Daddy and Sebastian Go to the Fair

A few weeks ago, the Brevard County Fair was in town. It was literally just a couple miles down the road, and when I saw them setting it up on my way to work one day, I knew Sebastian and I had to go. Anytime the kid sees a Ferris Wheel he is always talking about riding it with daddy. He's never even been on a Ferris wheel, but he had seen this Barney episode and had in his head what he expected it to be.

So after work on April 6, I came home, we had a quick dinner and we headed out. Matteo was a bit too short to really do anything there, and you couldn't just pay for the rides, you had to pay general admission, so we decided it was best for Daddy and Sebastian to have some special time together.

I think Sebastian was a little overwhelmed once we got inside the grounds, because all his talk of riding the Ferris Wheel was gone. He said he didn't want to do it anymore, so we started off going in the barnyard animal tent, and then saw the carousel, which he really wanted to do.

Daddy and Sebastian on the carousel

After the carousel we did a couple other little rides, like the spinning strawberries and this little tugboat ride that went back and forth. At that point he was feeling a little more comfortable with things, and then we went on the bumper cars. Sebastian LOVED the bumper cars! He got to 'drive', and I pushed the pedal. Anytime we hit another car he would just crack up! I think we rode the bumper cars at LEAST 4 times.

Sebastian 'driving'

This slide was right next to the bumper cars. I was just planning to bypass it, but he saw it and said he really wanted to do it. I was a little shocked, so I let him watch a few other people go down, and figured he'd change his mind. Nope, we grabbed our potato sacks and headed up the stairs. As we walked up the stairs I kept thinking we were going to be heading straight back down the same way because it was REALLY high. After we got to the top he got right on the potato sack, we held hands and flew like bullets down that slide. Poor kid, I think my weight probably took him flying a little faster than he would have on his own...At one point I believe I was airborne.


So after the slide he saw this and said he wanted to do it. I was like, 'um, I don't think so buddy'. I absolutely HATE this ride and was NOT planning on taking him on it. He was pretty insistent and well, it was a special night, so I took him closer to really see it thinking he'd change his mind and doing my best to discourage it, but it didn't work, he was still convinced to do it. So I called his mother who said 'no way', and then got in line :)

We sat in the middle because that's where the little riders have to ride. There were two other people facing us on the other side. The first upswing of the boat and Sebastian let out the cutest belly laugh, and I knew he was going to be fine. I enjoyed the first half of the ride watching him enjoy himself so much.

Then my attention turned from my 3 year old onto the tweens in front of me who were green and chanting 'I think i'm going to throw up!' At that point I knew that if that happened we stood no chance, so I took all my experience in counseling and told them they could get through it and we were almost done and basically pleading with them to PLEASE not throw up!!! As the ride slowed and almost stopped one of them still did, but thankfully he used enough sense to look down.

Don't think we'll be tackling that one again.

After that one we went on the kiddie roller coaster, and from there he started pleading to do the Gravitron, but thankfully he was too small :) So we headed off to the Ferris Wheel!

My excited boy after his first ride on the big wheel!

Taking a break from the Ferris Wheel to do the bumper cars again!

Waiting in line again for the Ferris Wheel at night!

Father and son after our last turn on the Ferris Wheel

As we were on the Ferris Wheel I would contemplate how I was going to get this kid to leave, but suddenly he just turned to me and told me he was ready to leave and go see Mami and Matteo. So that was it. Our turn was over and we headed home. It was so great to spend some special one on one time with him. He still talks about the fair and asks when it's coming back.

Here is a video recap of his first Fair experience.
If the video does not show below, click here to watch.