Introducing Orange White

We attended the Amherst fair this weekend. Brian and I took Kadin several years ago when he was still a baby ... that's when we thought that kids his age would get a kick out of seeing cows, pigs and sheep. In reality ... he could've cared less about the animals ... and he was too little to play any games or go on any rides ... it was a waste of time.

Now that the kids are older ... they can appreciate the fair a little more. This kids beg to play all the games and ride all the rides. $100 dollars later you have a car full of cheap crappy toys that will break 10 minutes after you get home and your tummy is turning circles from the vat of grease you just ate.

So we arrived a the fair around 1:00 ... only to find that the thing didn't officially start until 2:00. I have to admit I was a bit puzzled why on a Saturday, the fair wouldn't start until 2:00, but ok ... so we wound our way around all the stinky animals before hitting the fairgrounds.

They had cows ... my personal opinion about cows is if you've seen one cow ... you've pretty much seen them all. They had sheep and pigs ... rabbits and all kinds of poultry ... many of which I couldn't tell the difference between. I felt like I needed a course from the 4-H club ... "What kind of bird is that mommy?" ... "Ummm .... a chicken ... no wait it's a rooster ... ummm ... I'm not sure sweetie." Gheesh ... it was horrible!

Bella particularly liked the roosters (which I knew were roosters only because they made the cock-a-doodle-doo sound) and she refused to leave the area until she heard them crow at least 10 times. It was quite cute to see her ear-to-ear grin each time they would let out their call.

I made friends with the goose from Charlotte's Web ... and enjoyed listening to her honk. I tried getting the kids as excited about her as I was, but they didn't seem to care ... I knelt next to her cage thinking "T double E, double R, double I, double F, double I, double C, C, C ... and when I snapped out of my childhood haze ... my kids were long gone staring at fuzzy rabbits.

So, we left the animals and headed over to the fair which was now up and running. The kids dragged me through a "fun" house ... which I didn't find much fun. Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the rides ...







We ended with games. The sad thing about carnival games is they are expensive and don't take very long to play. I mean how long does it take to pick a duck or pop a balloon with a dart? (If you're Bella ... it takes a bit longer than most) All these things take minutes ... and when they are done with one, they are off to the next. A parent could seriously go broke!

I ended the fair with the goldfish game. Let me preface this story by telling you that Kadin has already been the proud owner of two carnival goldfish (Goldie & No Name) ... that I forced my mother to take care of because I am very anti-pet. Those last two attempts at winning a goldfish required Grandma and Grandpa to shell out mucho-dollars because a five-year old's aim isn't the greatest.

I figured my chances were pretty great that I could spend $5 on a bucket - oh yes a bucket - of balls for Kadin & Bella and there was no way in hell either one of them would come close to those tiny bowls. I watched Bella chuck a couple of balls that didn't even make it near the table ... and Kadin, although his aim - better ... wasn't even close.

But wait! Oh ... the ball ... it's teetering ... it rolling around the rim like a basketball on the basket ... is it in ... nope ... wait ... IT'S IN!!!!

Son of a @#$# ... that darn kid just won a stinkin' goldfish ... and this time I can't even make my mother take it because it was my stinkin' idea!!! So that is how we acquired Orange White (I know my kid has a way with names) the newest member of our family .. and that my friends was the end of the fair.