The California State Fair!

 July 12th through the 29th was the California State Fair. One of the perks of having season passes to Raging Waters is that since the water park is located inside the fair grounds you can use your pass to get into the state fair for free provided you come before the water park closes for the day. Fantastic! We love going to the fair but it was always an expensive trip to pay for all of us to go for one day and then cram everything we could into a few short hours. This year we were able to go several times at a leisurely pace. It was a lot of fun. There was a stilt circus. They were so fun to see. They actually just walked around. I'm not sure if they had a set show, I didn't really check to see if they did. But they would walk around the fair grounds and take pictures with people. They were really cool and very friendly.

 This water fountain sits in the center of Cal Expo. I was told that before they built Raging Waters there was no gate around the fountain and that people could walk up to it and play in the water. I thought that would be a fun time to play in the water fountain. We still like going to Raging Waters though. It's a great fountain though. On the hot parts of the day you can get your food or treat from the vendors and go sit on one of the benches they have just outside the fountain and get cooled off by the mist that sprays out in the breeze.

 One of the displays they have at the fair is an exotic bird display. They had macaws and kookaburras, cockatoos and emu's, finches and other various parrots. I especially loved this peacock. His colors were just brilliant. I wanted to get some photos of the macaws but of course on this particular day the camera battery died. I was using my point and shoot camera instead of my DSLR and I didn't have any extra batteries. Lesson learned. Back up batteries are now on order!

 Since Jaxen is starting school in July we let him choose his new school backpack at the fair. There was a stand that had several backpacks that resembled different video games and characters that he really likes. He choose a backpack that resembled Bowser from Super Mario Brothers. It had this plushy of one of the turtles from the game on one of the zippers. Jaxen of course wanted to play with it instead of keeping it on his back pack. He looked up at me and said " Mom, take a picture of me! Please!" He was so adorable I just couldn't resist!

 I just love this photo of Jaden with his milky face! He loves his milk that is for sure. Especially when it's chocolate milk. Then he's like a chocolate milk drunkard! It makes us smile.

 Buy the stables they had a small section set up for kids. It was set up as an educational area as well. Learning to brush a horse, pet a horse, braiding a horse tail. They did have a pony that they would occasionally saddle up and you could take your photo with him. The brushing and braiding of course were not on real horses but model ones. Jaden actually loved sitting on this rocking horse. He sat by himself and held on and even tried rocking himself. I love seeing him try new things.

 Jaxen had fun riding the horse as well. The older boys loved having a play area at the fair. It was a welcome break from all the walking and looking at all the displays. I love the smile Jaxen gave. He's our spunky little guy!

 Of course Tristan had to have a turn as well.

 This is Tristan sporting the mask he saw at the fair and really wanted. He bought it with his allowance. He was very excited. Over by where they had the pony set up for photos they also had some hats and stuff to wear in the photos. When we were there the pony had been led back to his stall but they left the hats out. Tristan put one on with his mask and we all couldn't stop laughing and smiling. We thought it looked awesome! I think this will always be one of my favorite photos of Tristan as it really shows his fun personality.

 They also had a small play ground next to the stables. The see saw was fitted with saddles for the seats. There was a swing that also used a saddle for a seat.

 They had a make shift steer and a lasso. Jaxen tried first to lasso. He was fun to watch because the rope was so long and he's a bit small. But they had fun.

 Tristan had a better grip on the rope but I think it was because he was bigger and could hold the rope better. This model horse was in the play ground as well. Kids were able to climb up and pretend they were riding a real horse. It was life size. Jaxen was so proud of himself that he climbed up and got on the horse with no help. 

 There were many toy vendors this year at the fair. One guy would stand outside his stall and blow bubbles with a bubble gun. He would let kids come and play in the bubbles. It was fun! I love it when people do stuff like that.

 This one made me happy! Everyone knows that I love Mickey Mouse! He just makes me smile. In one of the buildings they had a display that they called " Toytopia." It was fantastic! They had multiple displays of different toys. Old and new. Mostly they had many retro displays. A lot of collector displays and a bit of history behind each one. This was what the very first Mickey Mouse doll looked like!

 They did have a small section that was set up as a toy store. Ron bought these stick on mustaches just for fun. We each styled one for a minute. Jaxen and Jaden of course didn't want to wear one. Ron tried to wear one but it wouldn't stick over his already mustache. But Tristan, Kaeryn and I each sported one. I only wore mine for a minute and then took it off because the sticker back actually made it difficult to move my mouth. Tristan wore his for a little while though. We like being goofy like this every once in a while.

 They did have a wildlife show at the fair. It was small and simple but still exciting for me. I love wild life and any opportunity I have to see and learn and enjoy them makes me happy. I thought this owl and porcupine were very cool and beautiful. They also had a hawk fly from up above to the stage.

 In another section of the fair that they had labeled " The Farm" the boys found another space to play. The Farm was an area that introduced you to local farmers and produce and plants. There was a blacksmith as well. It was a cute little farm town. They set up different things for kids to play on as well like a tractor slide and pedal tractor maze. A sand box and a corn box. I love watching the difference between the boys and how they play. Tristan likes to play in the sand box but doesn't like to get dirty so he will sit himself up and carefully dig in the dirt and stack it up.

 Jaxen on the other hand has no cares whether he gets dirty or not and will through himself in the dirt. He loves digging and playing in dirt and sand. He was trying to build a sand castle like he does on the beach but since the sand was dry it wasn't sticking very well.  He still had fun trying though!

 While the boys played, Ron and Kaeryn just set around like this. They were actually tired because they had gone to Raging Waters earlier that day but it just made me laugh when I looked through the pics. It was like " Jaxen and Tristan, Play Play Play! While Daddy and Kaeryn just sat around like, Can we go now!" Jaden just chilled out in the stroller.

 Another fun thing was this mini fire camp. Smokey the Bear was there and the boys got to meet him and learn about fire safety. They had 6 different stations they went to that were taught by the forest service and Sacramento fire chiefs. They even had a cute little puppet show. Jaxen and Tristan both volunteered to help out and would answer questions. They had fun. In the end they got to hug Smokey the bear( Jaxen wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a pic) and they earned their bandana!

 The area where they had the puppet show was carpeted so we let Jaden out of the stroller to crawl around while the boys were finishing their camp. I thought it was too cute not to share.

 Our old next door neighbors and friends are part of a Filipino dance group. They performed again at the fair this year. It was one of our highlights to go and see them perform. It was also fun to see them again. This dance ( I forget what it's called) is always a favorite to see. Especially when they have 4 bamboo poles crisscrossing each other. They did a fantastic job!

 This was my favorite part of the dance.

All in all the fair was fantastic! Since we didn't have to pay to get in( love those perks, we'll definitely get those passes again next year) we were able to try some of the fair foods. Our favorites were the chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick and the chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick. One stand gave you an order of fries that could feed an army! It was huge. We loved those as well. I was able to go to a few of the horse shows. I was in heaven for that. I got to see my favorite breed of horse, the Friesian. There was also a golden friesian which I have never seen before or knew that Friesians still came in colors other than black. He was absolutely beautiful. There were also some Gypsy Vanners that were just gorgeous. A group of horse vaulters. They did a show and that was fun to watch. The Friesians also did a show. they danced for us. I didn't have my camera but I really wished I had because at the end of the friesian show the stallion reared up. It was an awesome sight. They are so majestic! The fair was a success in our books. We really enjoyed being able to go multiple times instead of once. It definitely has been worth it. The animals were fun and cute as always. The art and displays were great. We can't wait til next year!