Fun at the Fair?

A couple of weekends ago, I was feeling spontaneous after working Saturday morning, and had the great idea on the way home from work to see if my daughter, Lacey, would like to go to the county fair a couple of small towns over. It was a wonderfully sunny day. Not too hot and a sweet summer breeze.

So, Lace and I set out together, enjoying the nice county ride, thinking of deep fried Oreos (me) and fried dough (her). When we go there, we were directed to our parking place by a very serious-minded Boy Scout flapping his orange flag in the direction we were to park. We mulled about the fairgrounds, taking in the different crafters and taking note of the animals that were participating in some of the contests. We stopped to watch some riders on their horses, until a big, beautiful black horse "let it go" right in front of us, on this warm, breezy day. We quickly made way to the other side of the fair where there were some fair rides. Lacey asked me if I would go on the ferris wheel with her. I hesitantly said 'yes'. "You will?!!" I am very afraid of heights. I promised I would, but Lace made me promise that if I went on with her, I had to keep my eyes open the whole time and I was not allowed to pray. (At the last fair we went to, a couple of years ago, I spent the entire ride singing 'I love you Jesus'). I agreed - hey, she can't read my mind.

I went on the ride - eyes wide open. No sweat. So, once done with that thrilling ride, I suggest we go on the ride that you stand up in, with your back against the wall, and it spins you around as it slowly tilts up on its side. There were kids going on this ride! I can do it if they can!

We get into position and the ride begins. I had taken off my glasses so they wouldn't get lost or broken, and immediately thought, uh-oh, doesn't Lace sometimes get motion sickness? The spinning went faster and faster. I kept one eye open and fixed as best as I could on a blinking yellow light that was in the center of the ride, in front of me. As we began to tilt upward, my singing began . . .

I was so thankful when that ride came to an end. My legs were wobbly and as soon as we descended the steps, Lace and I promptly sat down on the grass to get our bearings. I immediately gave the remaining ride tickets we had to some kids that were walking by. We were done.

But we still hadn't had fried dough. We went and stood in line for about two minutes when Lace looked at me (a little pale and maybe a little green, too) and said "I can't do this". We found a place to sit for a couple of minutes but concluded the best place to be was home. I AM SO DONE with rides!!

We drove home in silence and laid down for a little while. Whew!

Next time, I'm going to find a quiet little bench and enjoy my fried Oreos and fried dough.