To celebrate the end of Summer we headed to the Oregon State Fair and were able to use the free passes to get in that the kids got from the summer reading program at the library. Glenn and Addie were still free this year since they were under 6! That made it nice to only need 3 tickets. As we were pulling into the field to park and pay the lady in the car in front of us got out and handed us a free parking pass! We were thrilled and it helped make the day even cheaper for our family. Kevin had been very worried about the cost of going but I had looked up some websites for how to do the fair for cheap and there seemed to be plenty of fun to do for free. We told the kids up front that we weren't doing any rides. We promised we would go to Oaks Park some time instead and enjoy the rides since it would cost $5 per ride per kid and that's a LOT of money for not many rides for the same amount for a bracelet at Oaks Park. They agreed to that and it made it easier setting boundaries from the beginning.
The kids LOVED seeing all the animals and hearing all the different sounds. One owner of a cow even let the kids feed him which was so fun. Addie was tickled at being able to do that. They also got to pet a variety of animals too. We enjoyed one treat of ice cream which was actually priced well for being at the fair for only $1.50 for an ice cream cone which was huge too! Kevin got a shake and I got a berry sundae. SO YUMMY!! I shared with all the kids too.
We watched a dog jumping contest which was okay (the kids were entertained which was good since I changed and fed Rowan a little while watching the show). It was out in the beating sun and it was a really hot day. Trying to get out of the sun we headed over the super old Horse Arena and watched the horses compete with trying to pull these heavy weighted crates/platforms. I was able to finish feeding Rowan in the there and the kids loved climbing up in the stands to watch with Dad while I stayed with the stroller in the wheelchair section.
We also walked around the forestry station and saw smokey the bear. I realized while there my kids have no idea who Smokey the Bear is. They use to have the commercials come on all the time as a public service notice. I heard one of the rangers say they are trying to keep him alive but the stations don't offer them free airtime anymore which makes it so much harder. It would be a sad chapter in life to have smokey not exist anymore.
Since the Beach Boys were playing that the stadium we decided to check it out and see if there was a chance we would make it in for seats since it was free for general admission. I thought the kids would like the music and I knew I would LOVE it. I love the beach boys and sang their songs all the time growing up! We lucked out as we were leaving the area they opened the doors and there seemed to be a chance to find seats. I sent Kevin up with the kids as I went to find a place for the stroller. I didn't like that they didn't have a secure place from them and we had to leave them just sitting out on the open grass outside. Kevin secured us an awesome spot at the top of the stair with lots of room. He went back down and got the stroller and we were able to just set it up right above the stairs by us. I tried creating some shade for the kids with blankets and Rowan's car seat. We had about 45 minutes to wait before the show started and I was worried with all the prior sun exposure the kids would get burnt. Thankfully they were all fine! It was so fun to listen to the sing and now I can add one more band on to my list of who I've hear play live. We left before they were finished since it was getting late and Kaila had school the next day.
Before leaving the fair grounds we stopped by the family village center and saw some exotic
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