Orangeburg County Fair

On Saturday, October 8th, we went to the Orangeburg County Fair. Driving up there, our kids could not imagine that it could have been bigger or better than Allendale's Cooter Fest (which occurred on Mother's Day weekend).

They were thrilled (and they shrieked) when we pulled up and saw all the rides and booths. We got to experience a handful of enjoyable things that day, besides just being with family.

Seed Art
Our kids participate in two local 4H programs. One is through their homeschool co-op in Blackville, and the other is through the 4H representative (as a part of the Clemson Extension in Allendale and Hampton Counties) that regularly leads activities in our after school program.

In September, our kids worked on Seed Art projects, where seeds (sometimes dyed) are glued to board, to make a picture. Elijah got first place, and Hannah second! I'm not sure what the categories were (maybe by age group and county), but it's a great accomplishment regardless. Here's a pic of our winners with some of the projects in the background (and here's a list of all the winners; look at the end for Allendale County):

Food
We didn't get much of the typical fair food. But the hand-cut French fries were great. Buying a soda from a place with $1 refills was the way to go.
 
Animal Exhibits
As true 4H members, we enjoyed the farm animal exhibits. Elijah saw a friend from co-op, who was "showing" the rabbit that he raised. Elijah ran right over and said "Hey" and they shook hands. He reminded me 39 times that the rabbit showing was at 2PM, so that we wouldn't miss it.

We also saw lots of goats and chickens, some cattle, ducks, and even a camel. We enjoyed hand-feeding the goats and camel.

Rides
While we didn't eat much food, we did take advantage of the rides. The kids barely got a consensus on what they wanted to do, so they each took turns.

Sender screamed on the carousel, apparently because it didn't have a seat belt.

Hannah and Elijah enjoyed the tilt-a-whirl, bumper cars, and the giant slide (see below). Elijah is obviously losing, but he insists that he pulled off a victory in the end.

Here's Elijah flying solo. He did win this time.

The "Grand" Prize
Just before we left, the kids wanted to play a game, and Sender choose throwing darts at balloons. Not too surprising. Three darts, and all 3 kids popped balloons. So, for a mere $5, we won a dollar store toy. Worth it? Well, you should have seen how much the kids enjoyed the detective kit (including a plastic gun and handcuffs) all the way home. Yeah, it was worth it, almost.

Next Up
We are looking forward to going to the SC State Fair this weekend (and especially thankful  that we'll be getting free admission since we're a part of 4-H). (Edit: Here are pictures and stories about the fun time we had.)

Oh, and we think we'll do fewer rides and eat more fun food. The latest discussion is that we're trying to decide between fried Oreos and fried butter.

Any suggestions? What's your favorite fair food?


Related Links:

• Our Family Weekend Get-Away  
• The Seeds of Partnership