The Spring Fair

The kids have entered several coloring contests over the last year or two. Abby always takes plenty of time, carefully and beautifully coloring in her masterpieces. Benny, on the other hand, takes a few moments, scribbling away and moving on to the next project. Last year (fall maybe?), Ben won his first coloring contest at the Grocery Outlet. I was going to blog about it, but never got around to it. Plus, it almost didn't seem fair to me that he won: he'd literally spent less than two minutes on his and Abby spent over two hours - and they were in the same age group!! I chalked it up to a random name drawing rather than actually judging on effort and skill.

So, when I got the call from Fred Meyer last week that Abby had won The Spring Fair coloring contest, I had to ask if it was a random drawing or if she was picked because of her good coloring. The answer was an emphatic, "Oh, definitely not random! We laid all the drawings out and hers just stood out from the rest! Even being up against 8 and 9-year-olds!" That's my girl! :)

Seriously, I was so incredibly proud and excited for my daughter, you'd think I'd won the contest! Being a parent is so much fun! :) And, actually, I did get in on the winnings because Abby won two tickets to The Spring Fair in Puyallup. Since kids 5 and under are free anyway, I got one free ticket and Abby chose my mom to get the other ticket since Kevin was gone crab fishing.

I'd never been to the Spring Fair before and didn't know quite what to expect. So when we went yesterday, I was surprised that it was almost the full-deal Puyallup Fair that occurs in September every year. Almost all the food booths were open, the vendor/commercial halls were full, there were lots of rides, animals of all kinds in about half the barns, plenty of free entertainment options (lumberjack show, dog jumping competition [into water], car show, pig racing, magic shows, etc), and the best part for us: a free Kid Zone full of crafts and activities for the kids, including a music area where the kids could try out real instruments and dance on a floor piano. And although there weren't the traditional entries from county fairs, there was a good-sized FFA exhibition hall and there were lots of schools that entered various drawings/paintings/crafts by classes and the judged entries graced the walls for the Kid Zone.

Ben loved the bug antennae hat he made (I couldn't help but thinking that he was the cutest bug in the world!) and was pretty thrilled watching the dogs jumping into the water. Abby was excited to spot the Spring Fair logo from her coloring contest throughout the fair grounds and was in heaven in the craft area, of course! Jake loved the animals and the lego play area.

Although we'd planned for sunshine, the day turned out even warmer than expected and we all wished we'd worn shorts. The unusually warm April weather combined with so many sights/sounds/smells that I usually associate with late summer made it hard for me to convince myself that it was only springtime at The Spring Fair! Other than the fact that the fair was very crowded, we all had a fabulous time and I'm sure we'll be back again next year - who knew I didn't have to wait until the end of summer for an honest-to-goodness FAIR!?! :) And, really, I think with the crafts and activities in the free Kid Zone, the kids actually enjoyed the Spring Fair more than the actual Puyallup Fair!

Playing with their new toys and crafts while waiting for mommy to load the stroller and gear into the car.

 Thank you, Abby, for your careful coloring job that won us such a fun day!