The NC State Fair!

Jimmy and I had not been to the State Fair since Charlie was nine months old, so we were very excited to take the boys this year! We got our admission tickets in advance so we didn't have to pay the full price, and I bought two ride vouchers as well. We initially planned on going Tuesday, the 21st, but with all the activity at Jimmy's job and with perfect fair weather Saturday the 18th, we decided to just go ahead early. We ended up staying the rest of the day and had such a good time. We love that they're big enough to do stuff like this now!!

Shortly after walking through the gates, we found this little replica of Hatteras!

Cheese!

Little Charlie with great big Smoky the Bear! We really enjoyed the Forest Service's area at the fair which included a sawmill demo, a helicopter, bulldozer, and small airplane that everyone could look at, as well as a couple of tents on forests and fire safety. Both of the boys got a small pine tree they could plant (and we have planted them!).

Getting to try out the helicopter! Cool stuff!

It seems he is mystified!

Checking out the available seating.

They both loved that they got to press all the buttons and pretend to fly the plane (at one point Charlie asked me why it wouldn't lift off the ground.... no fear, I tell ya!).

That's a BIG bulldozer!

Jimmy and I really enjoyed the "country" part of the fair. I don't know what else to call it. It was right next to the Forestry exhibit and had little country buildings. There was also live gospel music! I was pretty impressed that they were allowed to play songs like "Because He Lives." Lots of people were sitting down and listening to the band.

Tobacco... part of my heritage since Dad grew up on a tobacco farm. (Side note: some people pronounce this plant: "tuh-BAK-uh")

A cute little snack stand, with reasonable prices! We got Moon Pies and Pepsi, along with a bag of peanuts.

We got the boys some homemade ice cream from here... where it was "made with a John Deere." These tractor-looking machines powered the ice cream machines.

Stuffing their faces. The ice cream did not disappoint! We gave Charlie some freshly shelled peanuts to put on his dessert, which he thought was hilarious fun. He may have belly-laughed at this idea! We had also brought along some mini Oreos, which Henry put on top of his Cookies-N-Cream ice cream. We had some happy boys!

The flower part- another part I had never seen! I loved it!

How cool is this?! I wish I could make a mum tower at my house!

And then there were three holes of free mini golf... which the boys HAD to do. Their golf skills are a hot mess (as are mine, but at least they can blame it on being preschoolers...).

It should be fun trying this next year at the beach, ha!

The giant chair and my little people. : )

Thomas!! You know we had to watch this train forever...

Then we headed into the "Villages of Yesteryear" or something like that, where there are many artists who practice some old/traditional/country crafts. Not sure how to really describe that, but candle-makers, quilters, etc. We also found an artist who did silhouettes. I had never consciously thought, "I should get silhouettes of the boys," but once I saw the artist's work, it was all over. The shape of Henry's sweet little nose was evident even in his ultrasound picture, and I love his profile mainly because of the cute way it goes up just the littlest bit at the end. And Charlie's little curls... you get the picture. So we got them done, and I love them!! 

After our exciting (to me) silhouette adventure, we hit the midway. It felt claustrophobic for about 10 minutes but was more cleared out past the entrance. We made a beeline for this ride:

It was exhilarating fun to these two guys!

Surprisingly,we had a reasonably priced dinner thanks to some Methodists from Cary. During dinner Charlie jumped right into a conversation with the gentleman sitting next to him. It was really precious how that man helped him a couple times and listened when Charlie would talk to him. Never mind us, he found his own friends!

After dinner was fishing (more times than we'd like to admit..), which Henry absolutely loved. Unfortunately he had no concept of the fact that you had to pay every time you threw that line in. Anyway, they finally won enough to trade up smaller prizes for the very cool pirate hats they picked out.

Then it was on to "Chopper Charlie." It might have gone two miles an hour and lasted all of one minute, but the boys loved it!

Henry talking to me through the door, "Hi Mommy!!" Jimmy is in the back, if you can't tell.

I think at this point we went to the Super Slide, which I was extremely nervous about doing (because of my own nerves... nothing to do with the boys...). I prayed all the way to the top and then made sure my shoes were over the burlap so I could slow myself down if necessary. I also had to ride down the outside edge every time. And no, I'm not neurotic at all. : )  The boys LOVED this and were so pumped with adrenaline every time they came down! They squealed to do this repeatedly, which we obliged two more times.

Then it was on to this, which they got to ride by themselves. Big time!!!!

Love that they had such fun!

Finally, the "monstah twucks," as Henry called them. Think he's excited?! We don't know who the little girl is... we thought he and Charlie were riding together, but I guess not. **In line for this ride the fireworks started going off, letting us know that it was about 10PM. Whoa!! Time flies when you're having fun!

Happy boy!

That little grin- I love it!

To close out the night we got some yummy treats... fresh lemonade, onion rings (Jimmy), frozen chocolate bananas with sprinkles (for the boys), and a caramel apple with nuts for me. Woohoo!

On the way out Charlie wanted to pose with the big kangaroo.

The cuteness of this kills me. Charlie was excited to see Daniel Tiger too, and even rubbed noses and said, "Ugga Mugga!" Unfortunately, I was too slow and did not capture that moment.

With Clifford!!

Somehow we shut the fair down... we got back to our car at 11:30 with one fast-asleep child and the other tottering on the edge of sleep. It was so worth it, though! We had a wonderful family day at the fair and are already looking forward to next year!