Fair and Rodeo

We spent the first weekend of August playing at the Cache County fair and going to the rodeo. I don't know why, but I always love to go to the fair! I think I mostly like to go for the yummy, greasy food and people watching and the kids have so much fun seeing the animals. It is a good time for all!
Here are the kiddies ready for our day at the fair!

Rylee was super excited when she saw this cute little PINK four wheeler and had to try it out!

Logan tried one, too! Next, we walked through a bunch of exhibits featuring freakishly sized fruits and vegetables and lots of random crafts. Who knew that you could win a prize at the fair for Legos? I think that part is Darren's favorite - all the random stuff and art! I also found some fun craft stuff and got Rylee and the new baby some bows and me some bracelets.

We are now to the stage where the kids want to actually "do" stuff at the fair and just walking around isn't enough. We had driven by the fair before and Logan had seen all the rides and was super excited about going on them, so we told the kids they could each choose one thing to ride. I thought Logan would pick the bumper cars or something like that, but he saw this weird play house thing and had to do that! I tried and tried to talk him into something else, because I wasn't excited to pay $3 for him to go down a slide, but he was convinced this is what he wanted and he thought it was pretty cool! Here he is, ready for his turn...
First, he ran through the punching bags. I'm pretty sure that this is the WHOLE reason that Logan chose this weird fun house thing - because it had punching bags. He is really into them since he plays Wii boxing at Grandma's house. I think he was a little disappointed that you just run by them and don't hit them over and over. The other reason he may have chosen this weird fun house were the fake Harry Potter characters painted on it. Either way, he was happy with his choice.
Here is Logan at the end of his fun house experience. I think he got to climb a few things, run across a bridge and go down the slide. It wasn't very big, but when you are 4, I guess this stuff is cool!

Next, we wandered through all the animal stalls. We saw some of the largest pigs, chickens and rabbits on the planet! Seriously, there were some HUGE animals! Here are Logan and Rylee with a large pig.

Here they are saying hi to the goats. They are my favorite animal. I think they are pretty cute and have thought about one as a pet a few times - They seem a little less work than most pets and less intimidating to me for some reason.

After the animals, we were just walking and Logan found this little station where you could try and lasso something. There were some "real" cowboys trying it out, so Logan tried to. It was pretty funny to watch! He was pretty determined and gave it a good effort, but never got too close. He was having fun though. We also watched some mechanical bull action - Somebody put their 2 or 3 year old up there and it was a little scary, but they managed OK.

Next, it was Rylee's turn for a ride and she chose the REAL ponies. I felt MUCH better about spending these 3 dollars for some reason - It seemed like a much better experience for the money. She got to go around several times and LOVED it! She looked like a regular cowgirl and was chatting away to the guy taking the horse around. I don't think he knew what to say back to her.

We stopped by where the bands were playing for a little while and the kids loved doing some serious dancing! They were being so funny and weren't shy at all to dance out in front of the crowd. Logan kept pretending he was playing the guitar.

While we were wondering around, we also got to see Big Blue and Logan was really excited! Rylee is terrified of him though, so she wouldn't get a picture.

Eating some greasy fair food - We got some burgers and then a delicious scone! YUMMM!!!

On Saturday, we went to the rodeo with our good friends, the Lifferth's. The kids loved watching the rodeo and Rylee and Olivia were really into the Princesses. Rylee also keeps talking about how she wants to ride a bull after going....YIKES!

Rylee and her buddy Olivia are such cute friends and even matched!

Rodeo Girl Rylee

Rylee, Olivia and Logan cheering for the rodeo!

Do you think he is excited?

Logan loves the rodeo!

Logan and Daddy

For some reason, these photos posted weird, but I didn't want to reload them, so I am just leaving them off center....

Me and Rylee

One of the cowboys riding - We saw bareback riding, broncos, calf roping, barrel racing, mutton busting (my favorite) and the bull riding (no cowboys rode the bull for 8 seconds the whole weekend!) They also did some crazy poker game where they let a bull lose while some cowboys play poker and whoever can stay at the table the longest wins. It was a little scary! And they had these HUGE horses called the Texas Thunder that were kind of like Clydesdale's and pulled this stagecoach thing around in different formations and were really amazing to watch.

The boys - Logan, Darren, Robb and Ethan

The girls - me, Rylee, Olivia and Carlie

It was a really fun night at the rodeo! Much better than last year when we got rained on and had to leave soaking wet! We learned from that experience last year and purchased covered seats this time and it rained all day, but stopped that night, so we didn't end up needing them, but it was much better to feel prepared! I'm sure we will be back at the fair and rodeo again next year for more good times!

Cute rodeo buddies Logan and Rylee!