8:30! We were also surprised how friendly the crowd was in line. A woman gave us an extra coupon that got adults in 1/2 price with the purchase of a child's admission. Wow! Thanks!! We walked in and the kids were great the entire time. They were in awe of all the surroundings, but they were quick to listen and never drifted far from us at all. In fact, they came to us to hold our hand through the crowds. Julia & Jeff had the first adventure of going through a Fun House. While we were in line there, we were greeted by strangers who handed us 2 free armbands. They explained the armbands got you on rides for 1/2 price! They even showed us how to put them on the kids arms so we could slip them on to our wrist for changing out. Hey, it worked! Next, Julia & I went on another Fun House (JC was going to go, but he wasn't tall enough.) Julia & I walked together and did pretty well, then came the slide. It was small, dark and twisted forever. I was so spun around I couldn't find Julia! Come to find out, she waited for me at the bottom of the slide and I jumped off looking for her. We met & made it out okay, and decided we were done with rides for this year.
The kids each got to play one game and won stuffed animals. Thankfully, they were small dolls and fit in the backpack! We saw OU/UT fans carrying huge stuffed animals & $100 dollar bill body pillows (no thank you @ our house!). We walked to see the Texas Star (giant ferris wheel) and decided it was too late, too long & too expensive this trip, maybe next time. But we took some great pictures. Then we headed to the Texas Skyway and the kids were excited to ride before we even got up to the line. There was no line and the night view was wonderful. JC was glued to the window and showing us all of what we had already seen down low on the ground. Julia was glad to take mine & Jeff's picture. Thank goodness we didn't kiss, because she would have had to cover her eyes! We just rode one way, then started walking heading toward Big Tex. The kids didn't know what that meant until they saw him, then they were glad to have their picture next to him and Julia suggested we all pose our arms like Big Tex.
Our only food purchase (sorry no fried butter or any other foods of gluttony!) was SALT WATER TAFFY. By the way, Jeff bought an assortment and I requested black walnut because it's the best! I was happy with my 2 pieces and that was my fill of taffy until next year. Quickly, we passed the Children's Mercy petting zoo and Jetta saw kittens. She was in love with those kittens and hated to leave, but she was so tired she didn't make a fuss. A staff person greeted us and the kids, her name was Maria Laura and she was so friendly. We headed back to the tram and the ride back on the tram was more fun than the original ride to. The kids were tired and ready to cuddle. We knew they were tired from walking but we couldn't carry them all. We made a fun game called "Count the Cars" which was a game where we counted the number of cars until a certain landmark. We tried guessing, but they were more interested in counting. Before we knew it, we were to our car and the kids climbed in. Julia curled up and was asleep before we pulled out of our parking spot, Jetta fell asleep close behind. JC was a trooper with us and stayed up all the way until West watching Tom & Jerry.
Jeff & I in front of Big Tex (love birds!) & Jeff below in front of the ESPN College Gameday big screen ready for UT-OU game. (UT won btw... yippee!)
3 comments:
When I was growing up our family went to the Kansas state fair in Hutchinson AND the Illinois state fair in Springfield. I remember my Dad would always like to go by the salt water taffy to stand and watch the taffy pull machine. I guess he must have been fascinated by it. I don't remember if we ever bought any taffy. Your comment about buying taffy triggered that memory -30-
I love JC's face in the picture of the kids. He looks like a serious farmer that knows he has to get up early to plow the field. :o)
There was so much going on, I can't believe we got the kids in one picture together without getting knocked over by the crowd!
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