Fun at the Fair 2008

We went to the Utah State Fair yesterday. We went last year and had so much fun we knew that this year would be even better. The highlight was watching Gwen on the pony rides. She really had a blast. She kept bouncing forward in the saddle to urge the pony to go faster - his name was Thunder, but since he was tied to a pole he couldn't really respond. Jonathan got her to pet him and she blew him kisses when her ride was over. I'm so thankful that she doesn't have allergies like some of her cousins. It means she can have fun and I don't have to stress out about what our night will be like later.

We also got to see all the different animals and I even got her to pet most of them. She was a little scared to touch them so she's slowly reach her little finger out and barely touch them before pulling it back quickly. After a few times of that if the animal was still within reach she'd leave her finger on them for a moment longer, telling me "see, Momma." She's really very brave but also practical. I mean, she's never been that close to most of those animals and she didn't know how they'd react to her.

Gwen riding Thunder the pony. This was her second pony ride of the summer, soon we'll take her to ride Bailey - Aunt Megan's tower of a horse. I think she's ready.Petting the dwarf goats. I thought they were babies, turns out they're full grown just little. They were washing the cows off. Gwen had to stay and watch them for like 10 minutes. I was bored, if you can't tell, but Gwen loved watching the cow bath. It was fun when they were done because they walked right by us. Cows sure are big that close.Petting the sheep. This big guy was so calm and just begging for attention. He'd baa at everyone walking by until they stopped and petted him. He was really soft too.We took advantage of this pig's nap time to feel her rubbery snout. It's so fun to touch, if you haven't felt a pig's snout before you have to next time you get the chance.They had the same kid farmer activities as last year. It was better this year since Gwen actually understood more about it. She kept trying to feed the pretend animals her crops that she'd gathered though. I had to follow her and pick up the tomato and apple that she kept feeding to the pretend sheep and hens. See, I'm sneaking them back into her basket.At the end of the activity you get to give all the things you gathered at all the different stations to one of the volunteers and they give you a dollar to take to the store. Gwen was so excited about this part. She likes to take my wallet and steal all my "monies"(my bills and credit cards), so she was happy when I told her it was a money and she could go buy something with it.She picked fruit snacks to buy with her dollar. We were so surprised. She's so big this year. Going to the fair is worth the price of admission just for this part and the animal part. I wouldn't recommend it to those with kids with allergies though. There's a lot of animals and dust.They were getting ready to start the horse show up again while we were there. We took Gwen and let her pet some of the horses up close, but she really loved sitting on her bench watching them in the ring. If Aunt Megan ever shows her horse again we'll definitely be there.