Texas State Fair

Clint and I took the kids to the Texas State Fair a couple of weeks ago and it was such a fun afternoon/evening.  We picked a day that was a bit too hot, but it was really nice because the fairgrounds weren't crowded at all and we had little or no lines at all the rides.  The kids were thrilled with all the excitement.  Although we made a bad first pick and sent Clint and Charlie down a gigantic slide that freaked Charlie out a bit, he recovered quickly and loved the rest of the rides.  We could tell he was embarrassed about his tears after the slide, because as we were leaving the fair, he made a meek attempt to convince us to let him try the slide again (but seemed fairly relieved when we said we were all out of tickets :).

Here are Clint and Charlie on their first roller coaster.  It was a big hit!

 Evie was too small for both the slide and the roller coaster, and by the time the boys finished those rides, she was just desperate for her turn.  The little daredevil was wildly pointing to the biggest, scariest looking rides and saying "I do dat, I do dat!"  We found one just right for her and she happily "did dat."

 Miss E was all smiles the whole ride. :)

 When we saw the Charlie Chopper, we just couldn't pass it up...

 Little Miss Independent ran around wildly the entire evening.

 I think the log ride might have been everyone's favorite.  Here they are anxiously waiting for their turn.

 Two tiny thumbs up!

 One of my favorite things was the petting zoo.  They have the best animals!

 Charlie and I just loved the baby goats.  We watched them together for several minutes, and he said, "I just love these little baby goats.  I want to take one home SO bad."  I agreed, but I don't know if I could handle an animal so similar to Miss Evie--their clumsy, constant climbing and aggressive head-butting was just a bit too familiar for me. :)

 Trying to get in and get his goat...

 My heart went out to this poor, tired momma pig. :)

 There was even a baby Kangaroo!

 The new Big Tex!  Charlie was so happy to see that he was looking healthy--he was so worried after the fire last year.

 We love the giant ferris wheel!

Looking down was a little too tempting.  It was a constant refrain of "I do dat!"

 We ended the evening in typical fair fashion: with lots of fried food.  It turned out to be a beautiful evening!

Such a fun night!

OH, and guess what we drove to the State Fair in?  That's right, our new van!

I still can't quite believe I am driving a minivan, but I really am starting to love it.  And the kids are thrilled with it, which makes it so fun.  They especially love the automatic doors and are so excited that the baby has his own seat now (apparently, according to Charlie, the baby is "SO happy" too).