Family Time at a Country Fair

Today Steve took the day off so we could go to the Topsfield Fair. This fair pride's itself as the oldest agricultural  fair in America. This was my third time attending it. Steve took me for the first time when we had just started dating six years ago. We took Hazel again last year on a Saturday morning when it first opened for the day, but by the time we got to the young children rides the line for tickets was too long for her to go on any and there were not many she would have been able to go on due to the minimum height requirement. This year she made it by two inches for most of the rides.

We also had gotten two free ride tickets and a voucher for a hot dog and drink from our local library's summer reading program. We actually entered this time right at the young children rides since the entrance near where we parked was next to the flood of the Ipswich River. We headed for the rides first. Hazel wanted to go on the train first thing. She enjoyed being the only person on it.

Then the three of us went on the carousal. She didn't want to try the horses so we sat on a sleigh together. Next we went on the spinning strawberries. Steve didn't get a picture though. Then she drove a race car.

Then we bought some kettle corn and walked around. We found a magician who was quite silly and Hazel (and we) found quite entertaining. His assistant did acrobatics with silk ribbons hanging from the top of the stage. Really beautiful.

Then we found the petting zoo. Hazel of course said she wanted to pet the animals and wanted to feed the animals, but was afraid to when we got closer. She laughed as I fed the goats though. And we watched people ride the elephant and camel. She was fascinated with them, but definitely did not want to go on them.

Then we found more sheep and a cow to see. Then we realized it was lunch time and we were at the place we could get Hazel's free hot dog and drink. We also got hot dogs and some cheese fries for us to share. Then we went to see the pigs, but the line was too long and not moving so we went to see the bunnies. Hazel loved seeing all the rabbits and wanted to be lifted to see them better.

Now we knew our time was running out since we needed to be home by 1:30 for an appointment (and hopefully a nap--which did not happen). So we had one more ride ticket and that was where we needed to exit. So Hazel drove a purple car and I went off to buy apple cider, apple cider donuts and an apple (which they gave me a knife to slice for Hazel). The donuts were just coming out of the fryer when I got them and were still warm when we got them home. They were the best I have ever had.

Overall it was a perfect fall day. The weather was cool and comfortable and finally sunny. The fair was just getting crowded when we left so we timed it all perfectly. The traffic to get into the fair when we left was horrible, so we were really glad we did it how we did.

Do you do any fun fall family activities?