It’s one of those things I always romanticize when it comes to involving the kids- going to the State Fair.
Oh, think of how much fun they’ll have seeing all the weetle animals! And eating all the amazing food! And playing all the games and riding all the rides!
It all sounds like a pretty picture in my head… until we’ve actually been there for about, oh, 45 minutes, and we’re packed into the midway in search of some “award-winning” fried something-or-other, pushing 2 screaming kids in strollers, wondering why it feels like August.
But by that time we’ve already invested time and money to get in, so it’s not like we can just say, “Welp, bad idea. Let’s go home.”
No really. It’s like we’ve trapped ourselves because what did we do when we walked in and were still romantic about the notion of being there? Bought $40 in tickets.
And we must spend them. There is no way Scott will leave without spending them.
So we walk to the Ferris Wheel – only to see a line that rivals those at Disney World. At least we have the good sense to not trap ourselves in that.
We continue wandering about, making a 1.5 hour stop in the Auto Show because it’s air-conditioned. The Texas State Fair is a lot less about cows and pigs as it is about next year’s lineup of cars and trucks for us. Maybe if the pigs could set up in climate controlled conditions we’d take more time to visit with them.
After that, we set off, purchasing random bits, on the continuous hunt for the food that makes the Texas State Fair famous. You can get a fried candy bar anywhere these days, but where else can you get fried jambalaya?
Only at the end of this very long line, that’s where.
Trapped again.
But all was going to be well! We were going to spend the last of our tickets, eat our fried ridiculousness and FINALLY GET TO LEAVE.
30 minutes and 10 meltdowns later, I scrapped Kendall off the asphalt under the tent, peeled Leyna out of the stroller she had melted into, and we sat down to feast on some fair fare.
And we were gonna LIKE IT, dammit.
After 5 hours (yes, five!), we poured the melted children, dripping with sugar and resentment, back into their carseats. The trip was a… success? I mean, they saw at least 1 animal for every 10 girls they saw in shorts that exposed their butt cheeks.
They promptly passed out, only for Kendall to wake up at 9:30 that night. The good news was he had forgiven us. The bad news was he wanted to stay up until 3 in the morning.
I’m sure we’ll be back next year because we’re gluttons for punishment and fried-things-that-probably-shouldn’t-be-fried-but-OMG-so-good like that.
Did you make it to your state fair this year? Please tell me I wasn’t the only mom shouting, “I DON’T CARE. JUST TAKE ME HOME! I WANT AWAY FROM ALL THESE PEOPLE!” at her husband near the ring-toss game after 45 minutes of searching for the deep-fried chocolate cake.
Thanks to Chevy for the tickets. I promise we stopped by and looked at lots of your cars and trucks in the air-conditioned auto show. Well played.