West Texas Fair and Rodeo 2012

Monday night we took Monks to the Fair! He had so much fun last year when he was just two and we were so looking forward to this year at age 3! They started setting up about a week before it opened and we were asked to drive by it each day so he could see the progress and each time he would comment on how excited he was and ask if it was open yet. When it finally opened last Thursday, we told him it was now open and he was like um, why are we not going yet? We had to explain to him we would go Monday night (just FYI, 3 year olds DO NOT understand what tomorrow, in two days, next week, or Monday means) The fair is open, we told him we would take him, so why is he not there?? Finally Monday came around and I got off work and hurried home. When I walked in, everyone was dressed and ready to go and he greeted me by saying “we going to the fair momma!” I changed and we left. We dropped Pips off with Stephanni. We hated to take Pippa being we wanted to stay and enjoy ourselves and not have to worry about her in the stroller. Plus, we wanted some one on one monkey time. We then met up with Tio, Tia and Adrian. I was given four tickets at work by a lady to get in free! Saved us $32. Thanks again Kathy! We immediately took our pic at the entrance and then it was off to begin the fun. Devin and Aikman purchased armbands which were $28 a piece, but that gave you access to any ride, as many times as you wanted. That may sound high, but a rough estimate, based on what we rode, would have easily cost us $150 so we were more than happy to buy them. I just bought some individual tickets for me so I could ride with them. Where do I even begin?! First, let me just say my son is fearless. He wanted to ride everything and rode things I was screaming on. Don’t get me wrong, I love rides, but I am 29, not 3, so huge difference. The higher, the better; the faster, the best! I joked he really will be like bungee jumping at age 6. We rode several rides and after about an hour and a half, we decided to eat. Aikman wanted chocolate ice cream and sausage on a stick. He loved it. Devin and I had some pulled pork and brisket sandwiches and shared a drink. We wanted dessert but decided to wait. It was then off to a mini petting zoo and more rides. Aikman seemed so grown up and was beyond precious. He would be on something and I would ask are you okay and check on him as it went faster and he would just have his hands up and be hysterical. I screamed a lot and he would yell and laugh and let out a woo-hoo! He was told several times by the ride attendants that he was such a big boy and they would give him five for having his hands up the whole time and never holding on. Crazy! He even rode rides he was too short to get on, but they let him ride with a parent. I was so nervous on some with him. He would say no, I want to ride it, it looks so fun and I would try to tell him well, it goes high or it might tickle your tummy, all while being nudged by Devin to quit scaring him, but you can’t help it! He would tell me, I be fine momma! I saw several kids, older than him, crying on rides and I would think omg, poor babies, what if that happens to us? I will have to make a huge scene and be like stop, stop, my baby needs off and look like a jerk in front of everyone for even putting my child on it. Did that ever happen? Hell no. That boy was in heaven on each ride just clapping and yelling and holding his hands up high. He would even tell me, “put yous hands up momma!” Sad. I am that over protective mom. I need to work on just stepping back and letting him try things. I did back off as the night went on and let him ride whatever he could get on. He had the time of his life. He even played one of those games where you throw darts at balloons and pop them and win a prize. They used hacky sacks though and there were nails behind the balloons so if you hit it, it would pop. He had three tries and popped one each time. He stood on this little edge and we laughed because he threw the first one with his right arm, the second with his left and the third with his right. They tell you three balls for $5! Win one of these and point at those stuffed animals that are like bigger than me and then you go pay and play and win and they give you something dumb. She pulled this little box out from under the counter and gave him this little like 6 inch stuffed frog. Really? Surprisingly, he was SOOOO excited and happy to have won so that is all that matters but Devin and I were like mm hmm, we got our eyes on you lady working the shady booth. Lol. Tio, Tia and Adrian of course never rode anything, but they said they still had fun. They left about 8:35 and we were still riding rides. We picked the absolute perfect night to go, as there was no one there. We never waited in lines for rides or food. Score! It was 9:45 and we needed to call it a night. Aikman could have stayed longer but we had to pick up Pips. We had the best time! I adored our time with our sweet boy and so did he! As we drove off, I said well did you have fun and he said “yes, so much fun! Thank you daddy for taking me!” Um, mommy is in the car too. I kid, I kid. He talked about his fun the whole way home and as we turned down Pioneer he said “oh I miss Pippa so much!” Such a sweet boy. Devin asked him if he was going to give her his frog he won and he said in such a serious voice, “no, this is my frog but I love her!” We both laughed so hard. He was like um, yeah, no this is mine that I won, but she has my love so it’s all good.

This ride was my favorite. It went pretty high up and you went around and then you could also spin yourselves! We laughed so much on it! Look how small Monks looks in the seat!

Aikman loved the bumper cars! Everyone that was there at that time had a good attitude and they all would run into each other constantly and the kids would just laugh and laugh. 

This was a baby Ferris Wheel although it went pretty high and it really did have some good speed to it. That bar barely closed lol and I told the guy just slam it, I'm riding! Devin took the ground view pics and I pulled out my phone to snap Monks mid air. He had so much fun on it and rode with Devin later in the evening. So high!

Aikman rode this one by himself and it was so cute because he buckled himself up. (1st pic) The cars just went in a circle but as it rounded the curves, it shot the car really fast around. The kid's heads would kind of whip to the side. I thought, omg, I hope he isn't scared by himself (this like 6 year old girl was crying so hard on it) and when he whipped around he was laughing hysterically! He loved that one. 

He liked driving these cars but I feel like he was kind of bored being they went so slow. 

This was the best pic I could get being that I am like 3 feet tall. Those elephants went pretty high and I was blown kisses as they passed! 

Man oh man, this one was crazy fun! It was these dragons you crawled in and they went around in a circle and then you can control how fast you spin it. There was such a small space that you could see out. The rest was enclosed. You can see them kind of see them in the pic with the elephant ride. Anyway, we spun it crazy fast and Aikman laughed so hard. It was that hard laugh where nothing even comes out. Priceless. It felt really nice out but when we got off this ride, Devin and I were both sweating from spinning it so much. Lol.We took this pic right before it started. How nice do my teeth look?? 

The petting zoo. Goodness. There were cows, goats, pigs, horses, chickens and rabbits. You could feed the animals and Aikman wanted to so he did. I took this picture and then went to give it back to Devin and I heard Monks scream and start crying. I looked and noticed the pig had had Aikman's hand in his mouth! He didn't actually bite him (which was my huge fear at first). I think he was just trying to sniff him or lick him, being that he had food, so he had his hand. Aikman had pulled away and I am sure it just scared him because besides pig slobber, he had no marks at all on him. Aikman had yelled out too "That pig try to bite me!" He was like no thanks after that incident. We washed his hands and walked off. We then met Tio and Tia and Tio asked him all about the animals. Aikman was telling him some and then jokingly, he asked if any bit him and I looked at him like really? Aikman said yes, a pig bite me! Tio was like what? I was kidding! He still talks about that crazy pig now. (Aikman asked when we got home "member when that pig try to eat me??" Lmao.) Now he will be traumatized. 

Ahh, the Ferris Wheel. This ride is so crazy high and Devin is scared terrified of heights. Two things constantly happened on this ride. 1-I could not stop laughing. 2-I got yelled at several times by Devin. Oh em gee. You know how it rocks some naturally, well it was barely moving and I reached in my pocket to get my phone. I didn't do a back flip or anything, just REACHED IN MY POCKET. Devin flipped out. He said  I was rocking it and I needed to stop. I calmly said babe, you are fine, calm down. He talked to me through clinched teeth. You know someone is pissed when they talk through clenched teeth. Aikman was just looking around having a good old time and I made the mistake of moving him to my lap and Devin almost divorced me. He got so mad and asked what the H*#@ I was doing. I said moving him so he can see and he said he was going to fall out and went on and on. I couldn't stop laughing at him. I am sorry Devin, I love you like crazy but you are so funny sometimes! Poor guy, I shouldn't tease him since he really was so scared and nervous. He said he will never ride again. Do you love the pic of him? Nervously smiling while holding on for dear life? Poor Daddy. The view was gorgeous though and Monks loved it. He was oblivious to his dad almost passing out. Memories. :) When we were "finally safe on the ground" Devin apologized several times and said he just can't believe that ride is safe being it has no buckles or bars or anything. Poor thing. 

This one is the one that goes around really fast and the smaller person has to sit inside since they will slide and be forced to the edge. Devin said Aikman was right in his ribs and just laughing and laughing. It went so fast, I could not get good pics. 

These were the small kiddie rides Monks got on. He is cute when he has to ride with a stranger because he will look at them and smile or laugh and it is like his way of being like "I am fun and friendly!" Lol. We laughed because on the cars, there were all these cool jeeps and a truck and they were empty but the lady put Aikman in the VW bug. Lol. That last one is really blurry and in motion, but he is on the back of the motorcycle. There were only two kids on it and the ride guy put them on the same one. Really sir? 

There were several rides we didn't get pics of and many of those we rode more than once. Devin and him also did a Fun House but Devin said it was pretty lame. I did laugh so hard watching from the side when they were in the mirrored part. I saw Aikman walk into a mirror and his little head went backwards and he just changed directions. Hilarious! 

On to Pips. My wild child. I was sent a few pics of her throughout the evening which was sweet because I did miss her. One of the pics showed her being held with her bottle. Stephanni said she cried when she laid her down so she had to pick her up. Mm hmm. That’s my girl for you, getting what she wants with tears. J We walk up to the door and Stephanni greets us with Pippa in her arms. Home girl never slept. She smiled, laughed, kicked-she was so excited to see us! It made me melt! We talked for a few minutes and she blew Stephanni and Jason kisses and told them bye. She also showed us this thing Jason was doing with her. He called her name and she looked at him and he shook his head at her and then Pippa did it right back. It was so cute! Stephanni said she didn’t like Jason at all at first and then after dinner; couldn’t get enough of him. It was nothing against Jason, that girl just needs her meals, lol. She had lots of fun with Qeylee and Hopper. Stephanni said the next evening Hopper asked her if “Hippa” was coming over that night too. So precious.

We were hungry again (imagine that) so went by Wendy’s to grab something. When we got home, I put Pippa to bed and she was out. (Devin said she slept until 10:30 the next day) Aikman sat at the table with us drinking his milkshake but didn’t want his nuggets. He then said he was cold so grabbed his blanket and laid on the couch. A few minutes later, we looked at him and he was sound asleep. Preciousness! I don’t know how many times I kissed him as Devin carried him to bed. I love that boy!! Notice his crazy little frog.