Second day at fair....

Well as promised I took the kids to the fair again yesterday - but not for rides, just games and fair food!  My children started bugging me about going at about 7:00 a.m. and wouldn't you know it, nothing at the fair opens until 11:00 and the games (and rides) don't start until 1:00 p.m.!!!  At 11:00 I told them to get in the vehicle so we could go to a pancake breakfast - which actaully ended at 11:00, but it was at my friends husband's business, so they gave us what was left of the pancakes and sausage!  We ate there and then headed down to the fairgrounds were we would check out the trade show, school art, exhibit hall, etc.  We found the school art first and found a picture Grace had made, but unfortunately Mark's teacher didn't enter any of their work.  We wandered around the trade show (not that there was much to see there this year), and Mark saw a table full of watches.  We stopped (really just to kill time) and he started trying on different watches...very pretty watches!  He really, really wanted this green one with sparkles all around the face - and even though the lady selling it told him it was a girls watch, he still really wanted it!  He ended up getting a different green one (still a girls), but it didn't have sparkles!  It has hands, instead of digital, so I wasn't sure how he would do with it, but he knew exactly how to tell when it was 1:00 p.m.!!!  We wandered over to the exhibit hall and the kids got to see some of the enteries - and I told them that starting next year, they would all be entering some things.  Finally Mark alerted me that it was now time for the games and we wandered down to the midway.  My kids each brought their wallets, full of money (and I brought mine full too) and we started off with Will playing the balloon popping game.  I don't think he popped any - or had any understanding that the $5.00 of his allowance he just paid to do that will never see the inside of his wallet again!!  Grace played too (twice) and popped almost every balloon!!  She won a lovely little stuffed puppy...LOL!  They all played the hammer game and won some fantastic squeaky giant hammers....LOL again!  Grace and Will fished for some sharks and got some little stuffed dogs and all the while Mark was holding out (and holding onto his money) for the game where you could win the BIG prize!!  He decided to try his luck at the game where you throw the balls into the bucket (which seems like an easy concept, but really isn't that easy).  The carny was really nice and gave him three practice shots.  He then asked Mark if he wanted to play the $5.00 game or the $10.00 game - that's the one where you get to win a BIG prize!  Of course Mark said he would spend the $10.00, so he gave him the money and started throwing balls.  He got two out of three balls in, and the carny said: "what prize would you like, you can pick ANYTHING we have!!"...well, Mark was over the moon with this fact!  He picked the biggest stuffed dog imaginable!  I thought that seemed pretty easy, so I asked Grace if she wanted to try for one of the big pink stuffies and of course she said yes!  She paid $10.00 and started throwing her balls - not getting any of them in.  The carny then said to her: "Thanks for playing" and walked away!  I asked him about the prize (I thought that because you pay them ten dollars, you get something) and he said that you have to get the balls in...those are the rules!  Grace looked like she was ready to cry, but I told her that is how games work and figured that is a good lesson in life, so we moved on to the shark fishing again!!  She paid another $5.00 and traded her little puppy in for a bigger prize - not that it was that much bigger though!

After we had spent almost all of the kids allowance - and all of mine - on games, we got some cotton candy, lemonade and mini donuts (and I had to borrow $5.00 from Grace to buy the donuts)!  Will threw a lovely fit in middle of the midway because he wanted to go on the rides again and I had had enough of the fair for another year so I told them we were done and leaving, and it was only 2:30 p.m.!! 

Greg stays in our RV across the road from the fairgrounds, along with a whole lot of other people, and the boys want to stay over there tonight (Saturday) so they can see the fireworks....but we'll see if they change their minds when they find out they can't go on any rides or play any games!! 

I will not even entertain the thought of going to the grounds today because Saturday is always the busiest day of the fair and I would not be able to handle it for a third day in a row!!

I look so forward to the fair each year, but once I have had my fill of it, then I look so forward to it being over for another year!!

SJ



Grace's turtle is the one above her head.




Mark hammering for a big squeaky hammer!




Will & Grace trying their luck for a squeaky hammer!
(they all ended up with them - yay!)




Will can throw candy off a float far better than he can throw darts!

                                                                                       

Grace is a pro at dart throwing!





I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...




I DID IT!!
Meet "Bully", Mark's new gigantic stuffy!!!



Grace about to try for a big prize, but it wasn't it the cards today!!

                                                                                   

The most wonderful time of the year!

Once a year, for three days, the town of Vermilion has a buzz about it that everyone recognizes and loves...it's fair time!  The last weekend in July our small town pitches in and puts on the biggest and best small town fair around (and I am not just saying that because I live here...it's true!).  There will be around 20,000 people to walk through the gates of the fair this year and many of those are people who come from out of town, just to enjoy what our town has to offer!  There are RV's (including ours) parked all around the fair grounds a week in advance and there is no parking to be had by about 6:00 p.m. on any night of the fair!

The celebrations begin with a parade (and again, the best small town parade around!) on Thursday morning, which myself and my children (and one day home kid) had the chance to be a part of this year!  We rode on the "Webb's" float (our family business), the same float I used to ride on as a kid.  Mark has been riding on this float for the past two years, however this was the first time for Grace, Will and my first time in years and years!  I wasn't sure how my kids would handle the job of throwing candy and waving at strangers (especially since they don't even like to wave at people they know and love!), but let me tell you that they did a wonderful job!!  Will kept throwing candy so hard that it would hit people in the head - I even heard one guy say ouch, and compliment Will on his throwing ability - and Grace loved throwing candy to all the kids.  Mark was on the opposite side of the float than we were, so I didn't get to really see him in action, but I did have to tell him to pace himself with the candy throwing as we had a long, long way to go!  Since our float was the first to go, we got to be dropped off at the end of the route and walk back the two blocks to watch the entire parade, and my kids got to collect some candy for themselves.  It was the best of both worlds!

At 5:00, once my day home kid was gone, we headed out for the fair!  My kids aren't even this excited on Christmas morning, this is the biggest day for them - as Mark said today: "I've been waiting a whole year for this day!"  I loaded them up, grabbed the wagon and some sweaters and off we set to see the bright lights of the fair!  We got to the gate and hit our first speed bump...they charged me $5.00 for Grace to get in, even though the paper said that six and under is free - I was not about to hold up traffic anymore than my Choo Choo Wagon already was, but I was not happy.  We went over to the ticket booth and after one carny snarled at us from behind the plexiglass we stood in line for the she-man who was working in the other window.  I am pretty sure she was a lady, but it was hard to tell.  She was nice enough, but I do think they must teach rudeness in carny school.  When I told her we wanted to buy three wrist bands for the kids I had added it up to be $93 (which pains me to even think about that) because the paper said $31 per person...nope, once again the paper was incorrect and the total for my three kids to ride on the rides tonight was a grand total of $105!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We made our way through all the people and rides and came out by the little kids rides and once my kids started to go on these rides, one thing became very apparent - Mark is too tall for a lot of these rides this year!  It was tough for him because he is too tall for the little kids rides but still a little too young and way to chicken for the big kid rides!  Grace was even too tall for one ride that she wanted to go on with Will (but she was only about half an inch past their little arrow on the chart), so when the carny refused to let her on I became wild and ratted out a little girl who got to go on, telling the carny that I knew darn well that she was as tall as Grace and he put her on the ride!  He pulled her off, measured her and told her she had to leave the ride too!  I felt a little bit like a bag after that, but I was so annoyed that they were being so picky about half an inch on a little car ride!  On the other end of things though, Will got to go on pretty much whatever the heck he wanted, even though he was about half an inch too short!  He even got to go on the big swings - I am talking about the BIG swings!  I couldn't believe he even wanted to go on and the carny happily put my three year old on this adult size ride!  The other thing that gets my blood boiling is the butting in line that happens when my kids are lined up, waiting their turn; I know that kids will be kids, but butting in line is probably my biggest pet peeve in life! 

By about 9:00 p.m. I was ready to go (not only because I had had enough of the bright lights and excitement for one night, but "Big Brother" was going to be on t.v. at 10:00!) but Grace still had not rode on the ferris wheel yet!  She cannot go to the fair without riding this favourite ride of hers!  Since I had a panic attack and meltdown last year when I attempted this ride with her, I knew I would have to find someone else to take her on (because even though I will allow my three year old to ride the big swings, I will not allow my six year old to ride the ferris wheel alone!!!).  Greg had the boys on the giant slide, so Grace and I went in search of a companion for her.  I couldn't see anyone who I knew, but then I spied two little girls just a little older than Grace waiting for a turn on this ride!  I told the one little girl that I know her mom and introduced Grace to them and they welcomed her with open arms!  The three of them climbed on and were so excited to go for this magical ride...and it's a good thing they were excited because I think the carny forgot aobut them as he left them on it for almost half an hour!!  They just kept going around and around and around!  Everytime I thought they were going to get off, they would just fly by!  Poor Grace was so cold by the end of it she was shaking when she got off - but at least she had fun!!

Natalie was at the fair as well, but not with us.  She rode her horse with her 4-H club in a lovely tribute to a young girl, from her 4-H club, who was killed in a car accident last year.  They did the ride during the opening ceremonies of the Grand Stand at 7:00 p.m. the first night of the fair.  After that, I saw Natalie once with her friends, milling about the fair grounds and to my surprise she was home by 11:00 p.m.!  She too thought it was outrageous to pay $35 for a wrist band, so she didn't ride any rides at all.

I will go back each day to check out the different activities that they offer.  We will take the kids to the exhibit hall, the petting barn (even though Grace will be gagging the moment we walk into that fragrant barn), the trade show and of course the booth that sells cotton candy and candy apples!! 

Tomorrow when I go though I will be bringing my paper with me to show them just how much I do and don't have to pay...at these rates, my kids better enjoy the fair more than Christmas because they just might have to pick one over the other this year!!

SJ



The Webb's float




Mark & Grace on the Hang Gliders




Will riding the Merry-Go-Round




The Vermilion Light Horse 4-H Club riding in memory of Leasa Headon, killed in a car accident on Aug. 22, 2010




Cool man Will finally has a chance to ride a motorcycle!!




The beloved Strawberry ride!




Will & Grace are on these swings!




After his dizzying ride on the swings!




This is a true favourite for my kids!




Grace and the two very sweet girls who gave her the chance to ride her favourite ride!




Mark & Will ending the night on the slide!




The end of a very fun night!



I'm a glutton for, well...gluttony!!

It has been a while since I sat down at my computer and typed out anything, probably because my hands have been too busy holding the food that was ready to be shoved down my throat at any given time!  Oh, what a sad story it is!  But don't worry, I have seized control once again (mostly because I watched a very inspiring Oprah today) and  put down my package of Dad's cookies and I signed myself up for Weight Watchers Online - for the third, or maybe it's the fourth time - before the show was even over.  I looked at all these people on the screen who had lost over 100 lbs. each and I decided that if I could lose over 100 lbs. then I would be skinny alright, I actually believe they call it anerexic, so maybe I won't strive for quite such a hefty goal; 50 lbs sounds like just the right number.  I told Greg that I needed to find the air pump to fill up the tires of my bike and he laughed at me like I had just told the best joke of the day...thanks for he support honey!!  Oh well, I know he's only laughing because he thinks this is just another one of my fleeting ideas and he knows he will just end up paying $21.00 per month until I realize that I should once again cancel the membership...not this time though!!  I am going to stick it out this time - even if I hit a bump in the road or crash head-on with a Costco size bag of peanut M&M's (dang are those good!) - I will just pick myself up and brush myself off and keep on going down the road to a new me with my old body!! 

As soon as Greg gets home he can pump up those tires for me and as long as my bum doesn't swallow my seat whole, I will be bike riding into the sunset tonight!!

SJ

Graduation

Well, it's been a whirlwind of activity since the last time I sat down to type anything on here.  Natalie graduated from highschool in a lovely ceremony and banquet.  She looked so lovely in her dress, but I think what made her look so elegent and beautiful was the way she did her hair.  She wanted to have her hair down, but then she went to my long-time hairdresser and voila, an up-do was created!!  Thanks Candace...she looked wonderful! 

Her good friend, Braydon, was her escort.  Natalie and Braydon have been friends since Natalie was in grade three in Lloydminster.  They have remained very good friends and I am so glad she got to spend this special day with someone who is so special to her. 

Natalie is going to work now for a year or so, with the hopes of traveling a little after she saves enough money.  I don't think she is really sure of what she wants to do after that, and that is okay with me!  She is only seventeen years old right now and at seventeen I don't think anyone really knows what life holds for them.  I am so proud of her for making it through some not so easy years of school.  She is a beautiful young lady and I know that she will be great at whatever it is she decides to do.  Most importantly though, I hope she knows that she will always have the support of her family if she ever falters.

SJ