Chautauqua County Fair

Its Summer,  and that means the Fair is in town!  Taj has now been to 2 Fairs, one in California (last year) and this year, the Chautauqua County Fair in Dunkirk, New York!  This is the Fair that Brad remembers going to as a kid.   The Fair only comes to town for one week here, so we met up with Sherry and Grandma Sue and took the cousins on the opening day.  Taj and Jax with their West Coast cousins Sierra and Cayden (who always come out to NY for the summer):

The Fair had all the typical "fair" things...... rides, games, crazy fried everything food, funnel cakes, farm animals, petting zoo, etc..... AND it also had nightly shows that started at 7pm in the bandstand stadium.  We decided to go in the late afternoon so we could stay for the Demolition Derby that evening.  Here are the boys sitting with Grandma Sue:

 WOW!  Look at that car pile-up.... that's what a good ole Demolition Derby is.... to see which car is last standing after the big smash up.  First time for the boys and myself seeing anything like this.  I felt like I was watching one car accident after another, and by the end most of the cars were half smash in, wheels flipped out.  The cars did not look like cars anymore, just really bizarre smushed things on 2 wheels!

So after that eventful day at the Fair, we decided to come back Friday night with daddy.  Taj was very excited to ride the rides this time, we decided to wing it and buy him a ride ticket even though often times he chickens out.

 Well, to our disbelief, not this time!  When he said "I want to ride the truck!", oh he meant it!  Our brave little boy got on the ride himself, and rode it ALL BY HIMSELF!  It was a first for the nervous little boy who is normally too scared to ride the merry go round.

Brad and I were tickled, and so proud of how brave Taj was, that we had to film it!  ADORABLE!  

And once we got him on this ride....you guessed it, we had a hard time getting him off!  He rode it again.... and then went on another one and rode the Harley motorcycle:

 Then back to the car once more, he loved these rides so much!

 Jax had a great hanging with mama, and enjoying the sights and sounds.  Both Fair days, he was such a happy boy and even sat through the shows and watched them!

Friday night show was the Truck Race.  Taj was in truck/ car heaven all week with all the fun Fair shows, plus driving to Dunkirk from Bemus Point he pointed out all the tractors and trucks!

 Whoa, look at this truck riding over the bump and catching some air!  This was also a cool show to watch!

By the end of "Fair week", Taj and Jax saw beef cows and milk cows (there's a big difference in how they look!), chickens, ducks, horses, pigs, sheep, all sorts of baby animals..... monkeys, lemurs, jaguars, and even "Jumping Joey" (as Taj refers to kangaroos, he got that from the Little Einstein episode).  The boys saw a steam train, a demolition derby, and a truck race.  Taj went on a ride all by himself, and rode another one.  He also had funnel cake and fried cookie dough!  Gotta love the Fair...... now its time to detox LOL!