The fair.

I wonder what "the fair" is like in other cities and towns. I always think of "county fairs"....where there are rolling hills in the background...and girls in red and white checkered dresses showing their prize hog. Maybe I get that from Charlotte's Web....or maybe it's that...I really do live in a fairy tale world in my mind. I can just imagine Aunt Bee showing her prize pickles just hoping desperately to get that blue ribbon. If any of you are Andy fans out there...you'll get that joke. Anyway, our fair is not really anything like that. It's in the parking lot of our civic center....and about every 5 minutes you get this whif of something that you just don't quite know what it is....but you would swear there was some kind of open sewer right at your feet. The rides are worked by people you really wouldn't trust to be around in general...and yet you are trusting them with your life as you hop on the ring of fire...to be turned upside down over and over again. The irony of the entire thing...is that regardless of how nasty it is...or how bad it smells....we HAVE to go every single year. We did take a year off when all the Katrina evacuees were up here and it was packed out, shoulder to shoulder. The kids LOVE it, they must get an elephant ear every year, and I really so very much enjoy a chicken on a stick. If you haven't had one...go find one....somewhere!! They also do happen to fit perfectly on this crazy no carb diet I'm on to drop those pesky 10 pounds. But I digress...this year....the oldest 3 kids really stepped their riding variety up a notch or two. They rode almost every single thing. The most heart stopping ride is the one that Chandler declared to be his favorite of all time. Madison did come off of one ride crying...and pretty hysterically at that....but she regained composure fairly quickly. And was off again to ride more breath taking rides. The funniest part of the entire night was when Chandler, Collin, and my nephew Tristin went through the haunted house. I was standing outside with my brother in law Jason, and Jillian. Jason had JUST said..."I think Chandler and Tristin are hiding at the back door trying to scare people". Not two minutes later, Collin comes running from around the back screaming hysterically with his hand over his mouth...."help me! help me!". And I don't mean he was just trotting out...he was running full force. I immediately thought Chandler and Tristin had met their first victim....and they got him good. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Collin had gotten spooked, tripped and fell, and somehow ended up hitting Tristin's elbow or something and knocked out a tooth. So after Collin comes running...Tristin and Chandler came running telling me this. Of course, I then felt HORRIBLE for laughing at Collin...but I promise if I had that on video...I'd be winning my family $10,000!!!! Collin did settle down...and realized it was a tooth that had been loose literally for months. Now he can finally get that tooth fairy money for it!!

Well, that's it for the Duffey day at the fair. It was a great day....with great friends!! And not just for my kids...my great friends were there too! I suppose with that kind of company, it doesn't really matter if it was in the middle of a parking lot with a sewer at my feet! LOL!