Hayley and Kate Minter

My parents have been wanting to take Hayley to the Virginia State Fair since they went last year and decided that she would enjoy it. It turns out they were right.

We had planned on going Thursday night, but this week’s weather forecast called for rain that night, so we changed to Wednesday. It was a good change because the weather was perfect.

Fortunately for Hayley, she was just the right height (36″) to ride all the kiddie rides–we saw quite a few shorter toddlers get turned away from certain rides. They had a lot of rides for smaller kids, so Hayley rode most of them. Mommy rode with her on every ride but two; she rode a boat ride and a car ride by herself. Hayley did really well when she was by herself. Hayley aslo rode a real pony, which she enjoyed so much she didn’t want to get off (I would have let her ride again, but that one cost extra). We also saw tents full of rabbits, chickens and other fowl, and a barn full of baby pigs, baby ducks, baby chickens, sheep, goats, cows, etc. Hayley nearly strangled the baby duck when the lady held it out for her to pet, but Hayley doesn’t have much experience handling baby animals. Hayley also immensely enjoyed the pig race. She stood on the bleachers, bouncing up and down and clapping her hands as the pigs dashed around the track. Hayley ate pizza, cotton candy and an ice cream cone with sprinkles.

We didn’t leave until almost 11 p.m., so Hayley was beginning to get grumpy because she was tired. She fell asleep in the car and Mommy put her in bed when we got back to the Estes house.

I hope she’ll have as good a time at our North Carolina State Fair in a few weeks.