It's FAIR Time!!!

One of the things I have loved about living in Abilene is that it's the best of both worlds... it has the comforts of being a "city" (well... it has a regional airport, a mall, ONE Target, and a decent selection of restaurants...) but it still has a firm grip on trying to maintain that small-town atmosphere.  Case in point, apparently it's not a big deal to have over 4,000 (yes that's four THOUSAND) people at a high school Friday night football game!!!  Ummm, did I mention our school is 3A!  CrAzY!  Talk about "Friday Night Lights"! LOL! 

BUT, you'd never know Abilene was not a booming metropolis by the size and activity at the local fair!!  Oh my!  WOW!  We've spent a good portion of our week there, considering it's only Wednesday.  We witnessed the big kick-off by going to the Saturday morning parade....

(naturally it's not a "real" parade if there is not a John Deere tractor! LOL!)

Chloe decided to get comfy... what else can you do when there is no candy???

Then Saturday night Jarred took Colby and a friend to the Tractor Pull.

I honestly had no idea such a thing existed!!!  Guess I'm not quite "country" yet! LOL!

We surprised the kids with a trip to the fair grounds and the midway on Monday after school.  It was SO much FUN and DELICOUS too!!!! MMMMMmmmm!

I spotted this stand over half a mile away!  I know, it's a gift! LOL!

There she is.... MMMmmm MMmmm Good!!!

Oh Yeah!  I'm a happy girl!

And you can't go to the fair without having a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade!

After our "snack"... it was time for some rides!  It was great, we got there right when it opened so the lines were short and the rides were extra long!!!

Chloe & Madeline flying high on Dumbo!

The big kids braved a kiddie coaster!

We had a family round of bumper cars!

And for some reason I thought it'd be a good idea to take a family ride on the ferris wheel!  (Apparently I had selective amnesia of my terrible fear of heights!!!)

All smiles on this side of the car...

Can you tell that I'm terrified???  Poor Chloe probably had a tummy ache I was squeezing her so hard! LOL!

A view from the top... the crazy carnival guy thought we would like to "enjoy the view" so he let us hang out up there FOREVER until other people came to ride!  ARGH!!!  I could have used a backhoe I had to dig so DEEP to not freak out!!!  I didn't want to scare the kids so...I just kept laughing!  It was either that or cry. Ha!

And our fair days are not over yet... Jarred and I are going to work in the local A&M Clubs french fry booth on Friday night.  Should be fun!  Guess I'll finally get the chance to say, "Would you like fries with that?"  LOL!