The Big Fresno Fair

We went to the Big Fresno Fair last week. We parked in the infield of the racetrack to we got to see one of the horse races right as we came in. Unfortunately it was the one race where a horse fell down at the very end and had to be euthanized afterwards, but the race was still fun to see. Emily gets so excited to see the animals so it was a thrill for her sitting atop Kevin's shoulders and watching those horses race in to the finish line. After the race we went over to the area where they show off the horses before they race and she was looking for "Sahara," which is the horse on a new Jasmine movie she has been watching every day for the past week. We had told her before that we would be seeing the horses at the fair, so that was the first thing she thought of. So we're looking at the horses walking around in a circle and Emily's asking where Sahara is...well Sahara in her movie is a white horse, and of course all the race horses are black or brown...then all of a sudden she says "Mom! I see Sahara!" Sure enough, there was a white horse waiting on the side. Not a race horse, but a utility horse. So Emily got to see her Sahara after all. It's amazing how things can become so real for little kids!

We went to see all the 4-H animals (cows and sheep while we were there) and the birthing center where they had little piglets, lambs, goats (kids?), chicks and calves. Emily's favorite were the little piglets - maybe she takes after Grandma! There were like 13 of them in the pen with their big momma, all huddled up together. Very cute.

The highlight of the day for Emily was the cotton candy. We passed a booth selling some on our way to the children's area and of course Emily had to have some "big ice cream." I told her "maybe later" thinking "maybe later she'll forget about it and we won't have to buy it" but her doting daddy couldn't resist. So we went in to watch the magic show and Kevin took off to buy the cotton candy. He brought it back and set it in her empty stroller and we waited until she looked over and saw it. She didn't notice for a long time! She was so distracted with everything going on around her, so finally we told her to look and her eyes got all big...so for the next hour and a half she ate cotton candy. The funny part was that she'd take bites and then like every 30 seconds she'd look at me and say "Mom, I REALLY like cotton candy!" Yes, our little darling does love sugar. But the good thing is, I checked the label and for 2/3 of a really big bag (think, 5 big colored puffs), it was only 100 calories and like 34 grams of sugar. So yeah it's still a lot of sugar, but not nearly as bad as I thought. Not much more than a glass of fruit juice but apparently MUCH more enjoyable and long-lasting! I wish I had taken a picture of her just eating her cotton candy, but alas, no.

The other fun thing, which I did get pictures of, was the magic show. This was a different magic show than the one where she got the cotton candy, and Emily had already eaten a bunch of it by then so she was starting to get all excited (this was when her exclamations of how much she liked cotton candy were very constant). The magician would do his tricks and we'd all clap and Emily had the best time clapping and laughing. She has this laugh that's like a fake laugh but really loud when she thinks she is supposed to laugh or something is just so silly. We were on the front row and the magician kept having volunteers go up and do things, and each time Emily would just about jump out of her chair to go up there. So towards the end of the show he called her up and had her do a trick with him. I thought surely she'd be too shy and not want to actually go up, but she just jumped right up out of her seat and trotted across the grass to him.

She even spoke loudly and clearly into the microphone when he asked her name and had her say some magic words, something I have never seen her do with a stranger. She got to help rip up some tissue paper and then part of it turned into a little hat which she got to keep. She was an adorable little helper!

After the magic show we went to the kids play area where they have a huge pirate ship, tree house and the newly added "catfish falls." They actually put catfish into the water and the little kids can fish. We got Emily a pole and tried for about 1/2 an hour but didn't catch anything. We saw two other people catch some fish (which they put back into the water), and Emily just had fun holding the little bamboo fishing pole. (And check out my fat belly in this photo!)

We had a great time and thankfully avoided the carnival area. Kevin's dad picked up Emily at about 6pm and then Kevin and I stayed for the Daughtry (Chris Daughtry, from American Idol...) concert that night. The weather was perfect so being at an outdoor concert was no problem. Our seats were even pretty close so we could see really well. The concert was shorter than I expected (about an hour), but as Kevin pointed out, that's what happens when you only have one album!

So that was our trip to the fair! They definitely do a good job here of having lots of stuff for kids, plus all the regular exhibits and entertainment and stuff. So that's it until next year...