So long at the fair

We thought we might not go to the fair this year. We felt like Kate had sufficiently filled her exciting ride quotient at Kings Island. And weighing the amount of fun versus the amount of hassle, we weren't sure if it was really worth it. We're not from around here--it's not like we have a long-standing deeply-cherished family tradition that we'd be breaking by not going to the fair. But, well, Scott kept asking about it... and then we ended up entering stuff, so then of course we had to go.

The evening before the fair, our neighbor Genesis and her brother came by and told us that their mother was making tamales the next day, and we could come and learn if we wanted to (as we had previously expressed an interest). Alas, we had to tell them that we were going to the fair and would not be around for tamale-making. Bad timing.

We went with Scott and his daughter Kira. In past years we've taken the park-and-ride bus from the TCC parking lot. Sometimes it's fine, but we have had trouble finding a parking spot. Plus we always seem to come back right when traffic is heaviest, and it takes an eternity to get home. I wanted to try somewhere closer to the fairgrounds and suggested parking at the South Hill Mall in Puyallup. This was voted down for reasons that I'm still not completely clear on, and we decided to try the Tacoma Dome station instead. This turned out to not be a great idea either, but it worked out okay, and we got there before noon (free on opening day).

We stopped by the Art Hall first, to get that in before Kate got too antsy. This is the part that's hard about going to the fair with kids--I'd be perfectly happy to spend hours looking at the quilts and fiber arts and paintings and photos, but the things that I want to look at are not the things that Kate wants to look at.

There was this absolutely amazing painting there--a purple iris with big water drops on it, and a yellow swallowtail butterfly flying in from the side. Quite obviously done from photos but oh my goodness it was just phenomenal. I could have stood there and stared at it all day. (And certainly would have taken a picture, if not for the "No Photos Please" signs around that section.) I'm thinking about painting something for next year. Maybe.

Since we'd gotten there right before noon, the next thing we had to do was get some food. Unfortunately it was also lunchtime for everyone else. I brought my own food, but still had to wait for other people to stand in line to get stuff.



Doug and Andy in line for ice cream.



Andy, tired out from all the excitement.



Ice cream interlude.

We got along just fine without the stroller last year, but now whenever we go somewhere with the stroller, Kate wants to ride in it. So we brought the stroller for Kate and the backpack baby carrier for Andy.



Scott takes a picture.



Kate checks out a grasshopper. (Very exciting!)



Baby piggies!



Scott lifting Kate up to see the piglets.



Andy riding in style.



(and drooling.)



Kate went on this little canoe ride twice--once in a red boat and once in a yellow boat.




I took Andy over to a shady spot to feed and change him, and when I rejoined the others, Kate was enjoying this pony ride, on a palomino named Honey.




They had all the kids stop in front of this backdrop and pose with the hat for a flash-lit, printed-on-the-spot photo. We are amused by the fact that Kate is wearing two hats.



Scott and Kate on the carousel.



Kate and I went on the sky ride together.




The view from above.

By this time some of us were pretty cranky, so we figured it was a good time to head back. Scott and Kira stayed longer.



Kate, waiting for the bus home.



The ride back was pretty awful, but a nice guy gave me his seat when I needed to sit down and feed Andy. Another guy on the bus mentioned that, at that time of day, we could have taken the Sounder commuter train back to the Tacoma Dome. Perhaps we'll try that next time.