It was a Fair day

And yet, so UNfair at the same time!!!

This morning we got up and got ready to leave...the plan was to go to the fair!! The weather was supposed to be 60 and sunny...it wasn't! It was gray and drizzly! Unfair!!! Thankfully I grabbed our coats on the way out the door...y'know, just in case! Good thing too!! We had them on before we got out of  the truck!!

Today was the start of the Evergreen State Fair here in Monroe, and with it being the first day, anyone and everyone could get in free before 1pm! By now, you should know that me and FREE get along just fine!!! I already had a schedule from when I tried dropping off my knitting, so I knew kinda what I wanted to accomplish today. Plus, the Mommy & Me group had listed a few things.

We arrived shortly after 11 after parking at the church and walking a mile...free parking is nice! We missed the pig races as they started at 11, so I tried figuring out where the stage was that the Reptile man was going to be at...got SOOOO turned around!! And could not find ONE person who looked like they were working the grounds and would know where it was...wait, I stand corrected...I found 3 people AT the show! We did finally catch it and got to see maybe 10 minutes of it. At this point its really coming down so we stood under a canopy with benches. DJ was able to tell Howie at dinner that he saw a rattle snake, a turtle and something else, so obviously it made an impression him. The next thing I wanted to hit up was the Lumberjack show...thankfully it wasn't too far away from where we were! AND the rain let up!

The kids ate their lunch while they enjoyed watching the lumberjacks compete against each other. I think I was the only one impressed of the 3 of us...DJ didn't say much about it when we talked about it all at dinner. The rain started up again about half way thru the show, so I got the umbrella up to protect us. Once it was done tho, we took cover in a building and walked around looking at things. I'd already told DJ that today was a looking day, not a spending day. He did perfectly fine with it and not once did I hear "OH Mummy PUHLEEEEZE!!!?!?!?" He may be too young for that yet, but still, he did awesome!! Even when we were walking among all the food vendors he did great!

After walking thru the concessions we headed for the petting zoo...conveniently located JUST past the kiddie land of rides! DJ mentioned a few he'd like to go on, which looked fun for his age...but when I checked out the ticket prices, I about died!!! 1 ticket is 1.00....and each ride is 3 tickets or more! That's INSANE!!!!!!!!  I remember going to the fair and each ticket being .25 cents!! How on earth has inflation gone up THAT much in 30 years!??! Honestly! We just kept on walking....

The tent before the petting zoo had a straw maze for the kids...they were each given a basket and told to collect stuff from each station to take to the grocer....eggs, apples, potatoes and then milking a cow (thankfully, not a real cow!) and then sort out their stuff into the grocers bins. DJ said this was his favourite part of the day!!! The petting zoo was kinda lame...the one we went to in June at Forest Park was a thousand times better!! This was small and cramped feeling! At least they had a hand washing station right outside of it, both kids got cleaned up!

As the rains were heavy again, we went into the Arts & Crafts building...I wanted to check out my competition had I entered my stuff in correctly. It was hard to see who actually would have been my competition as everything was laid out on top of each other and there were no real "categories" in the laying out of stuff. Still, there were definitely some expert stuff, and some very novice stuff....maybe next year!

The last building we did was the second concessions building...who knew there were that many leaf guard protection plans!!! And hot tub vendors!!! I did see Avon, and then Mary Kay, and then Cookie Lee, Partylight, Tupperware...you name it! At this point, my feet were aching and I decided to call it a day!

You see, I thought I'd be smart and wear running shoes, with socks! BAAAAAAAAD idea!! Very, very, VERY bad idea!!! By the time we got to the tunnel to the parking lot to get out, I had to stop and loosen the laces as my feet were feeling so cramped. Then, before we got to Hwy 2 to go back to the church, I took the socks off...I was wanting to cry with every step I took it hurt that bad! Once we crossed Hwy 2 and got onto the sidewalk, the shoes came OFF!!! I walked barefoot the last 1/4 mile in the rain....upon further inspection, I had an incredibly RAW baby toe on the right foot and a blister on the INSIDE of my big toe on the right...who gets those!?!? Turns out, the other big toe inside has a small one too, but it didn't break open! I drove home barefoot!!!! On top of all that, my toe nails, which aren't long by any means, are all smooshed into my toes...like runner's toe. If I could chop 'em off, I would! Try keeping two kids and a dog from stepping on your feet!

Since we weren't home last nite for sketti nite, tonite became sketti nite make up nite! The kids happily ate ALL their dinner!! And then had a wonderful luxurious bath. And promptly went to bed! Never heard a peep from either one!! Whew! Howie and I watched Wipeout from the other nite and then he went to bed! Now, its my turn! Early for a change!
Til next time...pray for safety for all troops!

P.S. the rains have only gotten HEAVIER throughout the day....garden's gettin a good drink tonite!