so totally fair

cousin seven always comes up with fun ideas.

this time, it was a plea via facebook to hit up the orange county fair for some food and fun.  with the teen's summer vacation coming to an end, it was the perfect time to head down and check it out.

and even better?  it just happened that on the day we went, there was a clothing drive going on.  by donating a mere five pieces of gently used apparel, we sailed through the gates for free.  whee!

the very first attraction we saw was this.  freaky.

of course, we happily posed for a picture by one of the fair's photogs.

i really need to teach the bean how to sit in a more ladylike manner.

the signage at the gazillion food booths was dazzling, mesmerizing, and mouthwatering.

i wanted to try this, but couldn't bring myself to cough up the cash.  i knew there was better stuff to be had for my $6.75.

while the teen chose to sample a crepe, seven and i ended up with grub from pink's.

of course, not everything sounded delicious.  some of it sounded downright nasty.

like, who wants to eat sushi at a fair?  ew.

and remember, i've sworn off of texas bbq.  at least for a good, long while.

animals!

because it was feeding time, i didn't really get a good shot of these guys:

and i felt awful for the elephants.  they just looked sad, being whored out for $7/per person rides.

although i guess i should've felt equally bad for these poor ponies, forced to walk in endless circles.  but the bean loves pony rides so much.  it's hard to deny her.

hey, at least there's a limit.

inside one of the air-conditioned exhibition halls, we checked out the junior entries for decorated cakes.  these are pretty kick ass.

the teen and i both have 10-year-old boy humor, because we both giggled at this.

snack time!  deep-fried snickers and reese's nutrageous, anyone?

i was so sad to miss hottie michael voltaggio's appearance, the very next day.  i wouldn't have minded seeing that super sexy smoldering gaze in person.

but a ride on the ferris wheel fixes everything.  well, sort of.

there were some neato prizes to be won at the money-sucking game booths. 

although a laker jersey for a dude who isn't even on the team anymore...not so neat.

the bean gave it her best shot, and so did the teen and seven.

but in the end, instead of a hello kitty or a pillow pal, the bean made do with these.

better yet - she got to ride her first "roller coaster."

by then, we were spent.  i'd dropped a good chunk of cash and sweated enough to fill a bucket.  we hopped into the car, plugged in the address for the hotel we'd scored on priceline, and cheered as we saw this just around the corner from our final destination:

i mean, if you're gonna stay in newport, might as well be right across the street from fashion freaking island, right?  heh.

we capped off the day of fun with fat, juicy burgers from five guys and flopped into the cool, clean sheets.

and now i have tons of inspiration for the bean's next birthday bash - for which she's requested a rainbow theme.  oh, you just wait.