(HAR.)

We haven’t been to the fair in a few years. Partly because the last two themes have been boring to the point of repellant. I think one was football or maybe team sports in general. That makes me violently bored. So bored I want to hurt people. I think maybe someone took a good long look around the fair crowds last year and was all, “Wow. There are, like, zero nerds here. We must remedy this.” And so this year’s theme was gaming. No. Really. Before this (well, I guess before the sports one) I had considered a fair’s theme incidental, and I barely paid notice to it at all. But this year the theme made the experience that much more exciting.

There were giant versions of games like Operation and Connect Four, there were old arcade games like Dig Dug and Pac Man, and there were live versions of games like Family Feud. And the decorations. There were Monopoly board spaces directing you places (GO!) and even a jail one in the security office (which I did not get a picture of). It was too perfect. There were even art exhibits dedicated to gaming (which I was not allowed to get pictures of).

For a long time we always paid to park in the lot on the fairgrounds because strollers are a pain in the ass on trams or shuttles. But we don’t need those anymore and free is my favorite price for parking. PLUS! The shuttles now are (usually) double decker buses! Some that still advertise “Picadilly” in peeling letters! One that has the Beatles plastered on the outside for some reason! So I thought it would be super exciting to ride on the top deck of an open-air double-decker bus. But instead of “super exciting” it was “kind of terrifying”. When the first street light whizzed past my head and we headed towards that freeway underpass (pictured below), I got a little bit lot bit dizzy. I kind of enjoyed the thrill but also kind of wished there were seat belts and/or a track guiding the bus. I am not a roller coaster person and that was just about my limit of excitement.

The trip had been a total surprise for the kids (and a slight surprise for me as well, since I only decided on it the day before) and it turned out to be a really fun day. We don’t make it to the fair every single year, but I’m glad we did this time. Dear Fair Planners: Maybe next year’s theme can be Harry Potter?

You can see the rest of the photos here.