Autumn afternoon at Banbury Fair

I’ve always loved the Michaelmas Fair, ever since we used to go as children. I don’t think I’ve got the stomach anymore for the more exciting rides like the waltzers or the rotor disco, but I enjoy walking round. The buzz and the atmosphere, and the excitement from everyone else. This year the last day of Banbury Fair fell on an inset day meaning I could take N before tennis.

N’s as excited as me when the fair comes to town, unlike the OH who isn’t a fan. I still remember dragging him onto a fairly tame ride when we were first dating and him being green as he wobbled off. Never again.

The fair’s always better when it’s dusk and just getting dark with great photo opportunities, but we had to go during the day time. Luckily on the last day many of the children’s rides are open early on, and we still got to ride on N’s favourite ride before we left. It did mean it wasn’t busy, and that we didn’t have to worry about all the hustle and bustle that sometimes goes on later on.

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Like most children, N is drawn to the hook a duck stalls. Which child wouldn’t when there’s toys galore and they’re all saying you get a toy even when you win? I’d said N could have a tenner for rides, but most were £3 with the hook a duck or throw a dart stalls at £3.50. So there was a little leeway on his allowance.

First up we wandered so he could see what was around. N loves the dodgems but really wants to be able to drive them himself. He still not tall enough to sit back and be able to reach the pedal, so he didn’t want to go on those. I was pleased as I’m not that big a fan – I like the driving part, but other drivers annoy me getting in the way and I can’t stand being bumped.

So he stuck to a monster truck kids ride which he found highly amusing to be riding in a Batman truck.

The rides got walked past while he then shortlisted which stall he wanted to win the prizes on. A squishy was top of his list (I’d refused all gun toys), so he had a go at throwing the darts at cards. He managed to hit 1 and picked out a [amazon_textlink asin=’B06W55Z3R5′ text=’strawberry squishy’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’bubbaandme-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’fc7dd6b6-d63b-11e8-a40e-a593bdc70a12′]. Ew, they smell so disgusting. But he was happy.

Then the Twister was calling. He’d been on a couple of years ago (I wouldn’t have thought he’d have been tall enough) and it’s his favourite ride. We paid our £6 and got on, ending up sitting opposite 2 older girls from his school. I love how they all know each other in school and how all ages get stuck into playing games together. They were chatting away and kept waving when we all spun round. Very sweet.

N didn’t want a final ride. He’d set his heart on hook a Dalmatian puppy. He’d offered to pay the top up over his £10 allowance (I doubt I’ll remember to get that off him) so I said yes, and he duly had his go. He was most put out that the girl on the stall wasn’t much taller than him, and said how he didn’t think she should be working at her age. He was pleased to choose some fake Lego, although wasn’t impressed with the quality on building it. Yes child, for a £3.50 go, it’s never going to be great quality.

After another walk through and watching some of the other rides, we decided that we were done early enough that we didn’t need to eat tea out like I’d suggested. We had time to go home and have a proper tea before heading off to tennis.