Keegan's First State Fair

Last Saturday we took Keegan to the state fair. Saturday afternoon we didn't have anything going on so we called up Julie and Tony to see if they would like to go to the fair with us. We knew it would be crowded but since it was so nice out we were just looking for a nice way to spend the day outside.

We all decided to meet at the fair rather than at the park and ride. So I guess that was the first adventure. I had packed Keegan up some solids for dinner and enough formula and bottles for a couple feedings. We also had Keegan's hat, some toys, a couple blankets, sunscreen, etc. in the diaper bag. I also packed my Hotsling because I was worried about having enough hands on the bus. When we got to the park and ride I put on the sling, put Keegan in it, and then put on the diaper bag backpack. Lyle had the fun job of carrying the 20 lb stroller folded up.

When the bus arrived it was empty so it was easy to find a seat and there was room for the stroller (which is something that I had been worried about). We sat on the bus for another 15 minutes or so waiting for it to fill up. This was a little irritating because I felt like we were wasting precious "Keegan is being good" time. Keegan had a fascination with metal pole we were sitting next to and spent the first 15 minutes caressing the pole. Then as the bus started getting crowded he started trying to pull on people's shirts. This one poor guy was standing right within reach with his shirt hanging at the perfect level for Keegan to grab. Everytime I looked away Keegan would try and grab the guy's shirt. Luckily the guy thought Keegan was cute so he didn't ming too much :-)

As the bus started moving Keegan was in awe of the view out the window. He kept staring out the window and getting really excited. The sling worked great because Keegan could sit or stand on my lap as he wanted and I didn't need to hold on to him. Of course most of the ride Keegan decided he wanted to stand on my lap and bounce up and down. Let me tell you this was just great. The bus was jostling me and Keegan was bouncing up and down on my lap...very comfortable...

We exited the bus without any incident, got Keegan into his stroller, bought tickets, and went into the fair. It was very busy. Keegan just sat there holding onto the edges of his stroller with eyes as big as saucers. That is pretty much what he did for the next hour. He just thought everything was so neat; he hadn't ever seen this many people in his life before. He had his first taste of cotton candy. At first he thought it was weird and made a funny face; then he decided he liked it!

We met up with Tony and Julie and began our slow progression around the fair. The number one lesson I learned is that when traveling with a stroller you must be patient. You can get places, but it is slow going. Also with Keegan there you don't see things very fast. We had to stop and feed him a bottle, then he had to be changed, then he needed his solids. Luckily Julie and Tony didn't seem to mind the snail-like pace at which we toured the fair. An hour or two after arriving Keegan started getting sleepy. So, we lowered his stroller into the reclined position, put a blankie over him, and gave him his nook. He was asleep in an instant. Keegan proceeded to sleep through the Midway. I have no idea how he could sleep through all that noise. I won him a stuffed dragon while he was sleeping though.

The first highlight for Keegan was the hot tubs. I let him put his hands in the water and he spend a good amount of time trying to catch the bubbles. He also liked that the benches at the end of the hot tubs were just at the right height that he could stand on them and grab the hot tub edge. The Eco building was another high point since he got a shiny button there that he was enamored with. He seemed to think the horses were really big; he just stared at the horses with really big eyes and grabbed onto me really tight. At the DNR building he got to watch some fish.

Good food that Lyle and I tried for the first time were deep fried Snickers bar (too sweet for me), deep fried fruit (this was yummy), deep-fried pickles with cream cheese inside (yummy), strawberries with cream (yummy), and pizza bread (yummy). Tony was on a quest for the new deep-fried spam. He found some and seemed to find it pretty tasty.

We were at the fair for probably 6-7 hrs. We were all getting tired and Keegan was getting crabby so it was time to go. We got Keegan loaded back onto the bus. He was crabby and we had to bounce all the way back to the park and ride to keep him happy. So he stood and bounced in his sling. Then when we got to the car he fell promptly to sleep. Overall it was a great day and we had a lot of fun.

Speaking of which Keegan can now pull himself to a standing position with great gusto. I had set him on the floor to play with some toys and when I came back he had pulled himself up on the cat tower and had proceeded to drag it backwards a couple of feet. He was very proud of himself and I was stunned. I guess he will be mobile before we know it.

Hope you all have a great weekend!