Ahh, the sights and sounds of the Utah State Fair: cotton candy, hot dogs, candied apples, fresh manure, cigarette smoke, tatoo-covered carnies, the flashing lights of the ferris wheel; so much fun that it’s a good thing it only comes around once a year.


We originally had a photo shoot planned for last night, but after our clients cancelled we were free to join Matt’s family at the fair as we have every year since Collin was a baby. I actually really love the fair. It’s so different from the every day and usually a pleasant change of scenery. I love to see all the animals. The smell reminds me of being on Canyon Rim Ranch down in Nephi. My Grandpa worked the ranch for the church and for awhile after my mom died, I lived with my grandparents. It smells like memories stirred up after lying dormant for too long, and I like it.


My kids liked the animals too. The first animals we saw were the goats, and Annie really took to them, reaching in to their pens to touch their course hair, and she’d climb up the sides of the pens to pet their little heads. All Collin really wanted to do was to ride the ponies, which he did (as did the other two kids) after we’d been there for about an hour or so. He had fun riding around in circles, and I can’t help but wonder how many more years he’ll actually be able to ride them.


As soon as Collin got off the pony, he pointed to the biggest carnival ride he could find and announced that he wanted to ride that. I immediately told him “No way!” We continued making our way through the maze of buildings and booths. We saw some incredible huge and terrifying snakes, beautiful white and orange tigers, a crocodile that at first glance looked like a snapping turtle. We walked through a few booths. Matt bought some kettle corn, and I bought some handmade pewter hair decorations that I really like. Then we came to the mammoth slide! It must have been 40 or 50 feet tall! Collin was adamant that he would be riding down that slide. I felt sick to my stomach as other members of the family expressed a desire to throw caution to the wind, and ascend to the top of the giant structure only to come back down again in a manner that might threaten their very lives! Needless to say, I was not thrilled, nevertheless, Matt took Collin AND Annie down the slide. Collin LOVED it, and as soon as he was at the bottom, he announced that he’d be going down again. Annie on the other hand, spend the entire trip down the ride looking as scared as I felt. For agreeing to let my children risk life or limb on the treacherous slide, I got some decent pictures of their descent down.


After the slide, we meandered on towards the exit of the fair, as it was nearing 10:00 p.m. As we came close to approaching the gates, we realized we hadn’t seen the pigs yet. So we found them and began to walk through. We let Michael get out of his stroller and walk through the pens. I’ve never seen him so excited about anything before, it was so funny! In his excitement, he began to squeal and he sounded just like the pigs! He reached his little hands through the bars of their pens and if he could reach the pig, he’d pet it. It was so fun to watch. If nothing else had made for a good time at the fair, Michael’s reaction to the bristly, pink animals would have made it all worth while.


So once again, the Utah State Fair was a successful family outing that I will look forward again to next year, when we will probably look at animals that look the same as they do every year, and we’ll spend too much money on things we don’t need. The kids will ride the ponies and we’ll eat popcorn as we wander aimlessly through merchant booths that are not offering anything truly spectacular, but we’ll have a wonderful time, and I’ll get more cute pictures.