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Ventura County Fair
Wednesday, 8/11/04

Tom, Sam, & Tess Truax with Emily Gates

Sam's third year at the Fair.  It was armband day, so we could do unlimited rides.  Tess was in play this year, so Sam needed a friend to go on the rides.  We recruited Emily Gates (Sam took Elijah last year)

Loaded Tess in the backpack and biked to Emily's house by the train stop, leaving the stroller at the bus stop on the way.  Emily's mom, Lynn, gave us a ride back to the bus stop to catch the Costal Express which dropped us off next to the Fair entrance just as it was opening for the day at 11 am.  The kids wanted to experience the rides right away, so we tried a half a dozen, including 3 trips down the slide.

Much to Sam's protest, we then spent some time checking out the animals.  Spoke with a girl about her pig.  She had raised a number of them through the years.  It takes about 6 months to grow full size.  She sold hers for $4 a pound, and it weighed about 250 pounds.  The cows were selling for about $2 a pound and most of them weighted over 1,000 pounds.  The goats were pets and not auctioned off.  Tess liked the turkeys and big honking geese.  After the horses, I caved in an we went back for more rides.

Tess was napping in the stroller, so I watched from the sidelines.  When she woke, we all went on the big Ferris Wheel.  The older kids watched the science show while Tess explored.  Wanted to do the circus, but the timing wasn't right.  Finished off at the toddler rides which was in the corner by the train stop so we walked out the gate as the 5 pm train was approaching.

Emily was content to enjoy the ocean view out her window, but Tess didn't want to sit for more than a couple of minutes, so we went up and down the aisles numerous times.  Lynn was waiting for us at the station as we disembarked, and we all walked over to the Gate's house to collect our bikes for the ride home.

Gave Tess a quick bath and got her dressed for bed before heading north to our bimonthly SCPA meeting.

Note:  5 and under at the fair get in free, so next year they need to pay $4 admission and a dollar for the bus.  If we had purchased train tickets in advance, the kids could have ridden free with each paid adult (temporary AAA discount?).