The only thing we enjoy more than going to the Puyallup Fair as a family, is taking friends with us to experience it for their first time. It took some persuasion, but we were able to convince our friends, the Coberly's, to join us. When we pulled into the parking lot amidst a deluge of rain, they almost bailed, but gamely pushed on. Our perseverance was rewarded; the rain stopped by the time we were ready to venture to the outdoor activities.
We've been enough years now that we have a pretty good system, though we never have enough time to hit all the highlights. As a result of the bad weather when we arrived, we started indoors and checked out the collection displays.
Sometimes I wonder if, by viewing these collections, we're unintentionally encouraging our kids to start hoarding. Aubree started making plans about how many more penguin things she'd need before she could fill a display case. Yikes!
One area the kids always love is a little booth where they can find a penny made in their birth year, then have it put in a special case for free. It's a simple idea, but for whatever reason, kids think it's amazing.
Once the rain stopped, we hit some of our other favorite spots. This was Bryce's last year getting to be a tractor-rider.
Next year, he'll graduate to tractor-pusher, like Aubree.
The kids were eager to get back to the Pacific Northwest pavilion, where some of our favorite activities are housed...like fishing!
Bryce was chomping at the bit to try archery again, and this year, even Aubree was willing to try it out. When she finished, she immediately decided she "loves" archery.
This year they also had a little hay path that the kids could traverse...in snow shoes! Fun! Aubree and Bryce liked pretending to be jumping over this Mt. Rainier crevice.
Next, we swung over to the Pioneer Farms area. I don't have any pictures of our time there, because Thane suddenly decided that he "definitely" wanted to try mutton busting. Mark kept the big kids, and Nellie and I took Thane over to the mutton busting arena. Before I signed him up, I made sure he knew exactly what he was getting into. I was afraid his anxiety would get the best of him once it came time to get on top of the sheep. Through it all, he insisted he wanted to try and wouldn't back out, so I signed him up.
True to his word, he stuck by his decision and was incredibly brave. He didn't like how tight his helmet was on his chin, and of everything, that was the only thing that made him at all upset.
As his turn drew nearer, he did squeeze my hand and admit he was "a little bit nervous, but mostly excited." Before we knew it, he was off!
He proved his tenacity, and held on almost to the end of the pen. He took a pretty spectacular fall (losing a shoe in the process), and hopped right back up. We were all so impressed!
Following the mutton busting excitement, each kid had a chance to ride one carnival ride. Most of them chose the carousal. I know our carousal-choosing days are numbered, but I love the choice of simple pleasure!
Of course, we can't go in the carnival area without getting the free face painting. Getting everyone to stand still long enough to get a picture was WAY harder than it should've been.
As we started wrapping up our fair day, we visited a super-hero exhibit that was full of fun photo-ops.
This time around, we finished our day with, as Aubree insists, "the BEST ice-cream ever."
Darling Nellie slept not a wink the. entire. day.
By now though, that surprises us not at all.
See you next year, Puyallup!
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