Finally...Fun at the Fair

I realized tonight as I was putting all the pictures on the computer and uploading them WHY I had been putting off doing this post.  I've been working on them for the last hour+ and that doesn't include the time it took me to upload the videos.  OY.   Prepare yourself for lots of pictures!

So, let's get right to it!  Last Saturday we took Olivia to the Santa Barbara County Fair down in Santa Maria.  I spent every morning at breakfast the week before showing Olivia the video of her riding the pony from last year because I was afraid she was going to be too scared to ride this year.  We talked all week long about the things that we would see and do at the fair and by the time we got there she was all kinds of excited!

This is by far our favorite fair out here.  {Granted, we've only been to two, but still...}  The biggest fair is the Mid-State Fair up in Paso Robles.  We took Ryan with us last year and just left feeling kind of disappointed because they didn't have as many kid-friendly activities as the SB County Fair.

To start the evening off, we stopped by the Swine Barn and I have to admit, I was pretty nervous that Olivia would freak out.  But, she LOVED them.  She got so excited and kept talking to them and was so giggly.  Last year, I think she was just kind of in awe of what she saw, but this year she was just plain giddy over them.

We spoke with one of the guys in the barn and he told us that one of the pigs in the next barn over had just had piglets a few days earlier, so we rounded up our little piglet and headed over.  Oh my goodness!  These little piggies were absolutely adorable!!

Do you see that little runt up there?  SO tiny.

Seriously, that runt had me!  He is like half the size of that piglet next to him.

I really wanted to just take him home with me, but I remembered the way the large pigs looked, smelled and felt and I was immediately convinced to leave him be!

And, while we were in the barn, I took a quick snapshot of the back of Olivia's hair!  Not my best french braid, but I thought I accessorized well.

After the Swine Barn, we headed over to see the cows.  Let's just say, Olivia wasn't really a big fan of them -- too big, too loud.  So, we basically just passed through and found our way to the goats.

I loved this little guy - the way he was laying down is exactly the way Magnum lays sometimes.

After the goats, we went into the Poultry Barn.  {Although, the bunnies were also kept in that same barn.}  Aside from the bunnies, this barn literally made me cringe.  Pigeons, chickens, turkeys - OH MY.

NASTY!

Mom in the shot!

I could hardly contain my excitement about the ponies, baby chicks and the animals in the petting zoo that were right around the corner.  Not to mention, I was ready to get away from all the birds!  Well, except for these...they were so cute!

See last year's interactions with the chicks here.

Yeah, next year, we need to get a chick at Easter for her to raise.

The pony rides were right next to the chicks and she was all about getting over to the ponies!  There was a line there, so we went to the petting zoo first.  You can see last year's petting zoo video here.  

We bought some feed for the animals and before I could even hand it out,  a deer and a goat went to town on my sweater and tried to get my purse too.  There are so many animals in this little cage - I am just now noticing that there was a donkey in there!  You can see the video of Olivia running around the cage here.  By far, the most intimidating animal in the petting zoo was the llama.  I ended up giving him a whole handful of food to make sure he liked me.  Olivia was CLEARLY not a fan.

One of my favorite pictures of the night!

Finally, it was time for the pony ride!!  Olivia was super excited and hopped right on!  David walked around with her a couple of times and then she did some all by herself.  Check out the video here.  

No joke, I wanted her to go on this ride at least 5 more times.  

After the pony ride, we went into the Discovery Pavilion where there was a huge butterfly garden ala Fancy Nancy.  Honestly, this exhibit freaked me out just as much as the Poultry Barn.  I do not like things with wings that can easily fly around.  Olivia got into it for awhile, but then became as freaked out as me.

Belly SHOT!

We walked around the fair a bit more and had some dinner.  Seriously, throughout my meal I kept trying to decide if I was going to have a funnel cake {like last year} or get a cinnamon roll.   We stumbled upon a hypnotist putting volunteers under and since the cinnamon roll booth was closer, I opted for that.  It was, as Olivia would say, delectable!  

Olivia was cracking us UP during the show.  The hypnotist was putting the people under hypnosis and kept talking about breathing slowly and relaxing.  Olivia was totally getting into it and started laying her head down around her neck and then laid down on the ground.

Of course, that tranquility only lasted about a minute.

Honestly, that night was one of the most entertaining nights we have had in a long time.  I know David and I had a fancy date night for our anniversary a week before, but this is honestly my kind of date!  Yep, I'm a midwest girl at heart and I'm pretty sure Olivia is too.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!

Happy Thursday from the Central Coast!