Friday's 5: Lessons from the Fair

We took the kids to the N.C. State Fair yesterday -- it was their first trip and they were jumping out of their skins from excitement.

As this was only my second trip to the Fair and the first time with kids, I learned a lot from the experience. A trip to the Fair is a lot of fun, but it's also some serious work for the parents. Here are five lessons from the day.

1. Bring a stroller. Even though Pippi never uses a stroller anymore (unless I'm trying to exercise when she's home), I realized too late that we should have brought one with us. My arms are still aching from carrying her30 pounds of fabulousness to the fairgrounds, around the event and back to the car.
2. A footlong hot dog is not too big. At least, not for one five-year-old Junius. Kid barely stopped to talk between bites because he was enjoying it so much. Seriously, just look at how happy he was.
3. A map counts as a prize. Junius was very excited to have his own copy of the Fair map. Probably even more excited than he was about the Nemo look-alike he got from one of the fishing games. And it was free.
4. Look for friends. Even with thousands of people streaming through the gates each day, it's still possible to run into someone you know. We ran into friends from our neighborhood and didn't even know they would be at the Fair. And while you're watching out for friends, you can enjoy the people watching. Because there are some crazy-looking interesting people out there.
5. Don't be afraid of the kid rides. And I mean that advice to the mommies. I was very hesitant about letting the kids get on the tiny roller coaster (and by coaster, I mean a little dragon train that goes up and down around the circle), but they LOVED it. Was totally worth it to watch them cracking up and yelling around the curves together. 

And one bonus tip for watching the fireworks: Before we actually went to the Fair yesterday, Junius and his Daddy watched the fireworks show on Tuesday night. Because Juni isn't really old enough to stay up until 10:00 at the Fair, the two of them drove to a nearby (free) parking lot around 9:30, put the top down, enjoyed a milkshake, and watched the show from outside the Fairgrounds.

So how about you -- what's your best tip for going to the Fair?