County Fair and Dollywood

Hee Haw! We had a very busy weekend. To cap off a fabulous visit with Grandma Mickey we decided to throw in some fun excursions. We hit the aquarium (forgot the camera), The County Fair, and DOLLYWOOD. Cooper enjoyed them all and so did Mom, Dad and Grandma. We visited the aquarium once before when Coop was about 7months old but this time he was able to walk around on his own and play in the Kid Zone. After the aquarium we went home for a power nap before we hit The Fair. The Fair was perfect. It was only 15minutes away from home, small and full of everything a fair has to offer. We watched a Dance Show which consisted of little pageant looking girls wearing much too revealing outfits and waaaay too much makeup as they shook their little bon-bons. Cooper enjoyed dancing along with them and I was happy when he got excited when the much more conservative ballerina hit the stage. Although he did enjoy dancing along with the hoochie mama toddlers, he just stared at the pretty ballerina. I think it was her shiny tu tu, but I'll humor myself and think it was because of her classiness and grace. Note to self~cut back on listening and dancing to Beyonce with Cooper.

Next up, the petting zoo and Sheep Show. The Sheep Show was new to all of us. It consisted of different age groups demonstrating their ability to "show" their sheep. Translation: wrestle and force the sheep to stand pretty while the judge soaks in all their sheepness. The little kids were sooooo cute and VERY serious about their skills. I was drawn to this little boy that was really prepping on the side lines as his father coached him (rather sternly) before his big reveal. Sadly, he took last place.

Of course the fair was filled with Carnies and GREAT people watching. It reminded Mark and I of living in Carlsbad when the Carnies came to town. We never could figure out why the Carnies came to town so often. It will always be a mystery I guess.

Here's a pic of Cooper at the Fair SEP '08 (what a difference a year makes) Checking out the Sheep Show ("what are you going to do with that sheep?")
More Sheep Show how now brown cow

The next day, we hit Dollywood. One might think that with all this fair talk, that the Fair trumped Dollywood. But that is not the case. Quite frankly, Cooper no longer feels it necessary for me to be typing on the computer this morning. Can't he see I'm trying to document his childhood? Children can be so selfish. The pictures say it all. We had a fabulous day filled with Dollywood and all of it's glory. So much so that we decided to buy a season's pass. So don't you fret, there will be more Dollywood visits to blog about in the near future :).

obligatory pic in front of Dollywood props
Tea cups

Awesome Jungle Gym

Sliding is fun (I promise)

Coop at the Wheel

Driving off into the sunset (The perfect end to a perfect day.)