Nieces at the Fair

This past Saturday (August 8th) was the last day of the Crow Wing County Fair. It was also the day of the open horse show (the 4-H horse show is held earlier in the week) so of course we were all in attendance.

Both my nieces were extremely good. Sophia rode in her first show while Charlotte, Amy and the rest of us looked on. Then for the rest of the day both kids sat on the sidelines and watched Amy, Dani, Max, Tasha and me ride our horses under the sweltering sun.

After an entire day of seeing horses tramp around a hot arena, my sister and brother-in-law took the girls into the fair to see the sights. They started out in the petting zoo and moved on to the malt stand (both of which I missed) and then headed to the midway for the rides.

Sophia LOVES to go on the slide, so Amy took her up - twice - while Charlotte toddled around, agog at all the rides, lights, and sounds. After spending an afternoon in her stroller she had as much fun walking and running around as Sophia did on the rides.

They also rode the merry-go-round twice. It was Charlotte's first time on the ride and she had big sister beside her all the way (and of course her dad firmly anchoring her in place!). She seemed much more interested in the inner workings of the carousel than waving to us, but judging by her big eyes I think she had a couple of good rides.

Riding the carousel was always my favorite when I was a kid...if the animals were bigger I'd have gone, too, but I wasn't sure about the integrity of the ride for "big kids"! Instead Amy, Dani and I rode the Scrambler. Nowadays, that's my ride of choice - I always giggle the entire time (as did the other two!) plus like the leg workout I get from fighting the G-forces.

All three of us couldn't fit into one car, so Amy & Dani had their own while I shared with some poor kid named "Sam" who tried to have a good time but was probably scared stiff of this random, giggling girl with a camera trying to take pictures of her friends in another car.

While most of my high-speed photos failed, I did get one good shot of them and a couple random, abstract shots which I'll keep...you never know which candid photography images will turn out to be winners :)




All in all, it was a great day for the whole family, with lots of entertainment, good food, hard work and a couple of tired kids. A day well spent at the Crow Wing County Fair!