A fair is a veritable smorgasbord orgasbord orgasbord...

Look, the county fair had a truckload special.  $50 per car with unlimited rides for all inside.  I own a twelve passenger van.  I have this learned behavior (from my husband) to be cheap frugal.  I couldn't pass it up.  Despite the fact that I have a two month old, a two year old, and a four year old.  Despite the fact that my husband would be at work and not be able to come.  Despite the fact that we had three well checks for those aforementioned children that morning where immunizations were given out like fortune cookies at a Chinese restaurant.

I obviously didn't think this through, folks.  I went with two friends after co-op (Oh yeah, we had co-op that day too.) and without them I'm not sure how I would have gotten back to my car beast of a van.  Come to think of it, without them Judah might still be stuck in the fun house, unable to climb the rope or find his way back out today and Drew might still be jumping his heart out on the bouncy house.  Obviously, I did not. think. this. through.

So there were three moms with thirteen kids.  We were a little outnumbered that's all.

Here's some of our crew waiting to slide down the tractor slide.

Judah sliding down

I'll take you for a ride on my big green tractor.

Judah is turned around looking for me in the red boat.  A friend's daughter was watching out for him.  I couldn't ride anything because of Bobby being wrapped on my chest.

Drew's in the front of this red boat having a blast.

We split into two groups so that the bigger kids could go on rides that they wanted to go on, but the younger ones weren't tall enough or brave enough for.  I sent Judah into a fun house that had a crazy climbing part that I hadn't noticed at first.  My friend had to go in and rescue him and her own son.

Drew got accidentally poked in his eye by Isaac and his anger management problems surfaced.  When I tried to intervene, he turned on me.  He made a scene.  I had to sit down on the ground holding onto him until he was able to regain his composure.  He had another melt down when I told him that we had to move on from the bouncy house to a new ride.  He first ran back up the slide where he knew I couldn't reach him.  So I waited him out until he thought he was out of the woods and slid down the slide again.  I reach over and grabbed him (Remember I still have a baby strapped on my front!) and picked him up kicking and screaming.  I was getting looks!  I swear people thought I was kidnapping him until he started yelling, "Stop, Mom!"  It was ridiculous!  By this time it is way past dinner time and starting to get crowded from the after school/work crowd.  I am sure that had something to do with this, but still he can't get away with acting that way.  My other friend (You know the one who helped deliver Bobby?  As if she hadn't done enough for me, right?)  took Drew and helped calm him down so the other kids could finish up with their last few rides.  If he had been my first child, I promise you I would have thought I was a failure as a mother.  Thanks be to God, I learned with the first three that every kid has an embarrassing moment in public.  Most kids have many.  Drew is exceptional and has more than many.  I discipline him and strive for consistency just like with the rest of the children, but he takes a lot longer to learn his lessons.

On a brighter note, the kids had a wonderful time.  Isaac got to go on the Ferris Wheel which was his main goal.  Hannah played a game with her own money and won a prize while Genevieve went on the ride that has swings that swing way out as it rotates.  They all shared a funnel cake.  Then we had a long walk back to the cheap seats.  That's where they make you park your vehicle for the truck load sale.  Cheapest trip I'll ever take to the fair.  That's for sure!