NC Trip - Day 4

On Monday (October 18th) we went to the North Carolina State Fair. Brian's parents both had to work for half the morning so we took our time getting ready.

We got to the fairgrounds around 10:30 am. The fairgrounds are across the street from NC State's football stadium and basketball arena (which is where we parked). Brian and I went to the fair only once in college. We lived just down the road though (we would sometimes walk to football and basketball games).

Monday was a super sunny and warm day and with the number of people at the fair, you'd think no one in Raleigh works. It was CROWDED! We had the double BOB stroller and it was really hard to maneuver it through all of the people. And most of the time the stroller was empty because I had Rylan in the Bjorn and Brian was carrying Carter. Though it did come in handy when Carter needed a nap and as a shield to give me a little privacy when I needed to nurse Rylan.

Our first stop was at the old farm machinery and children's barnyard. Carter loved all the animals (which was our main reason for visiting the fair).

Rabbits:


A cow:


Carter started asking to eat so we went ahead and ate lunch. Because frying random food is so popular at the fair now, we figured we had to try something. I decided on fried mac & cheese (the other options, such as fried oreos, just didn't sound good at all). The fried mac & cheese was actually really good (the side of ranch made it even that much better)!


We decided to go completely redneck and also get a turkey leg.


After lunch we moved on to the large farm animals. We saw lots of cows, goats, sheep, and pigs.

Carter and me watching the cows getting washed ...


Checking out a cow ...


Carter trying to touch a goat ...


Carter really liked the goats, but I think he thought they were sheep ...

Chicks:


"Look at those donkeys!" ...


Carter fell asleep after seeing all the animals so we strolled through the crafts area until he woke up.


After Carter woke up, he checked out the sheriff cars and helicopter (he wanted the helicopter to go up) ...


Brian and Carter trying to figure out what's up with this pig ...


We considered taking Carter on some of the insanely expensive rides, but (luckily) he was too short for everything we saw, including the small kid rides (they had a 36" minimum). Brian and Carter did enjoy this ride ...


because they got wet too ...



Next we checked out the petting zoo, which was actually just a bunch of little goats. Carter loved touching these guys.

Then we checked out the King Action Sports Stunt Show at the Grandstand. This was a BMX and Moto X show. The speakers were really loud so Rylan and I watched from a distance, but Carter LOVED it!

Before leaving, we decided we needed to let Carter do something fun so we let him take a pony ride. He loved that too!

We finally left the fair around 4 pm and we were all completely worn out. Brian and I expected to only be there a couple of hours but time just flew by.

When we got home, I took Charlotte for a short run because she'd been in her crate a lot with us gone all day on Sunday and Monday. Then Brian's parents made a really nice dinner of steaks and vegetables on the grill, but unfortunately both boys completely melted down at dinner and no one really got to enjoy it. We quickly gave the boys baths and got them off to bed a little earlier than normal. Even though it got a little rough at the end, we had another fun day!