you did what?!

We spent 8 hours at the fair.

8 hours filled with rides, eating cotton candy, onion rings, and pizza, getting lost, and finding each other. 2 hours were spent by the children in agony because the generator that powered the rides went kaboom and Smokey's Entertainment had to fetch a backup from the Windsor Fairgrounds.

Of course Will was in his element, getting close to the action and giving us the straight skinny on the cause of the power outage, "They thought it was the fuel line, but apparently the fuel level was slightly too high and they are having to replace the filter. They can fix it and then switch the whole thing back over because the Pharaoh's Fury takes so much power that even the backup generator (the size of 1/2 a semi) can't run it and everything else too." I just felt sorry for the folks stuck in the Zipper and at the top of the Ferris Wheel (they powered it back up for 5 minutes to get them all out).

In the meantime we looked at Julia Ellen's favorite part of the fair: the poultry barn with its quacking ducks and crowing roosters. We watched a magic show put on by a family of 9 (even the mom juggled a spatula, plunger, and baby doll representing what every mom balances: cooking, cleaning, and kids), a horse pulling contest, and a trapeze show.

Finally, after many more turns on the bumper cars and trips down the dump truck slide, the sun set and with the baby starting to fall asleep in her stroller, we slowly walked back to the car and drove home to bed. The plan today is to return for the last day of the fair (but no rides!) and say goodbye to the ducks, cows, and sheep for another year.