County Fair time!

I've never been to the L.A. County Fair and this year I found out that opening weekend was a great deal, dollar to get in, dollar drinks, dollar carnival rides, so we went with our friends Chris and Mary and their son Peter. Every year growing up I've only been to Box Elder's county fair, it isn't advertised on television or have famous rock and roll groups, it's small with no big crowds anywhere which I appreciate now. BE's fair displays it's local talent, through quilt making, jams and baking etc., photography, art, and some really good cobbler.
Going back to the L.A. fair though, our friends met at our place since the fairgrounds were only a few miles away. I had prepared myself with the fact that there will be a LOT of people there, but nothing can prepare you for opening weekend at the country's biggest county fair. It took us almost a half hour to park, driving in long lines and merging with the line next to us, funneling us through the speedway into the massive parking lot. Walking to the entrance took a little longer than parking but we finally got in. First thing we did was make a game plan, lunch was number one so we started walking and I spotted a bunch of trucks lined up on one road, they were all food trucks that drive around L.A., some of them have been featured on Food Network. I got very excited so we looked at them. The very first one was a Crepe truck and that's what we went with, Todd and I shared and we ordered the Caprese Crepe, the flavor was fantastic! Todd was very happy.
After we went to look at the animals, they had a lot of birds and reptiles in the animal area,  here's Lauren enjoying it.

After looking at the animals, we went to check out the dinosaur exhibit, it had a life size mechanical T-Rex, and it was inside a huge warehouse, air conditioned thank goodness. After that we went next door and there was a Princess/Knight area for little kids. They could dress up like their favorite Princesses and have tea time and meet Princesses.

  

After that we went to check out the farm animals in the barns. There was a petting barn so I took Lauren and Mary took Peter. Lauren gave every sheep and goat a hug, after that I had to wipe down her whole face. After fifty requests from Lauren throughout the whole day we finally went to the pony rides, this was her high light of the day. She rode the pony like she rides one every single day, she's such a natural.

The last thing we did were the carnival rides, first we rode the little train, then the hot air balloons that lift you up the ground and spin you around, and last was the monster trucks. Lauren laughed hard every time we rode over the smashed cars in the ride. What a day, the fair was definitely crowded, annoyingly so, and who knows if we'll go next year. These kinds of experiences just make me miss what I had growing up. Don't get me wrong, I love California and would be upset if we had to move but a part of me wishes my kids would have the same things I did growing up in a small city with Peach Days, kickball at grandma's, and seeing familiar faces everywhere you go. We don't have that here, but we do have our Claremont First Street fair every Wednesdays, story time at the library on Fridays and picnics in the park with our ward every first Friday of the month. I can't wait to take my kids to Disneyland, just 30 minutes away instead of 12 hours when I grew up and to all the museums and historical sites in LA that are so close to where we live. So I guess I just have to tell myself that my kids will definitely grow up in a different world than I did but they too will have fond memories of their community and ward family.