va state fair

We've always talked about going to the virginia state fair and so with what we know about Charlotte, we decided that she would probably like it. She loves animals, food and people and that's pretty much what the state fair is. We arrived about 30 minutes before the gates opened. After scoring a great parking spot, we bought our tickets and had some time to kill, so here's what we did first. I stood in line and Melissa and Charlotte cruised around the area. But first a shot of Charlotte waiting in line for her first state fair experience.

Like most little girls, she enjoys pushing the stroller around, so we did a little bit of that.

I was able to get this cute little shot of Melissa and Charlotte. I just think its cute how they are just sitting there together on the curb.

Charlotte just taking it all in and watching the lines get longer as we waited.

Our fellow early bird fair-goers.

For organizational purposes this post will now be split into three categories. 1-Farm 2-Fun 3-Food.

So let's start off with Farm. As soon as you get past the main gate there is a petting zoo area that attracts the little kids like none other. And Charlotte wasted no time getting her hands and face all up in those animals' business.

She was not shy whatsoever, be it people or animals, even pushing big kids out of the way to secure a better spot to look at these new creatures.

This is the face she makes when she chases our dog Jack around the house.

You can see it was a pretty busy place.

She really liked this longhorn. And so did we. The sign says that they stay this shaggy all year around. Pretty cow if you ask me.

Great shot of my girls!

A man was selling feed in small cups and these animals were well aware of that fact. "Please feed us...we're right over here"

Cute alpaca.

The face of wonder.

There was another petting zoo area that was advertised for toddlers, which we were really looking forward to. Turns out that a toddler zoo means that there are two layers of gates in between the toddler and the animals, which Charlotte did not appreciate, so we didn't spend too much time in that section.

She did however like the chickens.

Melissa being all crafty with the camera.

"Hello Mrs. Chicken. I love your work. The egg, the chicken strip. I'd like to have you over for dinner some time."

A couple of cows getting their grub on.

Time for some Fun. Here's a great shot of the two of us. An older man in the chicken house gave us a little bible, which Charlotte carried around for the rest of the day (see Charlotte's left hand). We're pretty sure that he mentioned something about Barack Obama being the anti-christ...funny stuff.

One of my favorites of the day.

Charlotte was a little too small for ferris wheel, so we opted for the ferris wheel car that doubled as a rest area.

Just taking it all in.

Had to take advantage of this photo op.

We found a flying banana ride that Charlotte was big enough to ride with an adult. Melissa isn't big on rides like this so I became a pretzel and squeezed myself right in. We had a lot of fun

Smokey the Bear came across our path and Charlotte got a little shy at first, but then gave him a hug and got a sticker.

Now time for some Food. Melissa was enticing Charlotte with some chili cheese fries. She loved the fair food, as you will see.

One of the cutest pictures of the day. Just eating my corn dog...no big deal.

And how could you visit the fair and not get a funnel cake. She wasn't sure at first, but after we gave her her own piece, she went to work. I'm amazed she didn't vomit due the quantity and quality of food she ate throughout the day.

We had an amazing time as a family. It was a great experience with the animals being Charlotte's favorite. Not sure that it will be an every year kind of a thing, but we did have fun.