Finn Family Fun Day at the Fair 2013: Flying, Friends and Ferris Wheel

The forestry helicopter is super cool! All the big Finnlings loved pretending to pilot it.

Not long after we arrived at the state fair, we ran into our friends the Renstroms. Daniel is the worship pastor at FBCDurham and an elder with Nathan, and we love him and his wife Danielle. They have three girls close in age to our oldest Finnlings, so we had a delightful time walking around the fair with their family.

 Healthiest thing you will find at the fair: a sliced and peeled apple for just $1! 

 It is impossible to get six kids to look at the same place at the same time:

 Daddy/Mr. Nathan got the treat of taking the biggest Finnlings and Renstrom girls on the Ferris Wheel. They all loved it (though Nathan might ask for another volunteer for that duty next year:-)

 So thankful for the gorgeously clear day at the fair, and for this sweet friend that the Lord has put into my life and the life of our family!

Date taken: October 2013

Finn Family Fun Day at the Fair 2013 : Flowers and Forestry

The NC State Fair is one of the highlights of our year. We love it. We regret that it took us so many years to discover the joys of attending the State Fair, but now that we've found it, we aren't looking back!  See our fair obsession here. I have already published a post about Nathan's and my date night to the fair, so here are pictures of the day we took the kids. It was a blast, to say the least. They love looking at the flowers, the model train, the man carving gourds, meeting Smoky the Bear, and more...that's even before we get to the midway with the rides and food everywhere!

Date taken: October 2013

Date Night at the Fair 2013

We LOVE the North Carolina State Fair. We practically count the days until it returns again. As we did last year, we had a date night without the kids (except for Fuller, who refuses to take a bottle), and then a family day with everyone. Below are the pictures of our date night.

  

Obligatory shot of the fairgrounds from gate 8 :-) It was still light when we arrived but it got dark quickly!

Fuller was our chaperone since he does not like to take a bottle. He was a champ, though, and never fussed or complained about being out and about with mommy and daddy. He is quite the charmer, too, and made everyone ooh and aah over him.

You go to the fair for the food. Nathan had a beef sharwa:

and Leah had a country ham biscuit and sweet potato crisps (from the NC State Farmer's Market restaurant). The biscuit was SO good that we bought another before we left the fair and saved it for breakfast the following morning.

The largest pumpkin!

I love the imagination on display in these decorated pumpkins/gourds

Goats...eating..shocker, I know.

My favorite part of the fair is the flower exhibit! I love seeing the winning flowers/plants, and how people display their gardening skills.

Family pictures:

Delicious fried pumpkin pie!

Good night, State Fair! It was a blast!