Close second to title was "When in Puyallup...Act as the Puyallupans:)" And that's precisely what we did yesterday as it was First day o' the fair!! Yep, deemed important enough to keep Cole outta school for the second random day in as many weeks-Now you get to hear my musings or skim them for the pics as my sis like to do:)
So we caravaned down to annual am stampede with Kanekoas, driving straight for last year's cool free parking spot of which we'd taken advantage on couple diff occas just in driveway of an apparently abandoned house?! Too bad it had been reclaimed & they were charging money for it:( That left us with mere 10 min to divide & conquer in search of another space with all of the other poor souls who were too cheap to pay...I even tried to move cone on edge of driveway block further but owner caught me & said he was charging money too, so ponied up the $5 'cuz better than other homemade lots & galloped rest of the way with boys in tow.
Surprisingly we made it to our fav corner of parade with min. to spare! Britt got memo on western attire (note: she adopted sombrero that poor Dane has resorted to wearing as Indy or cowboy in this case & he was happy to don one of theirs, also proudly wearing Chris' dress-up vest from back in the day courtesy of Grandma Parker:) T'was Cole's idea to bring the horse too & we had plenty of admirers throughout the day, but sure enough he got tired of wearing it midway & guess who got to carry it along with everything else after Dane's brief turn?! Fun to share exper with our buddies even though Britt was bummed she didn't prep for the warm weather, pack a lunch or even think re: stroller. Oops! Guess I was bad friend for not itemizing must-have list, or perhaps I was just amazed I actually remembered anything myself & felt good to be equipped when I'm usually the one who is begging, borrowing & stealing from her on similar outings. 
Anyway, we were impressed that the bulls raced around to their pen in very obedient manner this year & didn't take any detours into yards:) 
I felt sorry for this one though:(
These Clydesdales have always been my favorites despite their Budweiser affiliation!
Love how they herd us in afterward...
First stop within the gates=Hobby Hall. Took on special meaning this year as my boys were able to view their own creations inside the cases. I should prob back up a bit to show process in nutshell'cuz you know how I like to be thorough:) Two weeks earlier, we brought down their chosen masterpieces and left them to await judgment...
Only dumb me didn't confirm size req so disappointed Cole had to trim his down by like a foot while he was there & hope for the best despite feeling like it had lost some of its charm!
He was really banking on cash prize but alas! T'was not his to redeem this year & he took it like a man, showing more sportsmanship than his mom-ugh!:( Perhaps I'm biased, but I thought his was better than 1st place in his class; What d'ya think?
I have to give credit to the winner in Dane's age group for his assembly line of lego men, but am proud to say Dane was given Honorable Mention for his farm. And Cole gets partial glory 'cuz he was such a sweet big bro to help him create it on day before it was due in Aug.
Time for picnic & waiting in line to say "hi" to Backyardigans for Kelli's & my sake.
Then somehow thought we needed treats before making our way to Grandstand so we could incl the rodeo for full effect. Not gonna lie, didn't share the same appreciation as my boys for Monster Truck Showdown that replaced Ne-Yo, but hey! Guess it saved me money in long run, but can't beat $5 for some country fair fun! The extras pictured are good friends Flannerys & their extended clan o' cousins who are extreme fair-goers. Thanks to Paivi also for picking up our tix in advance 'cuz the line was insane?! Also didn't realize how long those crazy things are...3 hrs later we saw a lil' bit o' everything=bronco riding, lassoing-sp?, barrel racing, calf roping, and boys' long-awaited fav: bull riding! The boys got kinda restless, but lasted 'til bitter end @ least of that round. Made me wanna watch 8 Sec. again-my own Luke had the hand wave goin', but I wasn't sure if he was copying that bull rider's motion from the movie, dancing to background music, or just being friendly since he's typically all about the wave?! He slept for half hour or so during rodeo & called it good-
Cole & Dane were still goin' strong afterward, so cruised over to Outdoors Center esp since only offered on the weekends so they could practice fishing,
"snowshoeing"
& target practice
!
That was followed by exploring new Al's Brain exhibit 'cuz thankfully the mad dash @ beg had died down considerably & shade provided welcome relief. 3-D is always bonus, but not sure I'm big fan let alone from first row selected by boys:)
Checked out some animals, but didn't make it to all...Chris will love fact that they waited for him to see cats & petting zoo:) Cole was particularly into cows this time & even suckled the milking demo?!
Listened to their murmuring re: lack of oppor for rides on this, the traditional first exposure & predominantly
free day. They will come back on school fair day with their dad for that part! Complained to myself that I didn't have money to buy a concession @ every stand...Seriously what is it about fair fare that makes it completely appetizing there, but would prob make me sick to my stomach if I sampled that food combo elsewhere?! Or am I on my own in that belief?! I was glad my pregnant friend concurred as I was intrigued by tantalizing smells all along our way; I was even ready to try the fried cookie dough if they weren't sold out of it:) but only indulged in annual taffy sticks & samples incl longingly watching Vitamix demo toward end-even my boys were sold!
If I may provide reviews: Also stopped halfway through Jest in Time Circus, which was actually pretty entertaining esp tp finale!! That is, if you can stomach the cheesy clown humor throughout?! Then traversed clear across grounds yet another time-their idea not mine!-to catch Roberto the Comedy Juggler, whom I also highly recomm but had never before been privileged to witness past performance:) Missed the animal show & human cannonball this year however.
Needless to say, didn't get home until 8p with Little Caesar's pizza in hand 'cuz somehow seemed cheaper than buying dinner down the hill-Aaah I can proudly say, we've become true natives of the city 'cuz I've completely assimilated fair affinity & welcome the traffic for others to appreciate the same & do the Puyallup...@ least for today! Ask me again in 3 wks?!:)
Neglected or just really into being clean?? Ok, maybe not so much the latter (shown attempting to feed himself yogurt:)
Then there's the dirt magnet (notice self-proclamation on shirt -->one look says it all!!:) 
And even though he's the oldest, his disposition is really somewhere in between...
Gotta love this action though!! Maybe not the floor afterward or the toilets in between, but they clean up pretty well themselves too:)
While the adage is true that a "Mother of boys work from son up to son down", for most part they're workin' right alongside me! And we still have plenty o' time to play just like 3rd little pig:)
