My family loves the state fair. We happen to live quite close to the fairgrounds where the state fair is held every year. All my life I've lived here and every year I love to go. It was about the rides when I was young. A bit about the games, but most were losing propositions so not overly much. Later on it was about being somewhere unchaperoned with a boy I liked. It was about the free samples and the food. Always the food.
As a child the food meant cotton candy and candy apples. As an adult it means all manner of things. There is the newest, strange concoction vendors have come up with to lure you and your dollars to their stands. There is the terribly unhealthy like the deep-fried Twinky. I think I've tried it all over the years; I am not averse to eating almost anything and I like most everything.
This year has gone differently with the state fair, mostly due to scheduling, my children's sitter being available and both children being out of school at different times. My son went to the state fair first with Morgan. He came home full and happy and without prizes or trinkets or even a candy apple to eat later. Today was my daughter's turn to go with Morgan. We already had it scheduled with Morgan but my husband and I realized we had a few hours free we could also go—and he and I love to go.
With children, we hadn't gone just the two of us to the fair in a long time. We realized we could go for lunch, second lunch and double desserts and do so unencumbered by slow-moving children who might not, okay probably wouldn't, want to do what we did. So we escaped to the state fair together today.
That sounds strange to write, but it's how it felt. We were alone, we were unencumbered, we were hungry. Once a parent though, always a parent. When we got there we messaged Morgan and said we'd meet up with my daughter and her for a bit for one of the rounds of food and to let us know when a good time would be.
Morgan and my daughter had gotten the unlimited rides wristbands and it was a bit before Morgan messaged me saying my daughter after ride after ride after ride on the swing had informed her it was almost time for dessert. We met up with them and I got a dozen mini donuts. My daughter wanted a frozen banana dipped in chocolate with sprinkles on a stick.
Morgan and I ate the donuts, my husband said he was holding out for some beef tips and my daughter was making a right mess of herself with melting chocolate on her hands. We hugged her and escaped, saying we were off to see some boring adult exhibits and we'd catch up with her back at the house. Then my husband and I avoided the boring exhibits and got more food.
The Big Boy Update: My son has nearly memorized his Mystery History presentation. He can not sit still while he recites it. He had to take a break to go to the bathroom in the middle and I called out, "stay there, keep talking." I had this strange idea that I could keep him there and with his pants down he wouldn't bounce around and could actually go more quickly through the presentation. It sort of worked, me sitting on the edge of the tub and him talking. I started miming what he was saying so if someone got sick I pretended to be sick. When they got money I got excited. He liked it so much he kept talking to see what I would do next. It's not the most traditional way to rehearse for a presentation, but it seemed to help keep him focused.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: When we were trying to meet up with Morgan and my daughter at the fair today my daughter called me on Morgan's phone. I asked her to ask Morgan if they were at the Jim Graham building. It was very loud where they were and hard to hear so my daughter asked Morgan, "is the building grey?" She came back on the line and said, "yes, mom, the building is grey."
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