Having A Fair Time

One of my favorite things about fall is going to the fair.

I am obsessed.  I am basically like a mosquito that is drawn to the bright lights of the bug zapper…or in this case, the bright lights of the Gwinnett County Fair.

Jeremy is just like me.  He needs no excuse to get excited.  In fact, I think we always get SO excited that we end up in an argument.  It isn’t ever about something important…it’s usually about the parking space or what food we should eat first or what stroller we packed….but it always happens.  I think it stems from the fact that we are both just feeling stirred up and don’t know how to handle the emotional overload of excitement.

And then after we get a funnel cake in our mouth, we get over ourselves.  And then it becomes the most fun experience ever.  Is that normal?

I don’t know what excites me more…the lights and the colors or the food.  I LOVE FAIR FOOD.  It is greasy and ten thousand calories and covered in batter and sugar and butter but it is amazing.  And I have no shame…if I see someone eating something that looks good, I go directly to them and demand that they give me a bite.  Not really.  But that would be funny.  I actually just ask them where they got it and how much it cost.  The answer is always $9.  I don’t care if it is a bag of popcorn…that costs $9.  Everything is always $9.

This was Weston’s and LJ’s first real fair experience.  Last time we came, I was pregnant with Weston….very pregnant.  And so this time, he was big enough to ride the majority of the kid rides with Will (and sometimes Jeremy).

Will was into everything.  He wanted to eat it all, ride it all, win it all.  It was so exciting to see him be so brave and get in there with the big kids.  It’s always so shocking to see how much he has grown and how capable he is.  In my brain, he is just this sweet cuddly baby and in reality, he is four years old going on fourteen.

LJ and I didn’t ride anything…we just hung out together and cheered on the big boys.

It’s weird to think that in fifteen years that all the boys will be riding the REAL fair rides…flirting with girls…and Jer and I won’t be able to sit with them on the ride without being completely embarrassing.  I am gonna miss these days…I feel it already and they aren’t even big enough to ride all the kid rides yet!

I do want to be clear that my boys will probably be flirting but I will threaten them with bodily harm if they touch a girl.  They can touch after they get married.  Handholding is forbidden.  In fact, I might make them wear blinders.  Jury is still out.

So we ate a funnel cake, a fried Snickers bar, chicken on a stick, cheese and bacon fries, and corndogs.  I wanted a turkey leg but I knew I couldn’t eat it by myself.  Next time though….

Did I mention the lights?  I love the opportunity, the challenge and the different contrast and saturation that comes with the fair.  It makes for really striking photography.  I am still learning how to do it right but each year it feels like I am capturing another piece of history.  That sounds weird but just think back to those old fairs where things were very much the same….good food, the animals, the lights, the people, the rides.  The Huffington Post had photos of an old fair and I am pretty sure that those traditions are still alive today!

I am so inspired there.  And yes, I hope secretly that one of my friends will host a fair themed birthday party just so that I can come.

Speaking of photography – this might be my favorite photo of Will this year.  Is it just me or is he just the most handsome boy ever?!  That smile kills me.

This kid isn’t so bad either 🙂  He just is harder to photograph unless he is tied to a chair.

Okay – so one of my favorite memories of this year was when the Dumbo ride operator put Jeremy and Weston in one elephant and put Will in a different elephant with these cute twins.  He was so squished and was holding on for dear life and for whatever reason, that struck my funny bone and I was cry-laughing.  His skinny little bottom was turned sideways so that he could fit and whenever the elephant was on the rise, the look on his face was perfection.  And when he saw me laughing in the dirt, he would yell ‘stop laughing mom!’ and then start laughing himself.  It was just one of those weird perfect moments that you had to be there to really appreciate.

Weston didn’t actually want to ride the rides like the rules stated.  I think he wanted to ride on top of the train instead.  Apparently I have a one-year-old-adrenaline-junkie.  greeeat.

Will is really into pretend and he would get off the ride and tell me all sorts of stories…like he won the race to the finish line (they were going in circles at the same speed) and that now he gets fifty-seventy-thirty coins and the Piston cup.

Weston at first wasn’t really showing any sort of excitement…I think he took it personally that the operator guys made Jeremy ride with him.

But eventually he warmed up to the whole ride idea and by the time it was over, he would hold his chubby little fingers over the strap and not let us unhook him.

At the end of the day, it was a perfect break from some of the big house projects we have going on.  Oh yeah…I know I mentioned that before…we have a real big secret project in the works and you guys are gonna be SO excited to see it.  I know it’s gonna knock the sugar right off your funnel cake.  But for now…thanks for being patient and thanks for supporting the Joss & Main sale.  It was such a thrill to work with them and made me feel legit.

Oh and one more thing – thank you to everyone who asked us those fun questions on Facebook!  Jeremy and I are so excited to celebrate our anniversary this weekend and we already made plans to carve out some time with the iphone to answer all of them!  So stay tuned for that too!