This is how we do

Josh and I love the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. We usually go by ourselves to it every September. We mostly go to see the concerts, eat the fair food, and look at all the exhibits, oh--and to have some alone time together.  

We have NEVER even thought about making this a family event...but this year, it just sorta happened that way.

First of all, there was no school until September 15th this year. Secondly, monster trucks came to the fair for the first time. And third: the rides at the Salmon fair seriously sucked this year and it left the boys wanting more in the areas of bigger and better.

So, it felt like all roads were leading us to go to the state fair with the boys. Josh and I succumbed and gave up our alone time for family time.

I took this photo just before we entered the gates.
I was trying to take it before a car drove behind them, so
I didn't even notice the older gentleman on the left! 

And we are actually super glad that we did! Josh and I had a good time, and so did the boys. It was an immensely enjoyable day!

We arrived there in the early afternoon of Wednesday, September 3. It was Pepsi wristband day, which meant the rides were cheaper: it cost $25 for each of the boys for unlimited rides. Since it was the middle of the day in the middle of the week, and most local kids were in school, it wasn't busy at all, and the boys rode a ton of rides all they wanted for a couple of hours. It was so awesome! And WAY better than the $20 wristbands at the Salmon fair that only included 3-5 rides for the boys. Unfortunately, Kanyon was too short for several of the rides, so he didn't spend a lot of time with his brothers as they went on the bigger rides. 

I took him over to a different area with rides for smaller people, and he was perfectly fine doing his own thing!

He liked putting his hands in the air on the roller coaster rides!

His favorite ride of all was the big crazy house with the obstacle course. He went on it like 20 times! No exaggeration!!

His brothers thought it was fun, too, and they joined him on it about 5 times.

On the giant ferris wheel, Kanyon rode along with his brothers for the first time that day. He obviously wasn't afraid of heights, because when it got to the top, we could see only him peeking over the side!

After 2 hours, we took a break from rides, and walked around the fairgrounds. We stopped at the large petting zoo, which I don't think I ever have been to before. I loved all the different animals that were in there! There were lots of varieties of breeds, and they were so interesting to watch.

That's quite the rack!!

I think this Scotland cow was my favorite of all. It's so adorable!!

We saw the commercial exhibits, and spent a lot of time at the motor sports and travel trailer spots.

Boys and their Toys. Keep Dreaming!

They were all super interested in the side-by-sides. Maybe someday...

Josh keeps thinking he wants a roadbike, too.

He wasn't as fond of this 3-wheeler, though. 

At the indoor commercial exhibits, the boys found this one done by the Fish & Game where they shoot laser guns at fake animals, and if they got the animal, the laser on the animal target would light up. They were doing pretty good with their aims.

After we walked around the entire fairgrounds, we stopped to eat some fair food. I had some shrimp and rice, Josh got fried cheese curds and a funnel cake that we all shared, Kanyon got a corn dog, Micah got pizza, Jonah ate nachos, and Ammon had two servings of Kangaroo Pot Stickers (he LOVED them!). Then we took the boys back to the rides again, but this time it was a little busier, so they waited longer in lines.

I think it's funny how Jonah is grabbing Micah's arm,
because he doesn't want to get too far behind.
I also love their facial expressions in this photo!

The boys got brave and decided to try this ride...

It spinned them upside down and around. I couldn't believe they liked it!!

The race is on!!!

Looks like Jonah is the winner this time!

Kanyon on the flying airplane

Micah rode with Kanyon on the spinning hot air balloon ride

Hands-free again!!!

The windshields of these cars were painted, so Kanyon
bent over the whole ride so he could see where he was
"driving". He was a very careful driver!

After two more hours of rides, we ordered some more fair food treats and went into the arena to wait for the Monster Truck show to start.

I got the chicken bullseye burger--the bun is a donut!!

My friend Kimi joined us for a couple hours. She ate her dinner with me.
She had the tigers ear scone. I loved seeing her!!!

Josh ate the giant turkey leg. By the time I was done
eating with Kimi, he had almost finished it!

Kanyon and Micah both got caramel apples with different flavors.
Jonah got the fudge puppy with sprinkles. 

There were 6 monster trucks in our show, and three competition rounds. The trucks individually jumped over the row of demolished cars to see how vertical they could get. Then they had races against each other over the rows of cars to see which was the fastest. The last round was freestyle where they had individual runs around the arena to see how creative they got and what their abilities were. In between the 3 competitions, there were 4-wheeler races, so there was never a dull moment. It was planned really well and it kept the boys' attention the entire time. It was so much fun!  

They were so excited for the truck show to start!

We got home super late that night, around 1am. It had been an absolutely fantastic day, and I'm so glad we went! It was one of our favorite experiences of the summer--even though it happened after Labor Day! It went so well, in fact, that it even implanted the thought in Josh's head of going again as a family to Lagoon (after the last time in 2009, he said he would never go there again) or {gasp}--even possibly to Disneyland (which he vows he will never take the children to). It was seriously THAT good of an experience!!