The Lee Family: The Texas State Fair!

Yesterday we decided to visit the Texas State Fair....along with half of Texas! The girls and I had gone solo last year and had a ball and this year CK was going to join us. Olivia wanted to wear her cowboy boots but had to wear Sofia's used black boots when we discovered that her cute pink and brown cowboy boots don't fit any longer. Sofia was also excited to wear her cowboy boots, but they also didn't fit and she was really sad. Instead she wore her purple Crocs. She also brought her pet phoenix and glove to complete her outfit. She's been into carrying her phoenix (or hawk) around everywhere. Finally we were ready to go and headed into Dallas.

The traffic was terrible and I couldn't remember the gate we'd parked near last year, but it was perfect and we walking right in (It was gate 1). Instead we parked across the street from the main entrance gate in someone's front yard. We entered the front gate which took awhile due to the amount of people. We finally made it into the fair grounds and I could tell CK was already questioning his availability to join us! We first stopped at the Budweiser Clydesdale exhibit to look at the massive horses. From there we visited the Kid's Day at the Farm, which we haven't done before but the girls really enjoyed. They got to pick grapes, collect eggs, plant seeds, picking out vegetables, feed the animals and drive tractors. It was a really sweet exhibit and the girls had fun. After we were done we tried our first fair food - fried jello. It's new this year and was one of the award winners. We got one order and split it, which ended up being perfect since one bite of fried jello was enough for us all. It was good, but nothing compared to my all-time favorite of fried s'mores.

As we walked to the petting zoo, I mentioned that I wouldn't be able to go to Sofia's field trip to Camp Thurman that Friday, since I would be heading to California for a reunion. CK planned to go instead and as much as I tried to explain to Sofia, she was really upset. Her field trip was originally scheduled for the previous Friday, but it ended up raining hard all day, so the field trip got postponed. She was so upset but finally came around and by the end of the fair she was more excited CK would be going with her than she ever was with me! We visited the petting zoo, which is always a favorite and was as busy as ever. CK hung out across the street while the girls and I went inside. We bought one cup of feed, since all the animals get so much food that they are usually not interested by the time we arrive. The girls loved petting the goats, cows, baby deer, zebra and all the exotic animals at the petting zoo. Sofia tried feeding the ostrich, which made me nervous since their beaks are so sharp and they stab at the shovel of feed.

After the petting zoo, we decided to get lunch - Fletcher's corny dog and lemonade! It's a must at the State Fair and delicious (once a year). The line was crazy long, but we finally made it to the front and got our corny dog and lemonades. They really hit the spot and Olivia loved hers while Sofia was busy pouting over the field trip issue. After eating, we headed toward Big Tex and stopped for an ice cream along the way. The ice cream seemed to make everything better and Sofia was soon back to her usual happy self. After our ice cream, we made it to Big Tex and took pictures, along with half of the state trying to do the same thing. We then headed for the Midway, which was completely crazy with people. The girls desperately wanted to go into the Fun House as well as the Super Slide. The Fun House alone was 10 tickets ($5) for each girl! After the Fun House, which took them less than 5 minutes to go through, we headed to the Super Slide which had an amazingly long line! The girls made it to the front of the line fairly quickly and started the long walk up the stairs. Olivia had a lot of difficulty getting up the straight sections last year and still had to work pretty hard to get through those areas, but didn't hold up the kids behind her as much as before. They made it to the top and flew down! It makes my stomach hurt just watching them go down so fast! After they got to the bottom, we said goodbye to CK who walked to the Dart station and headed into a meeting downtown.

After going down the Super Slide twice more and getting more tickets, the girls went in the Fun House and the Jungle House a few times. Then we headed to the other side of the fair for the Peewee Stampede. Along the way, we stopped for each girl to get their very own HUGE cotton candy! They both were super excited and started munching away! Anyone can join the Peewee Stampede as a "cowboy or cowgirl" if they arrive early and Olivia had originally said she wanted to do it. However, by the time we arrived, she'd changed her mind, which isn't really very surprising since she's pretty shy in crowds. Sofia was dying to do it, but she's too old already. She would eat it up and loves to do such things without a thought to the amount of people watching. Instead, we sat in the stands and watched the Peewee Stampede which was super cute. Of course most of the people watching were parents of the cowboys and cowgirls and there was a lot of photos and videos taken. We left the Peewee Stampede and walked directly to the pig races, which is a "must do" at the fair. We found some seats, which weren't great given the amount of people wanting to watch the pig races. The races started and it was exactly the same show as the year before. It was cute, but somehow wasn't as impressive as the first time we saw it. Also, Sofia ate all of her cotton candy and realized that she may have overdone it. I'm not sure cotton candy will be her treat of choice for a while.

After the pig races finished we stood in line for yet more tickets and headed back to the Midway. The Midway was still so crowded that we could hardly walk, but somehow it's sort of fun to push through a crowd once in a while. Plus, we had the stroller so we had a little room. The girls went on the Slide and Fun House and then we had just enough for an iced tea (for me - I was so thirsty) and one more ride for the two of them. The chose the Log Ride, so I stood in line with them until near the end and then got out of line so they could board the log. I stood at the bottom of the ride and watched them come down the huge drop. It was so cute to watch them and they got off super excited for the last ride of the day. It was the perfect ending to a very and crazy day.

We walked out to our car and drove to pick up CK. Sofia hung out with her phoenix and read while Olivia was fast asleep as soon as we got on the freeway for home. Such a fun day although next year we'll park by Gate 1 and we may go another day when it isn't quite so busy!

Sofia and her phoenix are all set for the fair