My Day at the Fair

Original title, I know. ;) Doesn't it sound like I'm writing a report for a third-grade class? But I hope you don't mind joining me anyway on my fabulous day at the Humboldt County Fair!

My dear friend, Elena, joined my mom, sister, and me for a fun afternoon and evening at the fair. The first task on our list was to see how our various entries fared. My mom and I got second place stickers on our poems, and my sister got second and third place stickers on her artwork and photograph, I believe (as well as some stickers for several poems). But what really excited us was the special award ribbon my sister received for one of her poems! How exciting! Of course, my sister was especially excited about the $35 cash award that came along with it. ;)

Next on our task list was finding a bunny. Yes, my sister is getting a bunny for her 13th birthday! We'll be picking up the bunny from the fair on Sunday, my sister's actual birthday. The picture on the right is of our new (most likely) soon-to-be member of the family: Candy. (My sister chose the name.) Isn't she sweet? She's a Holland Lop, if I'm not mistaken. My sister is quite delighted, which is no surprise!

Following the two activities above, we all got caricatures of ourselves (me with Elena, and my mom with my sister). The man who drew them was really nice, and we had fun chatting with him while he worked!

The rest of the time was a blur of food, rides, food, games, and (did I mention this already?) food! ;) Elena and I shared a funnel cake covered in powder sugar early on. After all the talk on this blog about funnel cakes, how could I not get one? And believe me, it was GOOD! Dinner for me consisted of a "beef stick" and curly fries, topped off with a frozen peach lemonade. And for dessert: cotton candy! Oh, yes, I was stuffing my face with great pleasure, and I loved every bite! Yum, yum, yum!

And the rides? Oh, so much fun! Elena and I felt like little girls again, running around like crazy, shouting with glee, and taking in the thrill of it all! The picture to the left is of the three of us (my sister, Elena, and me) on one of my favorite rides: the Yo Yo. I loved spreading my arms out wide and feeling the rush of the wind. It made me think of standing on the bow of a ship, like on Titanic. I loved that sense of adventure and excitement as I was flying through the air on a swing!

This next picture is not flattering in the least (with my eyes all squinted like that!), but I decided to share it with you because I think it gives you a glimpse of how much fun we were having. The bumper cars were great, and between that and the other rides, I was laughing a ton!

There's nothing quite like a day at the fair when you're with those you love. We had such a fantastic time, and I'm so thankful for my mom, my sister, and Elena. God blessed me so much by letting us be a part of each other's lives!

It has been so much fun celebrating the county fair with all of you this week, and I'm so thankful for your friendship! I hope this post might have brought a smile to your face, and I hope it might serve to remind us all of the blessing we have in our family and friends! How great it is to be able to reach out to one another--even simply making each other laugh!

On a side note, as I'm writing this, I can smell the kettle corn that I purchased today. Yes, as an encouragement to any possible last-minute contest entrants, I picked up a bag of kettle corn to include in the prize package. I'm also adding a cute, purple stuffed monkey I got at one of the games to the deal! Thank you to all those who have already entered! =) Be sure and check out the comments section of the contest post to read the latest entries!

(Thank you, Mom, for the pictures and for the great memories at the fair this year!)