Indiana State Fair 2012

We went to the State Fair on Saturday, August 18th.  It was the last weekend the fair was open and it was actually free for us to go.  The Department of Education provided two free tickets to teachers if they were among the first to register.  We actually got the free tickets and the kids are free because they are under 5.  This was Ally's first fair and Sam's second fair.  However, I am sure he doesn't remember the first one because he was only about 8/9 months old the first time we went.  I have to say, the Indiana State Fair does an awesome job of providing fun things for the kids to do.  Sammy had a blast and so did Ally.  This will definitely become a yearly activity for our family.

Of course after this photo was taken my camera died... but thankfully Mary had her camera with her so we could get some more photos of the kids.  There was a musical old carnival/train car behind us so the kids were pretty mesmerized by that and not wanting to look at their grandparents for the photo.

The weather that day was perfect.  It was in the mid 70's with the perfect amount of wind.  When we arrived we wanted to meet up with Dave and Denise.  They had brought Kiersten with them (poor Cam had to stay home because it was his nap time) and we wanted to let the kids play together.  We walked around until we found the FFA building.  This building was amazing with a bunch of different food products and in the back of this building was a huge play area for the kids and a free miniature putt putt course that the kids could play for free.  Honestly, Sam and Ally would have been content to stay there all day! 

 

Poor Ally wasn't walking at this point and I forgot to pack her shoes... So she had to stay in the stroller or be held for a lot of her day at the fair.  Poor planning on my part!  She was very interested in watching Sam learn how to play putt putt.

They both loved the play equipment in the FFA tent.  It was covered underneath in the recycled tire pieces so even without shoes I let her get out to play.  It was extremely well done and I hope next year it is just as nice for the kids to enjoy!  We got to the fair so early (it was 9am) that it wasn't crowded at all even though it was Saturday.  Next year we hope to do that same.

 

 

After the FFA building we just wandered around the fair.  We looked at vendors, smelled the delicious fair food, and tried to determine what was next on the agenda.  We ended up at this kids station that was amazing and completely free.  I really hope they have this next year because it was so well done and Sam absolutely loved it.  Dave and Denise took Kiersten to try to find a pony ride so it was just us with Paul's parents for this next part.  It starts out with each child getting a basket and an apron.

Then they walk through each station on the farm and collect items, complete jobs, and fill their baskets. 

First stop was to collect feed for the chickens and then they fed their chickens and collected an egg.

They would walk along their path, go collect wool from their sheep, feed the pigs, and collect vegetables from their garden.

 

We stopped by the pigs - and had a time to try to get a photo op - unfortunately Sammy and Ally were so interested in what was going on it was pretty impossible to get a decent shot.  As you can see, Sammy was loving the fake food so much he was in the moment of pretend eating said fake food.

Sam had to take a turn through the fields on his little tractor.  They were allowed one trip around the circle.  He did not want to give up his tractor after his one spin.  Ally unfortunately just had to watch her brother have the fun on this one.

 

Next up he had to milk some cows!  Again, I just can't get over how well done this was.  And again, this was all free and easily provided 30 minutes of entertainment to our kids.

 After every station and his basket he went to the "local store".  He turned in his eggs, his wool, his produce and got a play dollar bill.  He then got to go to the store and select his reward.  He could choose from milk, cheese, or several other items as his earned prize from all of his hard work on the farm.  Again, an absolutely amazing exhibit that can seriously teach kids and entertain them. 

Next up was a trip to see the cow's and the horses.  We decided to skip the pigs this year.  Unfortunately the pigs had a bad rap at this state fair.  The swine flu was getting lots of press and most of the pigs were sent home.  We were told that all the pigs there had been cleared and safe to be around, but with two little kids we weren't taking any chances.   Ally loved the cows and Sam loved the horses.

After the animals we went to get fair food.  This part was a bit more complicated with two young kids.  It was pretty busy by this point and it was lunch time.  We decided to try to divide and conquer.  Sam went with Paul and Paul was only responsible for getting Sam and his lunch safely back to our  meeting spot.  I had Ally, the stroller, and was responsible for getting my meal and the kids meals back to the meeting spot.  Paul went for a gyro, Sam got a hot dog, and I went with the Italian Sausage.  Honestly, the food was just okay for me.  Next time I think I will bring a normal lunch (a sandwich, salad, something in a cooler) and just get the sides.  That's the main draw - the corn on the cob or the potatoes - but once you end up buying your main meal you feel you have spent too much to add on any of the extras!

Dave and Denise headed out after lunch for Kiersten's nap.  We decided to just keep going on.  Ally was a trooper and hadn't had any nap that day (she is still on 2 naps a day) and Sam was ready for his nap.  However, they were having so much fun we decided to just keep them going as long as they would continue on.  We just kept wandering around and ended up in the Kiddie Ride section of the fair.  Ally was too little and once again had to just watch as Sammy got to ride the cars and motorcycles.  The fair rides are crazy expensive!  Paul's dad bought Sam some tickets, but each ride cost about the equivalent of $3.  Sam was so tired at this point we just had him ride two and he was happy with that. 

 

 

 

You can tell from the look on Sam's face on the rides that he was getting really tired.  So we switched him into the stroller as we continued on and just had Ally carried.  We'd trade her around as the person carrying her got tired.

We made another stop into the Purdue nutrition and food building.  By this point it had gotten pretty hot and the air conditioning provided a much needed cool down.  The kids were exhausted and Ally was fighting a losing battle against sleep.  We decided to call it a day and head back to our car.  It was a pretty decent trek back so Sam went into the stroller and I hooked Ally into her Beco to carry her back to the car.  Have I mentioned before how much I love that carrier!  Seriously one of my best purchases ever.  I don't use it often, but when I need it I can wear her without having to carry all her weight in my arms.

That was it of our fair day.  The kids crashed when we got home and it was a great Saturday morning/afternoon.  We will be back for the Indiana 2013 State Fair!