Virginia State Fair

It had been a few years since we had been to the State Fair. Last time we went Jericho was still in my belly, and therefore a little easier to contain. This year he was a man on a mission...to get out of his stroller and run away from home. I let him out of his rolling prison a few times and followed closely behind him...he really didn't have any destination in mind, he just wanted to be free to rub his hands on as many germy surfaces as possible.

We did all kinds of different stuff at the fair. We rode a bunch of stuff, ate a bunch of stuff, looked at some animals, and watched a "circus". As you can see from the picture below, Jericho was seriously suspicious of the camels in the circus. He decided they needed to not be let out of his sight, as anything that crazy looking was not to be trusted. Merrick and Tirzah enjoyed the show, but Merrick was convinced that what he was watching wasn't "real". I guess circuses only exist on TV. ;)

Speaking of eating stuff, we had all kinds of fried nonsense...(I feel like the state fair was no place for my paleo diet, so I left that at home.)...fried cheesecake and reese cups, cotton candy, popcorn and multi-colored slushies. We offered some cotton candy to Jericho, but he seemed to think we were trying to feed him something toxic and literally spit it out. He's probably the smart one. After Merrick downed his slushie he literally went to another level with hyperactivity. I was holding his hand while we were walking, and I think my shoulder is out of socket.

We also got to feed a giraffe, which was only ok with one of the hooligans. Tirzah is the next wild animal tamer in the family, which might come in handy with her brothers. Merrick took one look at that giant animal coming his direction and dropped his carrot and ran. Honestly it was a little intimidating, and gross...good thing I have three kids so I'm used to being drooled on. Jericho also wasn't a fan of the giraffe...or horses...or goats...or pigs. He cried when we parked him too close to the (miniature) horse. He cried when we parked him too close to the llama. He cried when he petted the goat. That was his own idea...he just decided after the fact that it was a bad one.

Thankfully both older kiddos were big enough for the rides this year. Jericho was not big enough, but he tried to get onto the boat ride anyway. He was under the rope and halfway up the stairs before we realized he'd escaped. (He is the kind of kid those crazy leashes are made for.) Merrick didn't like said boat ride, but Tirzah loved it. He did ride his first coaster though...so he's braver than his mommy-who-doesn't-do-rollercoasters.

It was one of those days that you know you'll remember for a long time, despite some craziness. I love days like that with my people...the ones you look back on and just get a warm feeling. Oh wait...maybe that was just Jericho gagging himself and throwing up half his dinner on the stroller, and then peeing out his diaper. ;)