The Fair is Coming to Town!

The fair is coming to town, the fair is coming to town!  Oh, the excitement, when I was little over roadside fairs, county ones and church festivals! It was a place where being a kid was heaven!  Food was not good for you and it was the one time your folks didn’t care if you ate it. Games were plentiful and affordable back then.  And the rides, hair in your face and not a worry in the world!  The one thing that was constant among all was the love of the fair!

Flash forward to this year when I took my grandkids to a local fair. It has been a sort-of ritual now, every year, to take them to the county one close to where I live. I enjoy seeing their faces light up, the yelling for cotton candy, more rides and wanting to win a prize.  And their cries are mirrored by kids everywhere in sight, of all ages infact!  It seems to be the one thing constant of all ages, love of the fair.

When they were babies and toddlers I would dream of the day I could take them to the fair.  I knew, in my life, it was one of the highlights of the year, that and the Circus coming to town.  It seems like just yesterday I had that dream and now, here it is 2015 and I have taken my granddaughter for years now and my youngest grandson twice.  Where did it go, the time?

Every time I drive past the exit where the fair is, my granddaughter yells at me “Is the fair back yet?”  I don’t know who is more anxious really, her or me.  We both know that time is very special, sharing rides, laughter and creating special moments that just don’t happen anywhere else.

It is amazing that, even at my age, once I step past the front gate, I am caught up in the grandkids mood, elation at being there.  Some things never change, the look of the carousel, the scream of kids on thriller rides and the smell of everything sicky sweet in the air!  It is hard to know what to do first!  But I am holding little hands grateful I have an excuse to be there, celebrating a fair again.

My granddaughter will no longer go on the kiddie rides because she is just beyond that, telling me they are for babies. She is the ripe old age of 7!  Seven years old where did that come from?  All the sudden so many rides she doesn’t even have to stand up to the line to see if she is tall enough. Her long legs are a dead-giveaway she is not a baby anymore and can ride most all rides now.

Looking back it seems like just yesterday her idea of a playground was sitting in a walker twirling around playing with all the gizmos hanging around her little body. Now she is riding a big Ferris wheel with no fear in her eyes.   My grandson still have some reservations but goes on the small kids rides with relative ease and yelling at the folks unloading him which ride he wants to go on next.  He is not shy and makes everyone’s faces light up as they see the sheer joy on his face.

Ah, many things change over time, over the years and as we age.  Our world has so many new options for kids, techy toys, the internet and such.  But watching them play, hearing the giggles made me realize some things never really do change. So I have to join in when my granddaughter asks how soon can we come back and say the same darn thing!

Here is a fun little video that shows how much my grandkids love the fair and just how fast they grow!  Click Here to Watch