Fair Days

We took the kids to the Lee Regional Fair last night. After sliding in a bit of Jaycee business (aka sticking Pumpkin Festival fliers under people's windshield wipers), we watched the big kids (Ethan, Javi, and Ricky) ride the same handful of rides over and over again.

Bella was tired and hungry so she didn't enjoy all the standing around as much as she might have. She perked up after sharing a cheeseburger with me and licking the ketchup off my french fries. Then she was her normal giggly self when we got to the livestock exhibits. I think the cows petrified her, though, because they were doing some really aggressive moo-ing. She oinked at the pigs ... especially the litter of babies that were sleeping on a pile of hay.

However, her absolute favorite exhibit was the baby chicks. She banged on their cage, waved hi to them, blew kisses and fell apart when it was time to leave. Her "granny" (sitter) has a pet chicken who Bella shares her food with. The chicken follows her around on the playground and stations herself near Bella's feet whenever there's food around. When Bella got there this morning, she took one look at the chicken-dog and yelled "Hi Bayyyyyydddeee," which I translate to mean "Hi Baby."

I'm not surprised by her love of baby chickens. Who can't love an adorable ball of fluff? I remember one Easter when I was a little, the Easter Bunny brought my sisters and I a baby chick. The Easter Bunny also brought us a bunny. The chick trumped the bunny, though. I was ready to love it for my whole life. I really can't remember what happened to the chick but I don't think we had it for very long. I think we accidentally released the bunny into the back yard, never to be seen again.

I think Bella would pass out if she actually had the chance to touch a baby chick. And I imagine she has a new love for the chicken-dog at Granny's. But, even her love of chick didn't surpass her Absolute Favorite Thing about last night: the carousel. She was hesitant when Daddy put her on the horse for the first time, but her fear quickly turned to elation. She threw the biggest tantrum when she didn't get to ride again ... but suffice it to say we'll be finding another carousel for her to ride in the near future.