Fun at the Fair

Every year I like to drag Erik to the Utah State Fair for a fun night out as a family. I know it's not his idea of fun, but I love it and as Claire gets older, she loves it more and more too. This year, Claire and I headed out early to enjoy the sights before some of her cousins joined us later. We really enjoyed ourselves but by the time everyone had finally arrived, my feet hurt, I had a bad headache, and I was about done chasing Claire Bear around the park. Thank goodness Claire's Farmor and Farfar took over toddler duty upon their arrival (as did Erik).
 

 
Of course, we went in every animal barn possible. Claire even got to touch a lemur, pigeon, and many horses. While in the equestrian barn, Claire leaned through one of the stalls and gave a horse a big hug. I was very surprised as it was done without any encouragement or prodding. Guess she's getting used to the big guys.

Later we hit up the small kids farm where Claire was able to play pretend farmer. She gathered all of the necessary fruits and vegetables, brushed the sheep as instructed and turned her fake money in for a bag of crackers in the end. She was very serious about the entire thing.


After dinner, Claire and all of her cousins went on a train ride with Farmor and Farfar. Soren and Claire were so excited! Every time they would come around the turn their faces would light up as they waved intently to the rest of us standing nearby. In that moment alone, Claire's amusement made it all worth while.

Shortly before we headed home, we made one more pass through a couple of the animal barns. This time we were able to sit next to and touch a giant cow. I swear it weighed like 3,000 pounds. The sign said it was very gentle, but as I reached over to touch it's face, I was definitely nervous it was going to kill me with it's enormous horns.

It was yet another fun outing to the Utah State Fair. I can't wait to bring along our little baby boy and see it all again next year.