Kid's Country **Note addition at end

Sunday afternoon we made plans to go to the Houston Rodeo Carnival with the Yeager's. Neither Aiden nor Luke had ever been on carnival rides before, so we were really looking forward to it. Even though Linsey is eight and half months pregnant. LOL!

We did A LOT of walking that day. We had to park really far away, and then the Kid's Country section of the carnival was on the opposite side from the entrance. We stopped for fried zucchini on our walk and Zach got a hot dog. The zucchini was funny. They sliced it in half, long ways. So it almost looked like a fat pickle spear. Fried. Oh man was my tummy doing flips after that thing.

Once we arrived at the Kid's Country, we bought tickets to the rides and then began walking around trying to decide which one to do first. We were super upset to find that our guys are both under 36", the minimum height for the rides. WE WERE SO BUMMED. And you'd think they'd have a sign up at the ticket booth that says "Must be 36" or taller to ride" because now we had a bunch of tickets we couldn't use. =(

We walked around for a bit and came across the petting zoo! Aiden was in awe when we walked in there. We set him down on the ground and he just pointed at every animal he could say and yelled something we couldn't decipher. Here he is attempting to feed a sheep that just wants to be left alone:

After we left the petting zoo, we walked around to check out more of the rides. We jumped on the carousel and gave that a spin. Aiden was okay at first, but then he got a little scared when we all started saying "yeehaw!" (they were both on horses). I jumped on a neighboring horse to show him it was okay. It didn't help Aiden, but boy was I having fun! Having a kid is awesome because it gives you an excuse to act like a kid again. Teehee. Luke did NOT want to get off the carousel, and for some reason Aiden started to fuss when we got off even though he did not seem to be enjoying himself during.

We finally found one ride that would let children under 36" go with an adult. Both boys LOVED it. When it first started, Aiden lifted one arm and said "Wooo" very calmly. He had a death grip on the lap bar for the remainder of the ride. He got so serious, it was hard not to laugh. They started crying when the ride stopped and we had to get off.

After that, we found a "farm" to walk through. At each station, they taught you about a particular part of running a farm, then they gave the kids a sample to put in their basket. They learned how to milk a cow (and got a carton of milk)...


...plant seeds and farm them (and take the resulting grown veggie - Aiden got an onion)...


...pick fruit from trees (with a peach to-go), shear a sheep (a baggie of wool for the road), etc. At the end, they sold their goods to the market and got play money in return.


Lastly, we walked through a store and they were able to pick out a real goodie to eat. We grabbed some crackers for Aiden and had him pay the cashier for his bounty. It was so cute.

The Yeager's, enjoying their snack from the "store".

By this point, it was dinner time, so we headed over to the food area. Linsey and Travis got BBQ and I got a slice of pizza to share with Aiden. After that, I absolutely HAD to try a fried Snickers. I've heard people mention all the fried goodies that are available at the Houston Rodeo Carnival, and that one sounded the most appealing to me. Next year I have to try the fried s'mores. Oooo, or maybe the fried Oreos?? A year sounds so long to wait...

I was surprised to find I did NOT gain any weight this weekend. Must have been all the exercise I got to balance out the junk food?

**************Editor's Addition*******************

Linsey pointed out that I forgot to mention a funny story from that day, so here it is!

Travis and Linsey stayed at the table with the kids while Zach and I went to get dessert. We each ordered our fried Snickers separately, then waited for them to be made "fresh". (Can something fried be considered fresh?) Zach had ordered first (I wanted him to get that chocolate to his pregnant wife stat!), so his name was called before mine. I walked up to retrieve mine shortly thereafter. The guy who had taken my order, handed me the basket and said, "Make sure to wait at least two minutes before you eat that or you'll be disappointed like you are in your marriage."

Blink, blink.

The nervous laughter ensued and I turned around to walk back to the group confused. What was he talking about? Was he randomly making a joke? What does he know about my marriage?

Linsey immediately knew he had said something strange to me and she questioned me. I gave a quick run-down of what the guy said. As we were walking away, it dawned on us. Zach and I were both wearing wedding rings and we ordered one right after another. But we paid for our desserts separately. He must have assumed we were married to each other!

Hahaha! I laughed. Zach? Didn't think it was so funny. His forehead creased with concern as he tromped along with us. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm going back," he said.

"Whaaa? Was he serious?" I asked Linsey, staring at him stomping away. She just nodded and laughed.

Sure enough, Zach went all the way back to the hut to give that guy a piece of his mind. He told us afterward what happened. He said the guy chuckled nervously as Zach approached, knowing he would have to deal with an angry 'husband'.

"First of all, we're not married.... Second of all, if we were, that was a really rude thing to say."

"Oh ya man. I'm sorry. I was just joking..." and Zach stomped back over to us, feeling a little better about getting that off his chest.

Way to stand up for our integrity Zach!