Isle of Wight County Fair

Yesterday we were invited to go to the county fair in Windsor, Virginia with our friends Heather, Dawn, and Rachael. The fair was a good size offering lots of attractions including truck pulls, bull riding, livestock, camel rides, 4H tent, carnival rides, Tracy Lawrence concert, and of course, tons of food.
After getting the kids some ice cream from the giant ice cream hut, we went over to see the truck pull competition. This was a first for me and it was quite fun to watch, not to mention extremely LOUD. To my surprise, the trucks didn't pull things like concrete blocks, but rather a huge contraption made especially for this sport. One truck pulled almost to the end of the line, however it stalled after it was finished.
We left the truck pull after awhile to check out the other attractions. We ended up in the livestock tent where Tyler fell in love with all the chickens. LOL The tent also included a petting zoo. We got the kids some feed to give to the animals. Tyler laughed and laughed as he fed them because a lot of the animals would stick out their tongues and just lick the food off of your hand to get it.

The most exciting attraction we were looking forward to doing when we first heard about the fair was taking the kids for a camel ride. The camel's name was Stewart and Tyler and Rachael had a blast on him. While Tyler was taking his turn, a newspaper reporter came along and took his photo. He said it would be in the Virginian's Pilot newspaper either today or on Thursday. I looked today, but there was no coverage of the fair, so it might be in on Thursday. The reporter took Tyler's name and age. If it does make the paper, then this will be Tyler's second time having his photo published in a newspaper. Not bad for a 6 year old!

After a few more tents and attending a rooster crowing contest, our bellies started rumbling and we stopped to seek food. The selection of food was great. All kinds of fair foods to chose from including the typical, but then we saw them unusual such as Fried Twinkies, Fried Oreos, as well as Fried Snickers. That was just a little bit too much for my stomack to handle, so we stayed away from that crazy stuff. While Tyler was eating his corn dog, he found a spot on a firetuck to sit. LOL As soon as our appetites were satisfied, we headed on over to the bull riding competition.

When we arrived at the stands, the place was absolutely packed and we could only find a place on the lawn where we had to stand to watch. This was the first time for all of us to see bull riding. It was very intense. Much more intense than I thought it would be. There were sooo many close calls and even one guy had a bad accident. He stood up afterwards and you could tell one of his arms was so limp. It just hung there. Then he went on his knees and the paramedics came in to see to him and put him on the stretcher to take him to the hospital. I can't imagine doing this for a living. The guy did wave to the crowd on his way out to let us all know that he is going to be alright.

By this time, it was dark out. The kids didn't want to leave without going on some carnival rides first. So they went on a couple before we stopped to get a funnel cake for our commute home. It was almost 11pm before Tyler and I arrived back home. Tyler, of course, fell asleep in the car on the way home. I had to carry him up three flights of stairs. LOL To say the least, we slept in for a bit this morning. It was a great day though. Lots of fun with our friends and we are so grateful for their invite. Here are some more photos for you to see.