State Fair

Even though Jeff and I both grew up in Texas, neither of us had ever had the opportunity to visit the state fair. Now that we practically live in the fairground's backyard, we really had no excuse not to attend. So, yesterday we declared a school holiday and took the kids down to the fair. We avoided the crowds by going on a weekday and arriving early. We ate as many ridiculously unhealthy things as we could manage, rode rides, played games, and enjoyed gawking at all the sights. We were so thrilled to check off this Bucket List item and experience this truly iconic Texas tradition!

Icons of the fair

The boys had a blast participating in the gigantic bean bag toss! Each had his own technique.

Car Shopping

Obstacle Course

We did not, by any stretch, try all the unhealthy fair foods, but we did try several, including:
corn dogs (of course!), mango-on-a-stick, fried Twinkie, footlong corn dog, footlong hot dog, chicken and waffles, cotton candy, pretzel crusted queso pollo balls, deep-fried, bacon-wrapped chili cheese dog with tots, and fried avocados. 

The little boys tackled the New York, New York funhouse.

And the older kids tried out the swings.

The last hurrah of the day was the log ride, which all the kids thoroughly enjoyed.