Montana Fair

The weekend of or neat Hailey's birthday we usually go to the fair on Saturday and have her parties on Sunday. It always works out good, but I was very worried this year. Saturday morning it was raining...and raining HARD! And, the high was only in the 70s for the day too!! We just played at home in the morning (the fair doesn't open until 12 anyway) and believe it or not, it was SUNNY and perfect when we left a little before noon!! We got there to find little to NO lines for the rides....no lines for the food....and no big crowds anywhere we went! We did the rides first (good decision!), ate a late lunch (yummy!), and then went to see the exhibits, etc. The kids LOVED it!! The weather was better than you could even ask for. By the time we left (after 6pm), it was busy at the fair again and a great time to leave. :)

Ryan was quiet adventurous this year. It is funny, but he wanted to go on the Farris wheel FIRST (reminds me of Hailey ... she wanted the same thing in 2006 when she started riding the rides too!). We all went on the ride, and Ryan's famous line "THIS IS MY WORLD" was said during the ride. He loved it and wasn't scared at all! :) Next, they went through a crazy, fun house that has strange things to walk through, etc. Ryan had a hard time on the moving steps that were so big for his little legs, but he kept working on it. Then there are pictures of Hailey and Ryan both coming out of the spinning thing! :) Lots of laughs!! :) Finally, 2 pictures from the tilt-a-whirl. Ryan didn't want to go on that...so Doug, Doran, Hailey and Chris went on that. There spot was just spinning all the time, and NO, it was not Chris doing it! :) Ryan thought it was fun to have a video of it instead! :)

Hailey and Ryan also went on the kids roller coaster. This was the first time Chris and I didn't have to go with them! Yippee! They both thought it was great and I love that they put their arms up ... how funny! :)

Another picture with Ryan's arms up --- seems to be the trend today :) Hailey behind bars ... I told her I NEVER want to see this again :) And, Ryan on the race car ride. How appropriate that he is in the McDonald's car :)

The last ride they went on was the bumper cars. Hailey and Chris were together, and Doug and Ryan were together. It was fun, but will be better once they are older!! :)

After lunch we went to see the animals...and we got to see more this year than we have in the past. The kids loved the bunnies! :) I just love walking by the 4-wheeler displays and hear all 3 of my kids (Chris is included here!) talk about how they want a new one!! Hailey said that she wanted this pink one for her birthday (dream on little girl!) and Ryan wanted his for his birthday too (nice try Ryan).

Next up was the 4H building. We walked in there at the RIGHT time! They were making this little horses out of the swimming "noodles" and the kids LOVED 'EM! After they made their horse, there was a obstacle course to go through, and then they got a prize (their first fair ribbon and candy!). It was fun. I thought I would be carrying both of those around the fair the whole time, but Hailey held hers ... to my surprise! :) Here they are with their horses and going through the race.

The kids also wanted to do the jumping thing too. Two years ago Hailey did this, but didn't get to go very high. This year....they both had a BLAST jumping. Hailey was going SO HIGH and was really getting into it. Ryan wasn't scared at all either. He loved it!! :)

They got to pick ONE game to play (those games are EXPENSIVE at the fair!)...so they both picked the fishing one. Hailey got a fish right away, and a split second later Ryan did too (then he put it down and went fishing again and got a second one without the guy noticing!). They both got a cute little stuffed animal, and were happy fair-goers! :)

It was a WONDERFUL day and the kids enjoyed it so much!! Okay, the parents and grandparents did too! :)