The Sandusky family are at the Tennessee State Fair for a day of fun, magic, and happy memories. This is their daily journal of their time spent at the fair.
Day 1, Tennnessee State Fair:
Well, we are here, and we all made it in one piece. The Tennessee State Fair has officially kicked off (the festivities started at 6, and there was a huge parade at 7:30; it just ended about an hour ago, and now we are sitting here, eating breakfast at the picnic pavilion they have set up. The kids are all wired and raring to go on the rides; and Bill and I are trying to keep a sense of order and calm among the kids. With over 40 kids to watch over, this is proving to be quite a daunting, Herculian task!
Of course, the kids will have to wait to ride the rides: the rides aren't scheduled to start moving until 1 p.m.; until then, all they can do is stay with us and look at the exhibit halls and then go to the Kid's Stage area, where Ronee' will be performing at 12, prior to the start of the midway rides and games. But we are looking forward to a day of fun and frolic, fair style!
The fairgrounds are, as you can imagine, quite packed for this, the opening day of the Tennessee State Fair; and the weather is absolutely delightful: partly sunny skies (fair weather for the fair! LOL) and pleasant temps in the low to mid 70's, with a stiff, rather coolish north breeze blowing. You couldn't have asked for better weather for the start of the fair!
There are many big-name stars scheduled to entertain fairgoers at this year's fair: Alan Jackson, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Jr., Run-DMC, Hillary Duff, Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, CeCe Winans, Kid Rock, Jewel, Tanya Tucker, the Coasters, Ronnie Milsap, Wynonna Judd, Vince Vance and the Valiants, and others. Of course, there will be continuous live music on upwards to 9 stages from local or state entertainers, and among that group is none other than one of my very own children, my daughter, Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, aged 11 1/2, who will be performing several times on both the Kid's Stage and the Country Music Pavilion; plus she will be opening the show for Loretta Lynn on Wednesday night. There will be music ranging from country/western, pop, rock, gospel, classical, jazz, big band, Cajun, and R & B; and there will also be music from different cultures (Japanese drummers, Chinese dancers and acrobats, Maasai "jump dancers", Mexican folklorico dancers, Mexican mariachi and conjunto bands, Native American Indian dancers and singers, etc.).
Between all this music and entertainment, we will be hitting the midway, where a lot of our kids will be testing their youthful mettle on rides that look like evil midieval torture devices or rides guaranteed to twist your stomach (and virtually everything else) into knots, or will be trying to win the Big Guns at the prize booths, hoping to snag a giant stuffed animal. We will also be stuffing our faces with fair food: corny dogs, regular hot dogs, hamburgers loaded up with "all the fixin's", boudin and andouille, crawfish, elephant ears, funnel cakes, waffles sprinkled with sugar, and ice cream. We will also be looking at displays ranging from arts and crafts to cars to the latest in technology or health care. We will also be visiting the fun house, where the kids (and ourselves) can laugh at our distorted reflections as we negotiate the maze of mirrors.
We will also be looking at the animals, and of course, the kids will be ooohing and aaahing over the baby ducks, geese, goats, horses, cats, dogs, and pigs; and I and Bill will have to convince them not to take a new animal home as we already have more than enough pets!
Since we will be at the fair most of the time during the nearly 2 1/2 week long run (we have passes to allow us to come any time we wish), Bill and I have requested time off from our jobs; they know we do a lot at the fair, and to us, the fair is the perfect opportunity to let our worries or stress behind and to let off some of it on the rides or by eating fair food or by listening to some great entertainment. We will be spending a lot of quality family time together here at the fair, and we are all looking forward to a time of fun, festivities, frolic, and magic, as only the fair can bring out!
love that pic--that used to be my favorite ride...but don't do spinny rides anymore, as you know...your fault LOL *remember the twister???* baarrrfffffffffffff LOL
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Day 1, Tennnessee State Fair:
