We literally planned our camping trip around the fact that the Josephine County Fair was in Grants Pass last week. We had planned on going the week before and then canceled and rescheduled so we could go to the fair.
Two years ago, Wyatt got a Boz video where they had a carnival, and ever since he's been talking about going to one. We really wanted to take him to the State fair last year, but didn't make it.
It was so much fun to watch him have fun, to watch the magic in his eyes. After smearing on a thick layer of sunblock and a couple other little stops we made our way to the rides. On our way into the fairgrounds, Wyatt had set his sights on a ride that he called the Skeeter. And that's all we heard about...so that's where we went. You know the roller coaster that goes in a circle and goes up and down all herky jerky like? Ya, that one. That was the first one we went on. I'm not sure I can even explain his excitement.
We climbed into that ride, just him and I, and he laughed and giggled at the beginning. Towards the middle of the ride I think we were both feeling a little dizzy, and he said mama make it stop, I wanna get off. But, as soon as I started screaming and laughing he was laughing and screaming again too. Then, we rode the Ferris Wheel...which was a little unnerving because they don't strap you into anything. Has anyone met Wyatt?
He did really good though, well, I did have my hand on him at all times, but he had so much fun. The rest of the rides were fun for him too, but the first two were the ones that I got to do with him. I had so much fun sharing that special time with my son. The rest of the day was fun too...the food, the Carnie drama, the animals, the bull riding rodeo, but for the rest of the day Wyatt kept saying that he wanted to go back to "the fair". We tried to explain to him that it wasn't just the rides that made up the fair, that it was all of it. But he just looked longingly from the stands of the rodeo at all the spinning rides and said he wanted to go back to "the fair". So we bought enough tickets for one more ride and told him that he could pick one. Without even thinking, he said that he wanted to go down the big slide. I tried to talk him into doing something else, because there was something about paying $3 to slide down a slide that just seemed wrong. But he wouldn't be swayed. So he gave the man his ticket, grabbed the gunnysack blanket, and headed up the steep stairs. And this part of the night is my favorite memory. He was slowly headed up those stairs clutching the blanket in one hand and the railing in the other. Midway he turned around and watched as some kids went whizzing past him, his eyes were as big as saucers and fearful. Slowly he turned around and bravely continued up that long, steep, narrow stairway. When he finally reached the top, he had no idea what that blanket was for, so he just dropped it and proceeded to sit down and start to shove off. But there was someone up there helping that got him set straight. He shot down that slide his eyes big and scared and excited all at once, and when he reached the bottom he sprung up and said, "I wanna do it again". For $3 you only get to do that once, but it was so worth it
.
For Wyatt, he will be talking about that for months and months, "tell me bout the fair, tell me bout it". For me, I will remember that time for the rest of my life. I know that it probably sounds pretty normal, but for me, it was extraordinary.
