a fair-y tale

okay, so i totally didn't wait any longer than i had to to see how my cookies fared at the l.a. county fair. despite the fact that it was a solid 95 degrees outside with a bright ass sun blazing down on us, we headed over there just as soon as we possibly could.  i'm not even kidding - the fair opened at 3...we were there at 3:30.

(and before you yell at me for taking pictures from the car, i wasn't driving.  the beauty of having a daughter who's old enough to take the wheel)

not to mention, opening weekend always offers a great deal for admission.  it only cost us $1 each to get in, and the bean was free.  of course, we had to sit in a bit of a line before we could park, and then cough up $12 to do so.

the ticket line was pretty long.  but we came across these snazzy machines - the fair's gone high tech!

i didn't realize that this was their 90th anniversary.  that's kinda cool.

the teen was hungry, so i swallowed my anxiety over finding out about those damn cookies long enough for her to find something she wanted to eat.  i was actually pretty famished myself, but couldn't figure out what i wanted to eat.  so many choices!

i actually had zero interest in that last one, but i marveled at the ridiculousness of it.  as for the teen, she found an old favorite and pounced.

the fair is full of rides you'll never catch me on.  like, ever.  i'm not so much into the idea of strapping myself to something that was trucked in days before, screwed together hastily by a bunch of carnies, and letting it toss me super high up in the air.  nuh-uh.

we walked as the teen munched, and when we finally got to the culinary styles building i was actually feeling a little nervous.  i guess it's that only child syndrome rearing its ugly head as always, but i really really really wanted to find my cookies on display with a ribbon next to it.  we split up as we circled the cases that held various baked goods inside - breads, cakes, candies.  and then the teen called out excitedly "i found it, mom!" and it took all i had in me not to jump for joy.

LOOK!!

not only did i place, but i took first AND best of division!  i can't even tell you how stoked i was, although i'm sure you can imagine.  the bean was excited too:  "mommy, you won a prize! that's so cool!"

we stood there and stared at it for a few minutes, taking pictures and wiping away sweat (oh, wait, just me).  and then we sat down on the benches and watched to the reactions from other fairgoers who came to check things out.  i think my favorite comment was from a lady who came over with her kid and exclaimed "oh, look!  mr. bill cookies!"  heh.

the bean wanted to look at everything in the cases, which was okay with me.  being the nosy nellie that i am, i was super curious to see what the other prizewinners in my division had submitted.  i only found third and fourth place, though:

because i'm not a complete asshole, i'm not going to share all of the thoughts that ran through my head as i examined a bunch of other things that were in those cases.  let's just say that 2013's fair is going to find lots more submissions from me, in all sorts of other divisions.  oh, yes.

outside, the bean begged to take a turn on an old favorite...the footsie wootsie.

this caught our eye:

the teen and i were all aflutter at the idea of planting our asses where adam levine's might have also been, but i guess this thing has been "on tour" all summer all over the place.

all three of us took a turn in it, but the bean's is the best.


by then, we were pretty much melting from the heat, so we went inside one of the shopping buildings to see all the ridiculous stuff to be had, like custom glitter rainbow tattoos:

exercise equipment:

a little something for those bad hair days:

oh, and the ultimate final resting place, if you're a huge l.a. baseball fan.

while i waited in line for this:

the girls went to see some amm-ammals.

on our way back to the parking lot, we encountered a crazy long line for the opening night's concert.

the last stop was for the bean, who wanted a hot dog.

the end.