North Alabama State Fair - It's the Fair Y'all!

It's that time of year again, that's right, it's time for the fair.  Who was excited?  Well, everyone except my husband...  He can't ride rides, he gets sick on a merry-go-round.  He knows I pick on him, and yes, it's picking not being mean and making fun of him.  I know it to be true, even though I've never seen him get sick, he can't even read directions in a car while it's moving without getting nauseated.  Bless him!  Yep, I'm in the South and blessed his heart, are you confused?  "Google it."  Well, that's what my husband tells me all the time, if you have questions, Google knows the answer.

Anyway, back to the fair... I was super excited that we were going with our "extended family," I guess you would call them, our "Besties," is another term for them, the Murrays.  We went Saturday and for the first time that I can remember it wasn't 96 degrees and muddy.  Although it flooded almost the whole city that Monday, the mud was gone by Saturday.  I can't tell you how many shoes I have ruined at the fair over the years, I mean without fail it was always muddy.  And HOT, ok so we are in Alabama, so most people would think we would be use to the humidity here, let me tell you, that's something you DON'T get use to.  This year, big bright beautiful son, a dry ground, and a great breeze.  This was starting out to be a great day.

We arrived and walked Lil' Man up to be measured :( 35 inches, and he would have to be 36 inches to ride things.  A pain in my side, but I figured we would entertain him somewhere.  Bracelets were up to $25 a piece (they were $11 in my day) boy I sure have turned into my parents, talking about "back in my day."  Ha ha.  After spending that much, I sure was planning to get my monies worth!  On to the rides...

The first ride that we walked up to was Full Tilt, which to me didn't look bad, but I love rides and excitement.  My daughter, Lyssa and her friend, Lexie, reluctantly got in line.  When Lexie saw how high it went, she got out of line.  Lyssa shot me a look, and I walked up and whispered to her, "if (blank) can do it, you can do it."  There was another child on the ride at the time that my daughter knew...  That did the trick, she stayed in line.  Probably not my best "mommy moment,"  but it worked.  Lexie's dad, Jeremy, told Lexie to get in line with Lyssa and that she would be fine.  So, we all waited and held our breath.  It didn't help that when the line moved to load again, they were stopped right at the gate, to be the first on the next time, so now these girls had to watch this ride AGAIN.  Ok, the ride ended and the operator walked around to the back of the ride to act like he was working on it.  Yes, the girls were now freaked out.  But they still got on it.  Lexie made Lyssa sit on the outside edge.

when they thought everything was fine

The, "I'm going to kill you look," from Lexie.

Lexie not liking the height and Lyssa peacefully looking down

and then it began to tilt

Lyssa deciding she was no longer happy as she was tilting towards the ground 

Coming off the ride...
Lyssa not so happy with us...
Lexie was happy her daddy made her ride.

 Next up was a smaller ride that went in a circle and boy were they happy to ride it.

being silly as these two know how :)

 Then, they couldn't wait to get on the Gravatron, you know the one that spins so fast that the gravity sends you to the ceiling... The only ride that my husband can ride since he can't see that he is going in a circle.  My daughter had never ridden it, so I was excited to see her expression afterwards.  Well, I couldn't get any pictures of them on it because it's closed, but I got some when they came out.

face feeling funny

explaining how it pulls your face

Probably one of the most shocking moments for me was when they agreed without hesitation to ride the Ring of Fire, although it was right next to Full Tilt so they could see Full Tilt went higher.

My daughter was actually looking down 

The scream and then the eyes closed

Lexie smiling and I think my daughter was glad to be right-side-up

 And since little AJ couldn't ride anything he decided to take a nap.  Funny because he gave up naps a long time ago, but now that there are hundreds of people around him, he went to sleep.

 Ha ha, one of the funnier ones was the Drop Zone.  Yes, it took you way way up and then without warning dropped you.  Hmmm, surprisingly they actually rode it without question.

Yes, that wold be my over confident daughter waving saying, "I got this."
Notice Mr. Cool beside her...

all the way up...

all the way down...
Yep, Mr. Cool screamed like a girl.

trying to control her breathing

dropping to kiss the ground...

 Then, my favorite ride EVER!  The Zipper...  Ok so last year I rode it with a good friend and screamed the ENTIRE time I was on it, my daughter still picks at me about it, so I just knew she wasn't going to ride it...  WRONG!  They did.

Eye contact as they got on

 Then it was bathroom breaks, supper time, and then to watch the Lawnmower races.  Yep, you read that right, Lawnmower races.  After all we are in Alabama, right?  Well, we had funnel cakes, cheese sticks, corn dogs, Philly cheese steaks, candy apples, cotton candy, sweet tea, and lemonade.  Wow!  I think someone (me) is supposed to be on a diet.  We didn't watch the Lawnmower races very long because let's be honest, it was boring without all the mud that we are accustomed to.  So, back to the rides...

Lexie's little sister, Brinley, was tall enough to ride this one with them.

and boy did they have fun

The sun was beginning to set and picture taking became harder and harder due to all the rides being lit up and going at high speeds.  But I tried to get some.

The Orbiter

 Then I ran off to get a lemonade refill, as if I hadn't eaten enough already.  Ha!

Lyssa trying to get Lexie to put her arms up, on the Pirate Ship

meanwhile, Lexie's dad, Jeremy was trying to sit the bottle up...

Both girls with their arms up

The Murrays

us, The Tennerys

All of us

After the picture was taken, AJ decided he wanted out and to run around.  So I held his hand and let him lead.  We ended up in one of the exhibit buildings and the kids got balloons and hand prints.

We had a wonderful time and I'm so happy we got to spend this time with the Murrays.  The girls rode everything that there was time to ride and had no fears.  I can't wait until next year when AJ will be tall enough to ride rides.  It was a wonderful time!