Landon at the Fair

Yesterday was fair day. The fair with young children is an exhausting, sweaty, expensive, dirty, over-stimulating few hours. BUT the kids love it so much it's worth the misery. (Actually I had a really good time yesterday, but by the time time we rolled home I was completely and utterly wiped out.) 

Of course kids love the fair - it's big and bright, there are things to look at in every direction, cotton candy to lust over, animals to pet, rides to ride, games to play. It's a little kids paradise. Parker loved the petting zoo and "clucked" at all the animals while holding out pieces of hay for them to eat - just as he does with out chickens at home. And he was content to sit in the stroller watching the rides go round and round. Thankfully I managed to play it right and stick his paci in at the critical moment allowing him to fall asleep rather than completely meltdown once the stimulation got overwhelming. 

Landon loved the fair; and he thought everything was extra special because we went with friends (friends always make things more fun!). He had a few classic moments that I'm afraid I will forget if I don't write them down, so (lucky you) I'm putting them here:

- He loved the pig race and was particularly thrilled when "his" pig won. 

- Last year the petting zoo held his attention for nearly an hour. This year he loved it just as much but there was quite a bit more laughing, joking and nose holding about animal "poop" and "tooters". What is it about preschool boys and body functions??!!

- After a ride was over he would turn to the attendant and politely ask, "Excuse me, but can you please unbuckle me?" Proud Mommy moment. 

- His friend, who is two years older (6), wanted to go down the really, really big slide. Landon was pretty nervous about it but once we determined that he was tall enough he decided to give it a go. He got to the bottom of the stairs and then the tears started. The attendantly kindly let me in to rescue him, but instead of just turning us around the man gave me a gunny sack so I could take Landon down the slide. I decided to see if I could convince my boy to face his fear. We climbed the tight spiral staircase, Landon crying the entire time, only to discover at the top that he would have to go down alone. He bravely climbed onto his sack, laid down and pushed off. I was so proud of him! Then I realized I had to go down too. It just feel awkward going down those things at age 30! Afterwards I was praising Landon for his bravery, but he didn't want me to because he felt like he hadn't actually been brave since he shut his eyes the whole way down. 

- We used a few of our tickets to play a couple games. The attendants were really nice to the little kids - giving them extra turns. A few of them still gave the kids prizes although they hadn't won. Landon kept telling them, "I didn't get it. I didn't win" while they were trying to slyly sneak him a prize anyway. I love his honesty. 

And I have to give a shout-out to my amazing husband who hates the fair but came anyway, just because he knew how much his kids would love having him there. And sure enough, when RJ left early (he's amazing but he does have his limits) Landon threw his arms around him, covered him in kisses and gave him a smacker of a high-five! 

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