Monday, October 23, 2017

We Came. We Saw. We Conquered. {State Fair 2017}

I'm going to start this post by saying that the State Fair of Texas does it RIGHT.  I feel like every Texan needs to get to the State Fair at least once in their lives.  

We went for the first time last year and knew we'd have to turn it into an annual thing.  

Here's us last year.


Mason looks so young in these!  He's grown so much this past year.  Matthew has too but Mason has definitely shed any bit of "baby" that he had left in him this year and it just breaks my heart!  :(

Anyway, on Friday, we surprised the boys by picking them up around lunchtime from school.  They had no idea we were doing this that day so they were SO excited.  Matthew gave me a detailed account of exactly where he was and what he was doing when the phone in their classroom rang and he heard his teacher tell him that he was going home for the day.


I'll be honest here and admit that I rarely go into Dallas.  I know it's got so much to offer and it's only 30-40 minutes away from our house out in the 'burbs.  But OH MY GOSH THE TRAFFIC.  I am not a fan, y'all.  (Not that anyone is a fan of traffic.)

The constant stop and go and crazy drivers and the accidents we always pass...it makes me crazy anxious and Craig and I usually end up in an argument over his driving.  ;)

But on to the fun stuff.

I know there are a ton of different reasons why people go to the fair.  Some people go for the food.

Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger anyone?


Or keep it classic with a giant Fletchers Corny Dog.


And wash it down with a frozen sweet tea.


Some people go for the games.



And the prizes.


Some go just to stroll the Midway.


Some even go to buy mattresses, hot tubs, tractors and a whole other assortment of things.


But we go for the RIDES!


Ok, we go for all the other stuff too but the rides are our favorite!

The first ride we saw when we walked in was this roller coaster.  I am a roller coaster junkie and my boys are quickly following my lead.  Craig likes them too but he reaches his limit way before I do.

The fair was very busy on Friday but the lines for rides weren't long at all.  So we decided to make that roller coaster our first ride.

And y'all...that thing was LEGIT.  It wasn't very big but it was compact and fast.  So many twists and turns and circles.  Everyone got off at the end looking at each other like "What just happened?!".  We ended up making it our last ride of the day as well on the way out.

Another favorite is the log ride.  The boys love this and it is just a classic.  Plus you get wet which can be a good thing or an annoying thing.  (I count it as annoying when you are forced to sit in a puddle of water on the seat and then have to walk around with a wet butt for awhile...)

We waited in line for about 10 minutes for this one so we snapped pics.


  




I didn't realize Craig made that face until I went back later that night and saw this.  Haha.

Another favorite were these swings!  I always thought they looked kind of boring but we all rode them together and it may have been my favorite ride.  The boys ended up riding these twice.



Matthew and Mason also hit up a few funhouses.




  And the Haunted House.




Mason conquered a fear from last year by riding the above ride.  Last year he got scared and started to cry before he'd even been buckled in but this time he did it and loved it!


This one was Craig's favorite.  The boys rode while I finished up my frozen sweet tea.  

They also rode the big slide which looked pretty darn cool.  I was kinda bummed I opted out of this one.



In between rides, we did a whole lot of this.












I wonder what they do with all their leftovers every night?


We left after 4 hours.  Exhausted, a little sweaty and broke.  ;)  That place is expensive!

I told Craig we'd be better off taking the boys to Six Flags.  So much cheaper and you can ride all the rides you want without paying $5 per person, per ride.  But then again, this is the FAIR.  You enter knowing you will overpay for everything.  

My kids are getting so big.  So fast.  And if I think about it too much it makes me incredibly sad.  I cherish these memories with my precious family.  If you're a mama, I know you get me.

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Before I leave you, I wanted to let you know about my Facebook Group I started and the slight (Ok, MAJOR) problem I ran into.  Long story short, right after I made the group and posted about it all over FB, Instagram and here, I noticed I wasn't getting any member requests!  My feelings were taking a beating over this for awhile until I realized that there were MANY of you who had requested to join but had a "pending" status which I wasn't being notified of.  Come to find out, Facebook was treating me as if I wasn't the admin of the page and I had no way of seeing or approving any memberships.  It just kept showing me that there were zero members waiting to be approved.  Womp womp. :(

With no way to fix that, I just scrapped that whole group completely (although I can't delete it because FB keeps telling me I'm not an admin...Ugh) and started an identical one.  So, if you asked to join the first group that I posted about last week and still have a "pending" request, ignore that and JOIN THIS ONE instead.  So far, it seems to be working just fine.  :)

So now there is a "That Inspired Chick: The Blog" and "That Inspired Chick {The Blog}".  Look for the colon!  :::::::::  That's the new one!  :)



I'm giving away one Christmas sign of your choice from my Etsy shop to one of the first 100 members to join!  And when I reach 200, I'll give away another!  So be sure to join up!  You will still see a "pending" status until I can approve it because apparently, there is no choice about that with groups anymore.


Saturday, I posted a crazy good deal in the group on a King (or Queen) sized red/black buffalo plaid comforter that was on sale at Target.com for just $34.99!!!  The sale is (sadly) over but you can still grab it HERE for $49.99 which is still an awesome price.  It comes with this giant, velvety soft, thick, warm comforter plus two shams.  And free shipping for orders over $35!




I saw it while I was doing a Target run and it just called me right on over.  Red/black buffalo plaid is my favorite!

I really thought there must have been some mistake on the price though!  It looked much more expensive.  They didn't have a king sized one on the shelf, so I stopped right there in the aisle and ordered it online.  That's when I saw it was on sale!  #score  

This thing feels like a cloud.  Or a soft puppy.  I don't know.  It's amazing though.

This will be on my bed from Wednesday (when it arrives) until at least February.  

They also had these for $14.99 so I grabbed a white one for my living room and it is equally as perfect.  They had them in 3 colors at the store but there are 9 colors available online.  Plus you can use the code HOME for 15% off these right now!  Great gift idea!!

  They are so soft and big!  Again, I thought there must be some mistake.


Target, why do you do this to me!?!
Alright, friends!  Hope I see you over in my group later today!  Have a great Monday!!

Linking up with the Hello Monday girls!

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13 comments

  1. Loved all your fair pictures!! We got for it ALL! :)

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  2. State Fair fun! Yay! I'm not a ride person because I freak out at how they can dismantle them and just take them on to another city! Cute Target finds - that graphic -yesssss! xo

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    1. Hahahahaha!! Yes!! I do too if I let myself think about that for too long! The rides at the State Fair seem to be a little more high quality though than the ones I grew up riding in small town east Texas! But still...I try not to think about it! ;)

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  3. The Texas fair looks like so much fun! We are roller coaster junkies over here too! I can't wait for my comforter to arrive! I ordered that sucker as soon as you posted it!

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  4. Okay, your picture taking is way better than mine. Next year, the Nalls need to come with us to the fair just so you can take pics of my family! xo

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  5. The Texas Fair looks like a lot of fun!! I have to say, my girls have never experienced the fair around here. I have always avoided it with them! haha =)

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    1. I avoided it for a long time too!! It's fun but usually hot, always expensive and just getting down there is the worst. But we're always glad we did it!

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  6. What a fun time at the fair! I love those blankets too. Happy Monday!

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  7. Oh the fair looks like a freaking blast!!! We have an annual fair too (obviously not even close to the Texas one) but we always go into that weekend knowing we're going to be broke hahaha

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  8. The Texas state fair is so fun. I haven't been in years. It is not the same in NC. I wish I would have seen that sale on that bedding before today. Oh well. I still may go ahead and order it.

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    1. Yes! It's still an amazing price. I don't think I've ever been able to buy a King comforter (even low quality ones!) for $50! I can't wait for mine to come in!

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  9. Love the comforter! Have you seen the buffalo plaid shoes at Gap? http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=1028976&pcid=85615&vid=1&pid=918677002

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