Puyallup Fair

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Mutton Bustin

We went on Saturday to the state fair called Puyallup Fair (pronounced pew all up).
The fair is on from the 7th till the 23rd of September.
When we left the house in the morning it was 58°F and when we arrived at the showground 45 mins later it was 68°F. It was a scorcher, not a cloud in the sky.
The fair itself is a mixture of animal shows/displays, rodeo and and big fair with bungee jumping rollercoasters etc.
We wanted to see the rodeo and a thing called Mutton Bustin'.
Mutton Bustin is where kids under 6 and 60lbs ride on the back of sheep and try and hang on for more than 6 seconds. It, to me, just seems wrong, but it is incredibly funny to watch. I got some video footage which I have added. Click on the mutton Bustin icon, top left. Only one kid managed to stay on for the full time in the heat that we watched. There were 4 or 5 heats and the winner from each day was then entered in to a grand final on the last day of the fair.
When we went to get tickets for the rodeo it was very expensive so we decided against it. Oh well maybe next time.
We had a wander round and saw the Budweiser Clysdedale's, lots of wierd and wonderful looking birds. There was a petting area for the goats, sheep and some small rabbits. Aisha & Jack loved it.
Chloe then decided that she wanted to go on some of the white knuckle rides at the fair. You can see in the picture the big arm with pods on both ends. The pods rotate 360° whilst the main arm rotates at quite a speed. Ellie wanted a go as well. I was convinced not to have a go after watching it a couple of times. So I took Aisha on the trampolines whilst Chloe & Ellie had a go. Chloe said that it was a bit scary when the pod was at the top and you were looking straight down 100ft at other people getting on/off the other pod. The two poles, in the picture, to the right of the ride is the bungee ride. Two people get strapped in to a pod and are then fired in to the air attached to bungees.
I did have a go on a roller coaster with Ellie, Harley and Sarah. It was worth it just to hear Sarah screaming.
We went in to the hobby hall and I was amazed at the amount of collections of stuff. Chloe took some pictures of a knitted dolls house. Why on earth anyone would knit a dolls house escapes me, but it won a prize.
The cowgirl trick were very good. I think the audience were not overly enthusiastic about it. The next act on was a comedy juggler who got an enormous crowd and he was very funny.
Chloe & Sarah went to get some stuff that they had seen earlier in the day and left Wolf & I with the kids. We sat at the gate to get out and watched some guys improvising drums with big plastic water cooler bottles, stools and saucepans. Amazing.
Absolutely knackerd at the end due to all the walking and the heat but a good day was had by all.

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Photos

Us at the Fair
Enjoying the sunshine

Ride
Chloe & Ellie had a go