State Fair 2011 (and 2010, 2009, 2008...)

Every year I get so excited when the State Fair comes!  I love getting to enjoy the day with my family, see my kids get so excited over everything, watch them fill their bags with all the free goodies, test free samples, and then eat some yummy food!!  As we walked through the gate this year I mentioned to Zane that we needed to go visit this one specific area that we hadn't been to in a really long time.  He laughed and teased me saying that we might have skipped the area last year, but that doesn't really count as it being a "long time". Then we both laughed when I reminded him that the only time we had been to this area was when we stopped to sit on the big stairs to feed Bryson (who was 8 months old) his baby food the first year we lived here.  It made us realize that we have been to the State Fair 5 years in a row!!  I can't even believe we've lived in North Carolina that long!  So, in the spirit of reminiscing...

2006

We went to the fair twice this year...once when Zane's mom and sister were visiting and again with some of our friends.

2007

This year was fun because Bryson had a little more understanding about what was going on and was at an age where he loved seeing that animals were real!  And we knew baby sister was coming in only 2 short months so we enjoyed some of our last time as a family of 3!

(Ashlyn was there, she just doesn't know it):

2008

Ashlyn got to experience the fair for the first time and Bryson was finally old enough to ride some of the rides by himself which he was so proud of!!

2009

Ashlyn got to see what all the excitement of the rides was all about and Bryson got to ride his first roller coaster (and all by himself)!

(I'm pretty sure I've enjoyed a gyro every time we've gone):

2010

The first year we were able to go with no stroller and no diapers!!  It's so much easier to maneuver your way around without having to push a stroller!

2011
And now to this year...
We really enjoyed the fair again this year.  This year might have been the first time we went on a Saturday (which is definitely more crowded than a weekday), but I really don't have much to complain about.  The kids didn't whine at all, the lines weren't tremendously long, we found an empty picnic table to eat lunch on, and the weather was perfect!

 Ashlyn was a little scared (okay, maybe a lot) of Smokey the Bear, but Bryson really liked him.  It was pretty funny when the worker standing by Smokey would ask the kids their names as they came over and she would repeat it so another man (who was hidden) would hear her and would be the loud voice of Smokey, calling the kids by name.

 Zane got to test the importance of seat belts when he tried this simulator that hits something head on at about 5 mph.  I told him that now he needs to imagine what Ashlyn and I felt when we hit something head on at 55 mph.  :)

 Bryson and Zane raced each other on these bikes.

Of course Zane won, but we were surprised at how well Bryson did!:

 Rides were a little different this year because the kids almost always chose different ones.  Bryson chose the bigger caterpillar roller coaster while Ashlyn chose a much smaller duck ride:

 Then we took a lunch break.

 Yep...a gyro:

Bryson rode on the monster trucks and the bumper cars while Ashlyn and I rode the swings:

 The carousel is always a favorite of Ashlyn's:

 This clown walked by when we were waiting in line for the ferris wheel which helped pass some time since this was the longest line we had to wait in:

The wait was definitely worth it, though, because they loved this ride that they got to go on with Daddy (mommy was still trying to keep her lunch down after the kiddie swings).  :)  They loved being able to see the whole fair from above and then yelling and waving to me every time they came around:

Do you see me down below?

We really enjoyed the State Fair this year and now we'll wait patiently for next year's fair!!