The Lee Family: The Texas State Fair

This morning, after a breakfast of fresh biscuits and scrambled eggs made by CK, we loaded up and headed to the Texas State Fair! We actually had a storm and cold front come in last night so we all had to really dress warm so we wouldn't be cold while walking around. Once we arrived we parked in a nearby grocery store parking lot and walked to buy tickets and start our day. Olivia was in her stroller with a blanket while Sofia walked. We decided to go to the petting zoo first and then let the girls join in the PeeWee Stampede which takes place in a small arena right next to the petting zoo. The girls loved the petting zoo and Sofia enjoyed feeding the animals while Olivia was happy to watch and try to pet them once in awhile. Just before the noon start time for the PeeWee Stampede we left the petting zoo and walked next door but learned that the Stampede was cancelled due to the rain the night before. The arena was really wet and muddy. Instead, we learned about milk cows and watched a cow being milked. Sofia was totally fascinated.

After that demonstration we decided to eat and walked back over toward the Midway and stopped at a place we walked past that was grilling turkey legs. We decided to get a turkey leg (they are surprisingly big) and a corn dog (which was actually a huge sausage dog instead), and an order of french fries. It was an amazing amount of food and we all shared since we wanted to try some of the fried food or cotton candy, etc. The girls loved the turkey leg, which was really good. After eating, we walked down the midway, looking at all the carnival games and rides and watched the Midway Barker who looked like he'd been cut in half. It was pretty strange actually. Later we saw him in his regular clothes and he was not actually cut in half - still not sure how he pulled off the illusion. After, we made our visit to Big Tex and took the obligatory photo. Then Sofia and Olivia decided it was time for something sweet. We walked back down the Midway to ride on the Texas Star Ferris Wheel but the line was so long we decided to check back later. Luckily there was a cotton candy stand right there making fresh cotton candy, so the girls got one cone to split. It was gone in record time!

We rode on the Merry Go Around which was fun and then Sofia wanted to ride on the "scary ride" we walked past which Olivia couldn't even look at! I had to turn the stroller away from the ride so she couldn't see the talking witch at the top of the ride. CK and Sofia loaded onto the ride and they were soon through and on their way. Apparently it wasn't particularly scary. After they were done with the scary ride, we hurried over to the Kid's Boardwalk to see the "State Fair Stallions" which I knew the girls would love! They love horses and I could just imagine watching a well-done horse show. However, once we arrived we found that the "stallions" were actually men dancing around in costumes. It was well done and the girls were completely mesmerized and followed the two horses around talking to them, petting them and pretending to lead them. At one point, Sofia came up to CK and said "I wish we had some carrots to give the horses. Maybe we could go back to the grocery store and buy some?" It was cute since we thought the girls knew the "stallions" weren't real. Finally, Sofia figured out they were in costume by looking at their feed where she could see tennis shoes. After a bit, they threw off the horse costumes and danced around in grass-skirt outfits. It was very interesting and the girls were just as fascinated.

After the "stallion" show we walked back over toward the petting zoo because I really wanted to see the Pig Races. Unfortunately, we missed the start by a few minutes and couldn't get into the arena late. Olivia fell asleep in the stroller so we decided to let her sleep and catch the next show an hour later. While Olivia slept, CK hung out and watched one of the bands perform while Sofia and I walked over to look at Big Tex's Barnyard which highlighted different farm animals and how farms are run. At the very end of the exhibit there was an area of farm toys which Sofia loved playing with for 15 or 20 minutes. Later, she said it was the highlight of the fair visit!

We joined back up with CK and sleeping Olivia and went into the arena to watch the pig races! They ran a few different heats of small pigs and it was pretty cute, but after seeing one group of pigs run, I think you've pretty much seen pig racing. It was not really worth sticking around for an extra hour but I'm glad we did see it. After the pig races, we walked back to our car and headed home after a very fun day!

Our little cowgirls are all ready for the State Fair!