Give It Away

First things first, I just received an extra copy of:

 Simple Scrapbooks Mini Albums in an Evening

and the September/October issue of Simple Scrapbooks

And I'm itching to give them away.  If you are interested in them, check out the bottom of my post and I'll tell you how!

We just made our annual visit to the Armstrong IPE (yup, that place that every time for the past 8 years, about 15 minutes after we walk through the gates we swear we are never going back because the whining that goes on is so intense that we just about want to sell, nay, PAY that toothless carnie with the impressive mullet working the Sizzler to take our children). 

This year was different.

First of all, we preplanned. 

We got there around 2ish (just in time to miss the lumberjack show, which wasn't planned, but nobody seemed to care too much).

Then we split up. 

We met friends there and split the kids into two groups. 

Brady & Jacob who went with Gabe & Gorgeous George.

and the rest of them who went with the moms. 

Now, when you run the numbers on that it might seem that the moms got a little shafted on that one,
HOWEVER, the moms are not stupid, they are just good at biding time.

Three hours later when we hooked up, we negotiated a trade.

The trade consisted of the husbands taking all the kids and the moms going to the beer gardens.

See?  We aren't just another pretty face.

Because we were there for almost 12 hours, a play by play could get quite epic so here are some highlights:

the "pretend you are really excited, because we're going to the fair again...yes, we said we would never make you go again, but we are, so suck it up and smile." photos in the car

the food (definitely the high point for me), sadly I got no food pictures because when you have a donair in one fist and two bags of mini donuts in the other, a candy apple wedged between your knees and a lemonade stuck in the crook of your elbow, there is no free hand for taking photos. 

The fact that this is the first year that our kids when on rides and we got our money's worth out of those stupid wrist bands we get suckered into every year.

(Thomas and Luke pretending that the carousel is making them puke, nothing like a good puke joke to an eight year old - unless, of course, it's a good fart joke.)

the fact that Lucas finally reached the marker on the sign that allows him to ride the big kid rides. 

the dog agility (this is where Jason and I pretend that we are TOTALLY going to get Bella into dog agility classes because she would be so awesome at it.  It's good to have traditions.)

the rodeo (again no pictures, not because of food, although I was still working my way through the 2nd bag of mini donuts at this time, I was just to lazy to get my camera out of the bag.)

So, there you have my favourite parts of the fair.

1.  Beer Garden
2.  Making a Clever Trade with the Husbands
3.  the Food
4.  the rest of it

What are yours? 

Let me know in the comments and I'll draw names for the two books I mentioned at the top of this post.

Comments

[Winks]

This is tough...
1) The Funnel Cakes
2) The Cotton Candy
3) The Snow Cone
Remind me why I can't lose weight anymore? ;)
The name Gorgeous George just makes me LOL.
-Jody

[Stephanie]

I was just at a fair the other day! My favs:
1. Funnel Cake
2. Corn Dogs
3. the rides
4. the animals

[Heather F. in Tecumseh, MI]

Hmmmm...this IS tough....I like things for different reasons...
1. People watching...cuz it makes me realize JUST HOW NORMAL my family is. (scary, but true!)
2. Um... fair food???? Anything artery clogging, laden with cheese or powdered sugar....**DROOL**
3.The animals...not the ones who've paid the entry fee..the ones in stalls and pens with ribbons hanging above them... I'm a sucker for all four legged-beasts
4. Can I have 4???......Carneys...just WHERE do these people come from??????
(thanks for the cool opportunity to win goodies...I have now bookmarked your blog...I've found the coolest blogs through 2peas.....)
~Heather

[sarah burnette]

Funnel cakes for sure.
Beer
watching the kids have fun

[Yolanda S]

Those pics made me LOL - love the puke joke one especially :)

My favorite things at the fair...

1 - funnel cakes with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

2 - sliced apples in caramel bowl. Yum.

3 - riding the Himalaya now that the girls are both big enough to ride it with me :)

4 - fodder for my camera- kids, food, lights, people, old buildings, animals, exhibits...

Our fair starts in 2 weeks...can't wait! :)

[Paula]

Ah yes the only thing that out does a puke joke is a good fart joke LOL

Hmmm favourite parts of the local show (we call them "shows" here in Aus.)

1. The sheer excitement on the kids faces
2. The street parade - the whole community gets involved and it's great to see them taking pride in their entries.
3. The show bags of course - packed full of useless little toys, lollies, comic books and of course jokes :)

[Shawn Wenrich]

Great photos you too, especially the one of your son now meeting the height requirement. A scrapbook page is call that photo, lol!

Fair Fav's
1. The animals - Gives my daughter a chance to see some farm animals she normally only sees on tv.
2. Funnel cakes - Yum!!!
3. The leisurely walking and exploring. Something my husband will never do with me at the mall, lol.
4. The people, so fun to see a mix of personalities and ages at a place like the fair.

[tina winkle]

1.shopping and seeing new products in the buildings
2.the elephant ears dessert
3.corndogs
4.kids smiling while riding the kiddy rides
5.The smell on food row
6.funnel cakes
7.when the lights turn on at night...total eye candy looking at the lights on the rides
8.the um, fashion statements
9.seeing the terror in the adult's eyes when they go on a killer ride (I feel for them!)
10.seeing which overpriced toy(s) we come home with!
I love the fair!!!
tina

[Denine]

LOVE the county fair! Ours is coming up at the end of September! My fave is the funnell cakes covered in cinnamon and sugar and the fresh squeezed lemonade!

[Fern]

Hey Cheryl,

I've only been to the IPE once, can you believe it? My favourite things were
1. The animals
2. The food
3. The smell - I'm a sucker for that combination of sugar and manure :)

That's only 3 things but give me a break, it's been 20 years...

[Fern]

ps what's a funnel cake?

[Candy M]

We have an all agricultural fair, so my faves are a little different. :)

1)funnel cakes
2)fresh lemonade
3)lambs!

[Heather]

My favorite parts of the fair are:
~the displays (ours has farm animals, produce, canning, quilts, etc)
~the food (carmel/candy apples, funnel cakes, fries with vinegar, fried pierogies)
Oooohhh....I've missed the fair. Thanks for reminding me!

[Michelle]

entering stuff....and winning first prize

[Sarah*Jane]

The only time I ever went to the fair was when I was a kid. I won two goldfish, Lucky and Looney. Texas has a great state fair (I'm told) but my husband refuses to take me. I always say, "This year..."

[Laura Stewart]

Has to be elephant ears!!

[Tiffany]

My favorite part of the fair is:

1. The roasted corn with creole seasoning
2. The crafts inside (spend more time inside when its warm outside too)
3. The fact that the kids are worn out well before dark from running from one ride to the next and we get "quiet mommy and daddy time"
4. Seeing old friends from highschool....they always appear at the fairs.

[Stephi D.]

by far it's wearing the wrong shoes and being talked into getting on some ratchety old ride and sitting in something foreign and sticky, then I get some calamari and tempt the E.Coli gods with my future for the next 24 hrs. That's my most favorite part of the fair.

[Beth Warren]

My favorite parts of the fair: the booths, the food (especially pies/dessert), animals, people watching/good photos.

[tupoi]

LOL!!!

We had similar experiences...handed the boys off to Uncle, 8 year old made puke faces, 5 year old could finally ride things and the agility dog show and plotting against our dog! However, I got a craving for funnel cake too late and couldn't find a stand...:(

My favorites:
1.cool/good bands (we saw Paramore this year!)
2.corn dogs
3.cold diet Coke
4.animals
5.people watching
6.guessing which people are going to the same concert you are - when it's teenagers, they all wear paramore shirts and have orange hair like the lead singer!

I still need to post some of my pictures!

[Joyce Pritts]

My favorite parts of the fair are the needlework exhibits and the small animals. I love to see the cute bunnies especially. In the food department it is without a doubt the Indian Fry Bread with everything on it!

[mom]

Man, those girls really compete for free magazines..all I want is to say...i forgot in my letter...i love lukes hair..and am happy he has reached the ride qualification size..love you

[Annelies]

I 'm not a big fan of the fair, but when I go I like the food (beignets!) and the beer tent! Greetings from Belgium, Annelies

[kelli]

We actually stuck to our guns and didn't go this year. We were so disappointed when we went that nothing could make us drive that far again. But when we did go...my fav. was the Tilt-a-Hurl. Really, it was the worst, too fast, too dizzy, made Emily actually puke,no fakers for us!

[Kris]

the food, entering the exhibits and getting ribbons, watching the kids have fun