Western Montana Fair

Last July I was able to take Hunter and JP to the Great Northern Fair, which ironically enough, isn't so great. To them it was though. They have been asking all summer long when we are going to go back to Nanny and Papa's house so we can go ride on the cars that go round and round. Unfortunately this year we missed it by a week. However, the fair is in town right now and as soon as we told the boys, they couldn't contain their excitement. 

The night before we planned to go to the Western Montana Fair, Perry and I explained to the boys that they HAD to take a nap if they wanted to go to the fair. Surprisingly enough when it was nap time yesterday, they boys, without fighting, went to their rooms for a nap. JP thinks a nap is just quiet time where he lays in his bed, so I had to sit on his bed and stare and him until he fell asleep...that was fun for Kiki and I.

Grandma and Grandpa joined us on our outing this year. Before leaving the house, we all had dinner. I think the boys were too excited for the rides that they didn't eat much food. Ah well. Normally Perry and I would have made them eat something, but since we had planned all day for the fair, I was not about to change anything just because they didn't eat dinner.

 Here is my sweet, and funny, JP. He insisted on wearing his helmet because "rides are dangerous!" And because he really wanted to ride on a roller coaster :)

 Before jumping right in and riding on the rides, we took a stroll through the animal barn to check out all the 4-H livestock. 

 JP even decided to pet a goat without any prompting :)

 Although Hunter was too anxious to do the rides, he did have a little attention to give to the chickens.

 The first ride the boys went on was the helicopters. These ones actually went up in the air. It was hard to tell if they enjoyed them or not. 

 Then they checked out the cars. Again. Hard to tell if they enjoyed them. 

 But after just those two rides, they were excited to tell Grandma and Grandpa about them!

 Then my little Hunter turned into a big kid and rode the Dragon Wagon. He was stoked about it!

 As I recall from my childhood, the carts at the end were the scariest. Hunter hopped into the one second to last so Perry and I were hoping we'd hear him scream or the like, but he didn't. He was all smiles! After the ride was over, he got out of his cart and into another one...

 Meanwhile, JP took another ride on the helicopter. After talking to him this morning, it was decided that this was his favorite ride. 

After these few rides, we took a short break and headed over to the concession area for a drink. Everyone ended up getting a LemonDairy, which is soft-serve ice cream in a cup with lemonade slushy around it. Yummy! At this point Grandma and Grandpa went home as it was starting to get late. We bought a few more tickets for the rides stuck around a little longer.

 After our break, they rode on the cars. These ones go up and down. I was wondering why they weren't airplanes...since cars don't typically go up and down. Perry and I found it comical that they chose cars that matched their shirts.

 JP of course chose green. The faces he was making as he was going around were cracking Perry and I up, and the couple next to us!

 And then something happened - JP actually rode on the roller coaster. Earlier all he could say about it was "I don't like that." 

 Clearly he had fun too, but not as much as Hunter did!

 He was pretty good about leaning into the curves :)

 I had to zoom in quite a bit on my computer so you could see Hunter's face. LOVE IT! And it looks like JP was brave for a second and let go!

 Towards the end of the ride, Hunter was completely in his element with his hands up in the air!

I would have loved to send them on the roller coaster again, but we only had two tickets left. We bought two more and the boys took one last ride on the cars before we headed home for the evening. I recalled quite a few memories as we walked out past all the bigger rides. The Yo-Yo, the Kamakazee, the giant slide, the Beary Go Round, the Carousal, the Ferris Wheel...  Both Perry and I were impressed at how well behaved they were. That is until bedtime...