Free Your Glee

Yes, that was the odd catch phrase for this year's Western Washington Fair. Well... glee abounded as Hazel went on ride after ride. While she didn't make it to all 24 that were listed for her height (24!), we squeezed as many in as we could while still catching a few other fair offerings. Most of the animal barns were closed, as they were shifting animals. (Shifting them where?). We did get to watch a cow being milked, but that was about it for real animal life. Hazel enjoyed looking at the collections in the hobby hall - Legos, snow globes, Disney, Humpty Dumpty, etc. This bee display featured live honey bees and a free handstamp!


Helping drive the dump truck. She didn't know there was a cab with other drivers.

You might think it's a bit late in the season for a fair, but this is a huge, 3-week fair, and we had to wait until this week so we could meet Diego! Funny how she was all smiles and gave him a big hug, but didn't want to sit too close to him. Although he probably did seem pretty gigantic to her...

Ok, back to the whole reason we're here - rides, rides, rides!

This helicopter ride looked older than me. The newer one has safety nets all around.


I think she was the youngest kid riding alone on this swing. I wasn't too sure about the safety on this one - just the bar which she could slip right under, and a long, loose chain clipped between her legs. Of course, I didn't think of that until the ride was underway. Good thing gravity held her in!

Always a highlight - a great, big metal sculpture upon which to bang. It should be titled "Cacophony."

I took five bad pictures of this ride. It was a long track, with lots of switchbacks. Hazel said that at every turn, she turned the steering wheel all the way to the side. Whew... glad they didn't drive off the tracks. Somebody could've mowed the grass so they could see where to go though.

This one goes slow and then whips around the corner. Rode that one twice in a row.

Can you find Hazel? I really have trouble with cameras with no view finder...

Oh, there she is. This was the first time she'd been on this type of ride. The whole fire truck goes fairly high up and around in a circle. She said her stomach dropped. She held on and grinned out the window the whole time.

Someone's really getting too old for this tame canoe ride now...

One big hug for one of the fair mascots before we leave...

...and back to the car with new friend Diego.