To keep our summer interesting and fun, and to take advantage of Dave's more relaxed schedule, we are trying to do one fun, bigger family outing per week. We've done berry picking, amusement and water parks, ball games, camping, and, this week, the California State Fair! We have great memories of previous visits to the State Fair, made in the past when the girls were very young and we had visiting family members. We were excited to go back after such a long time.
A favorite stop is always the baby animal area. We just love those adorable baby lambs, kids, and piglets!
We also got to watch chicks actually hatching! These incubators were full of cracking eggs and newborn birdies soggy and stumbling around freshly hatched. So cool!
The fish and game section of the fair is always fun too. Here Delia finally worked up enough nerve to put her arm into the tank of sturgeon. And once she did, and felt how smooth and cool these fish were, she did not want to leave!
At the Cal Fire station we talked with fighters about the sad and nearby Ferguson Fire. The girls also got to sit in this (and another) brand new truck!
The agriculture area is a place to learn a lot. There are huge gardens showing just about every kind of produce that our state grows, and plenty of pretty flowers too. The girls learned about water conservation and each planted a flower/herb in a special water-wicking pot to take home.
Now, let me take a moment here to say that I did great research on this outing. I picked a day to go that had a nice "Kids Go Free!" deal. I did NOT think to check out the weather forecast. My phone said it was 102 degrees and that heat did slow us down quite a bit in the afternoon. We found an amazing air conditioned pavilion that showcased wonderful farm fresh booths, handing out samples of all their goodies, like cheese, olive oil, nuts, ice cream and honey. We must have walked through this area 17 times! The honey sample people were starting to give us the stink eye.
One of these air conditioned pavilions also had our favorite Silent Disco. Here you could grab a pair of headphones, set them to your preferred dance music (and coordinate your color with your peeps so you could all be hearing the same thing) and then dance away under the lights and disco ball! Genius, right?! And hilarious to see a bunch of people dancing to music only they could hear!
We ate fun fair foods, looked at all the arts and crafts submissions, watched a crazy motocross show, strolled through the barns of animals being judged, and took just one ride together on the monorail that drives you around and above the vast fair grounds.
It was hot day, but a good one! I grew up going to county fairs with my grandpa, and, as I said, we had happy memories of visiting this State Fair with the girls years and years ago. It was fun to go back and see, do, and learn more with them being older.
The day ended with a soothing Footsie-Wootsie. Still just a quarter! :)
1 comment:
Jen, I remember a number of years ago we went to the fair with all of you. Looks like a fun expedition. Mom/Grandma
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