A Fair Day

Terry and I took Sophie to the North Georgia State Fair on Saturday. I haven't been to a State Fair since my college days in Milledgeville, when we used to go to one in Macon.

It was Sophie's first time riding rides, and that was a mixed bag. She liked the Ferris Wheel while it was loading, and we were only moving up one gondola at a time. However, when it started to move without stopping, she was a bit petrified. I wasn't too thrilled myself, but then again, you have to put on a brave face for your child.




Then there was the Dumbo ride, which went around in a circle, and each elephant took it's turn rising about 10 feet in the air. She shrieked the entire time, and not in delight. Yes, she seems to have inherited the Maier fondness for carnival rides, which is nil. She did like the rides on the ground, and even the kiddie roller coaster. But nothing with any elevation or speed. The bumper cars were her favorite. She and Terry rode together and hunted me down, she thought running into Mom was great.

Besides a lot of fried food (yes, we did have a funnel cake, YUM!) rednecks, and large people in not enough clothing, there were animals to see. It always makes me sad to see these poor creatures in pens, in the heat, suffering the kids trying to feed them as much as they will eat. This petting zoo even had an emu, a camel and a zebra. Are they native to North Georgia?

Here's Terry getting up close and personal with the emu, I never realized how beautiful their feathers are.

Here we are trying to feed it, just like everyone else. Sophie was taken aback when it poked it's head out toward Terry's hand.

And no fair is complete without cotton candy and a merry go round ride. Since they let me on with her, I jumped on a horse myself. This was just my speed!