State Fair of Texas

A little side note, I did not take these pics. For some reason, this girl that LOVES taking pictures, did not take her camera!!! Gurrrrr...


Howdy Folks!!! Today Morgan and I went to the State Fair of Texas. Morgan gets us free tickets and parking pass through his work so we always go. We get to park right up front and bam, we're in the state fair. :) It's so nice to go for free and save so much money!!! We got there around 1030. It was PERFECT!! Hardly a crowd. I could hold my arms out and spin down the walk way and not hit a single soul. (No, I did not do that. Just saying...)That's how much walking room we had. Not how it was when we were leaving, but we were there for 5 hours so it was getting crowded when we left. The weather was so nice. We could not have requested a more perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky and it was cool outside earlier in the day. One of my favorite days...where I was in a short sleeve t-shirt and 100% comfortable and Morgan was in a light jacket and 100% comfortable. My "menu" list before we went was FRIED BUTTER, CORN DOG, AND FUNNEL CAKE. Corn Dog and Funnel Cakes are a MUST for me. But then when we got there I realized that I am not actually a big fan of corn dogs. So why do I eat them EVERY YEAR?!? I guess because it's the "thing to do" at the state fair. So I skipped that this year. We headed straight for the fried butter. There wasn't hardly a line. When we were leaving, there were two looooooong crazy lines!! Phew! Glad we missed those. Anyway, Morgan wouldn't walk up to the counter with me because there was a television station filming. He said he didn't want to be on TV. I didn't really care. I just wanted to try some fried butter. It was sooooooooooo good!!! Can't even explain it. I had imagined in my head a piece of a stick of butter dipped in grease. But it wasn't like that at all. It was doughy (if that's even a word) and the butter was melted and hot and just dripped down your chin. It was as you would say, "finger lickin' good!!" As far as the funnel cake goes, I didn't get one this year. Not sure what was wrong with me because I ALWAYS get one. Wherever I go, if there is a funnel cake on the menu you better bet I am ordering one. But I didn't. I opted for COTTON CANDY!!!! Love Cotton Candy!!!

My other favorite thing and a "must do" at the state fair is to walk through the two car buildings. I love looking at all the cars. Sitting in all the cars I have admired from afar but was never able to see the insides. That all changes at the state fair. I sat in all the cars that I love. The cars I will never be able to afford. Sometimes realizing after sitting in them that I would never be happy with those cars anyway. Also at the state fair a "must do" for us is to go visit our friends at the "dip & soup" stand. Not really a professional name, but I don't know the real name. No, they aren't really our "friends" but we always buy from them. He told us today they also go to Canton. They have the BEST dips. They have pretzels out and everyone walks around with pretzels in their hands, dipping them in all the different dips. Sounds gross I'm sure, but it's actually very "sanitary." Trust me, if I can do it, ANYONE can do it!! I'm the biggest germ freak there is. The dips are easy to make. They give you the main "fixins" and then you just add sour cream and mayonnaise. They are always a hit at the parties I take them to.

It was also really neat to see the UT & OU 18 wheeler trucks all painted according to the university parked right next to the Cotton Bowl. Did you notice which team I mentioned first? Yes, I am a big UT fan. I've gone to a game down in Austin and it was a blast. Anyway, everyone was walking around with their UT & OU shirts on. Made me wish I wore mine. Then over by the stadium there was a greyhound bus with UT players loading up and leaving. We were all standing there watching and as they drove off everyone was holding up their UT fingers. It was neat to see the support. With all of that said, we are SO THANKFUL we will not be there tomorrow. We (more like "I" b/c Morgan is working) will be watching the game from the comfort of our home. It's the BEST game of the year...as far as college football goes. On the way home we saw tons of cars south bound on 75 with their OU flags hanging on the windows. Boo! HaHa!

My MOST FAVORITE THING to visit at the state fair is.................






I think I will always be a 10 year old at heart. I love, love, love the rides!! I can't get enough. I'm about to sound like my grandparents when I say, "I remember back in the day when these rides only cost 4-6 tickets." Now they cost TEN!!! Yikes!! That means each ride is 5 bucks, but so worth it...well, most of them. There is one ride that I could ride 50 times in a row if I was rich. It's called the XTREME. I ride it EVERY YEAR!! I rode it twice this year. This year I made Morgan ride it with me because we rode it pretty early in the day so not many people were there yet and I was going to be the only one riding it. The best way to explain it is, while it spends round and round, it swings you really high in the air at the same time. The last ride I rode...without Morgan...I absolutely HATED!! I was praying the entire time, no joke, that God would let me live to see another day. I was on the end and I kept feeling that while it was flipping me way high in the air and turning me upside down, that I was about to fly out the side. I was griping those handle bars so tight that when I got off I could hardly move my fingers. I don't think I have prayed that hard in a LONG time. I don't ever get scared on rides but something about that one freaked me out a little bit...more like a lot!

They also had a really cool train exhibit. They had a new Amtrak train and a few older trains (1910's & 30's) that you could walk through. It was really neat to see how they have advanced over the years. It was cool to see how the sleeping arrangements used to be back in the day. These trains are so MASSIVE in person! They almost don't look real. I guess b/c I am used to seeing toy trains and not the real deal. After walking through this exhibit, Morgan is now inspired for us to go on a train ride some where. He said, "Canada." No clue why he chose Canada. I said, "New York City," because in NY you don't need a car.

So, that was our experience at the Sate Fair. It was such a perfect day and while I was standing there in line waiting for my favorite ride, I couldn't help but give thanks to God for such a beautiful day and for us being able to be there and pretend we are kids again!!! If only for a moment in time. :)

WAIT!!!! I almost forgot to show y'all my little souvenir...

Can you see it? It's a little leather bracelet with our names on it. Childish? Absolutely! But a girl at work got one with her and her husband's name on it and I thought it was so cute. So while we were there, I was secretly keeping my eyes open for the man that was doing this. Lucky me, unlucky Morgan, I found him! haha! Morgan didn't seem to amused that I wanted one of these bracelets, but I bought it anyway. Since he was kind of being a little stinker about me buying it, I told him that I was going to get LLLC initialized on it to represent "Laura, Layla, Lillie, and Charlie." Charlie is our horse. :) But I didn't. I got "Laura & Morgan." And yes, I am going to wear this bracelet!!!