the fair

We took little Pita to a country fair yesterday. I told her on Friday that we were going and had to explain what a fair was, and she was so excited that she kept asking if it was time to go. It was just a small town country fair, so I hoped her expectations would be met! We had so much fun. Well, Celia had fun and Chris and I had fun watching her have fun. It made me so happy to see how much she enjoyed everything. She's getting to be such a big girl. It was also nice to get a little glimpse of the community in the area we live in. Very small town, very friendly. Almost everything we did with Celia was free- just community groups and businesses giving out services or looking for donations.

Arriving at the fair and looking around:

With Mommy,

Oh my, I look rotund...Gah! I know I don't really look like a fatty, but my face is so fat compared to normal!

...and with Daddy. I could not get her to look at the camera because she was so busy looking at everything around us. When she finally smiled and at least turned toward me, of course she had her finger in her nose. 

It was actually a perfect event for Celia because it had everything she'd be interested in, but was still very small and easy to walk around. It didn't take long to cover everything and get home again in time for lunch- and for Mommy to use the bathroom and avoid the port-o-potties :D.

Celia got a balloon, which was a real treat. She spent all day playing with it.

There was a petting zoo area with cows, goats, and pony rides. We weren't sure if Celia would like a pony ride, but she got to pat the pony first and seemed interested in a ride so we went for it. She did so well and really liked it. She didn't say much about it, but at dinner last night she said it was bumpy :).

Pita saw a little boy with his face painted and was interested, so we got hers done. She sat so still and was so good!

They also gave her a lollipop. She'd never had a lollipop before, partly because we don't give her candy and partly because I worry about choking. But, she's big enough now and there are worse treats. She wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first, but it was a hit. By the time she finally finished it on the way home, she was talking about what color she wants to pick next time.

There was a fire safety house for kids. Celia got taken into a pretend house, got some (very simple, I assume) instruction about fire safety, and then they had fake smoke and a smoke alarm go off to have her practice getting out of the house and down a ladder.

Finally we went on a hayride. I have to say, they sound like such fun but they're usually just crowded, noisy, bumpy and uncomfortable. Celia liked it anyway, and it was the one thing she really wanted to do. It was funny that it was such a neat thing to her, while it bothered Chris's hurt back and made me have crampy contractions. I can't say I recommend hayrides for women who are 8 months pregnant!

Pita is really starting to get over her extreme shyness with new people. She is appropriately shy, but when someone speaks to her or when we prompt her to say thank you or goodbye, she does respond now. I was so impressed that she wanted to try everything she could, and seemed comfortable with other adults helping her and didn't need to cling to Chris or me when she was trying new things. Sometimes it seems funny to see her doing so many big kid things so competently, because she's such a little peanut. It really was a fun morning for us, and it brought me joy to see her so happy and so engaged with everything. She's at such a great age now for fun activities and events like this!