A Visit to the County Fair

After an eight year hiatus, my family went to the county fair this weekend.  My daughter had gone the weekend before but was inching to return.  My son had never been at all.  He was really excited.  So we loaded up, met the in-laws, bought our tickets and stepped into the wonder of the Gwinnett County Fair Grounds.  Oh my, what had we done? 

It was definitely bigger than I remember.  Back in the day, McNair Amusements ran the show.  Now it was some company called Amusements of America.  The piece-DE-resistance was the incredible Ferris wheel.  It was a giant!  Each car held up to six people and you could load four cars at one time – swanky in my book.   The light show on the wheel alone would put “Wheel of Fortune” to shame.  How can they afford such a monstrosity – ticket prices!  For my family of four to ride the wheel was $20.  In order to take a spin I had to swallow the cost of the ticket AND overcome my fear of heights AND overcome my fear of being high and swaying back and forth, back and forth.  Well I am typing this right?  That means I lived!  The experience was worth it in the end.  Views from atop the swaying bucket of doom were spectacular.  Once we started going around and around I was fine – it was the sitting at the top during loading.  Yes, I was praying!

My husband and daughter went for a spin on a swing ride – they waited in line for an hour.  While they waited, me, my son and the in-laws cruised the fair.  Spencer had his sights set on playing a few games.  One in particular that caught his attention was a shooting game.  The object was to completely remove the red star from the middle of the paper target.  Here is his paper target – impressive! 

Spencer's target - even though he did not win, he was so excited!

He came SO close to winning.  He wanted the big, ginormous, red bulldog stuffed animal.  This momma is not gonna lie – I am glad the big, ginourmous, red bulldog stuffed animal did not come home.  Later in the evening, he won this little bear for his sissy.  He had been saying for over an hour he wanted to win her a prize – how sweet!

Here are a few other photos from the night.  Not all of the pictures I took came out well.

The in-laws and my boy

Silly as always

The apple does not fall far from the tree.  On the Ferris wheel - I asked him to smile.

Spence on the ferris wheel - this was posed.

 

I had a few bites of the best funnel cake ever – Shan ate the rest.  And I enjoyed spending time with the family.  The biggest lessons I took away from the experience is to make sure we have PLENTY of money to attend and to arrive early in the afternoon to avoid long lines.  Or, stay home and watch the Georgia Bulldogs beat the stuff out of some other college team.  Yeah, that sounds like a plan to me!

Did your family make it to your local fair this year?  Is it a tradition or do you go when you can afford it/have coupons?  What is your favorite fair food?