Off to the Fair!

It's no secret that Christina and Steve love the fair - we've gone to at least one fair almost every year we've been together, and we've never missed one here in Montana. The girls were actually born during fair weekend in Miles City, but they technically missed that one. We took them last year to our local fair, so very excited to have them there, but the girls mostly seemed unsure of what was going on, and a bit more fearful than the excitement we had hoped for.

So, we were so glad that this year the girls really seemed to "get" the fair. We debated going - it has been rainy, and cool, and the girls have been teething (again. still. yes.). But we decided to go anyway, and are so glad we did.

We got in the gate and it was raining pretty heavily, so we headed straight into the Home Arts building. But the girls were having none of it - they had seen the excitement of the main strip of the fair, and ran straight back out the doors. They looked up in wonder, saying "A boat! Up!" (it was one of those ark-type rides that swings way up into the air in a pendulum fashion). Then Clara heard music and said "Hey - dance!" and started dancing around. It was all over when they saw the carousel. Never mind that they've been on carousels dozens of times - this one had littler horses, and they could ride on their own! Clara had mixed feelings, but Elena was overwhelmed with the "neighs" and wanted to go back to them endlessly. In the end, we rode twice.

Then, we headed off to see some animals. We had told the girls we would pet some bunnies, but the petting zoo section seemed unattended, so we did not. Instead, we relied on the kindness of many 4-H kids, who let us pet a miniature rooster, a sheep, and several cows (one adorable mom and baby pair!).

They declined to pet the mini-horses, but thought they were awfully cute:

Then, there was fair food! Cheese curds, gyros, and the girls' favorite - cotton candy!

Clara was doing this funny thing, too, but I didn't get a good shot of her - just Elena:

We were eating while watching the 4-H kids show off their pigs - we liked it a bit, but those pigs are a ferocious bunch! The running away from the kids was funny to see, the pigs attacking each other was not.

Back on the promenade area, the girls felt totally secure heading out to see the wonders on their own (Christina and Steve were not so secure, and followed along right out of camera view!

Some among us got a bit tired - the girls wanted to be carried a fair bit, which gave Steve and Christina quite a workout! Here Clara asks to be carried "like a baby."

We headed back to the animal area one more time, to see the alpacas and llamas we missed the first time around. There was this cute little 2month old alpaca with its' mom - it was hilarious. It would nibble it's mom's ear, and Elena would grab Christina's ear and say "Mama's ear!!" thinking she had made the funniest joke. The alpaca was climbing all over his poor mother, something both Steve and Christina have experienced from our little ones - at one point he tumbled right over her back and landed on his back - it was hysterical to watch, and the reaction of the mom was priceless. She just looked at him, watching, as he worked to get himself out of that pickle.

Here was another mom and baby pair that Steve and Clara had fun watching:

Clara was a bit more reluctant than Elena to touch many of the animals, and she was so proud of herself when twoards the end she started petting this little guy - llama, we think?

We love the fair!!!!