Fair Days...

Cayden, Thom, and I had our first big outing of the summer: San Diego County Fair! We've gone the past few years with him, once in a Baby Bjorn and once in a womb, but we couldn't wait to see his reaction to all the sights and sounds. By the time we actually got to the fair we were all starving, so food was first on the agenda. Cayden is still a little young for 'Deep Fried Twinkies', so he settled for a little hot dog and fries. Of course, he did take a few bites from Mommy's annual serving of Australian Beer Battered Potatoes!!


As I wrote about earlier, Cayden is a big playground fan, and I had these fantasies about him taking his first ride on the BIG slide with Papa today. It just struck me as the ultimate 'American Fair Memory'. We made our way over to the in-field and started surveying the scene and trying to decide if Cayden was ready for any of this quite yet. We found the big slide and Thom and Cayden bravely marched their way up to the top. It's hard to tell from the picture below, but Cayden's face was absolutely petrified with fear!! As soon as he got down to the bottom though, he turned around and started to walk right back up the slide for more!

One of the things I love the most about the fair is all the colors and nostalgia. I loved this pool of ducks, but it was actually a game and I didn't think the carnie was too thrilled about us letting our son play in her booth without forking over five bucks.

One of the things I find so interesting about raising a little boy is his totally natural draw to trucks, plane, and cars! Cayden saw this ride and start chirping, "Carwk, Carwk" (yes, I realize his pronunciation of car is bordering lude!) and Thom and I couldn't resist taking him for a spin. As always parenting is a learning process, one in which I am constantly growing. Today's lesson was: "Observe the ride in full action before throwing your child on it!" Those little cars looked so harmless, but when they revved up their little engines and started whipping small children around at each end I was terrified! Cayden didn't miss a beat and was full smiles with every turn. Thom said he was yelling, "beep beep" and "again, again" the entire time. (By the way, special thanks to my husband for riding shotgun in that ridiculously tiny car!)

The day ended with a trip to the petting zoo in the livestock area. Cayden was so brave and let the desperately starved goats eat pellets from his hand! It was a great day and I know there will be plenty more summer memories made at the SD Fair in the Years to come.