Hunter's First Fair

It has been so many years since I've been able to go to the Kern County Fair! I LOVE THE FAIR! All the animals that the kids are showing, the birthing pen (for cows, not people), the food, the exhibits....it is HEAVEN for me! This year I got to take Hunter and I was so excited to see her reaction to everything! I knew for sure I wanted her to ride the camel! That was the most important thing about going to the fair.

We arrive at the fair and make a bee-line to the camel ride. I ask them if I can take her on it and they say:

"NO, 2 years old is our minimum"

Well SHIT! That was my whole purpose for coming. I guess I can go home now.

"Wait, there's an elephant ride too" my mom says.

My hopes are restored and my dream for my little girl to ride an exotic animal is within my grasp! So we head over to the elephant ride and I ask if I can take her on it and they say:

"YES!"

::fist pump:: Alright, let's get this show on the road!

So we pay for the ride, and extra for the picture (duh you HAVE to get a picture). And we climb the stairs to board Daisy (mount seems like a more appropriate term, but me and my gutter mind think it's too pornographic to use....so board it is). And the guy is about to take our picture and he says:

"Ok mom, hold him up"

Hold up! HIM??? She has a bow in her hair. Seriously? So of course, I correct him like I do everyone....

"HER"

And his intelligent response was....

"Oh sorry, I was confused by the blue shirt and then the bow in her hair, I couldn't tell"

You couldn't tell?! Well let me TELL YOU that blue is a unisex color....bows, are not. So then he says:

"What's her name?"

And I tell him Hunter. But he can't hear me. So I say Hunter again....still no luck. So basically, here I am sitting on top of an elephant with my daughter, screaming HUNTER, looking like a moron. It started to feel like I was on a safari.

FINALLY, we take off (I don't know why I keep using airplane lingo, but it seems to fit when riding an elephant). It was a lot more bumpy than I imagined it would be and I literally held on to Hunter as tight as I could and then held on the the bar thing (on the front of the "saddle") for dear life. And then I started picturing this elephant deciding it was sick of walking in circles and takes off charging through the fair....so I start planning my escape and how I am going to jump off this elephant with my daughter without hurting both of us, or getting stomped. And then I'm thinking maybe we should just stay on the elephant and ride it while it's charging through the fair. But it's so hard to hang on when it's walking, that it would probably be even worse when it's stampeding. Oh wait.....we're done now.

Yeah, so all that went through my mind during our 1 minute elephant ride. It was very traumatic. I thanked Daisy for not killing us as we disembarked. Then my mom starts screaming at me:

"LINDSEY...THEY DIDN'T TAKE YOUR PICTURE!!!"

And since I was trying to climb down stairs with my baby in my arms I didn't respond right away (big mistake) so she comes running over screaming:

"WWWWWWAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTT! They didn't take your picture!!!!!!!!!!"

I say:

"Mom, chill, they took it at the beginning". And she says ok. Geeezzz crazy lady.

Me, Hunter, Daisy and the doucher who couldn't tell my daughter was a girl

So off we go to the pony rides. Much LESS traumatic. I'm very familiar with horses having grown up with them. And let me say, there is nothing cuter than my 7 month old baby riding the tallest pony there!! Seatbelted in and everything!



The rest of the time was spent walking through exhibits and visitng the 4-H section so Hunter could pet the animals. She absolutely LOVES animals and was never shy or scared. Even when a great big steer licked her like 8 times! It was so much fun seeing her reaching for the animals.

It was a fantastic day! We were all worn out by the time we got home. Hunter went to bed at 6:30 when she normally goes to bed between 7:30 and 8pm. Although it was fun, I had enough FAIR for one year.