Today was a cross-training day. I did a level three 30 day shred workout. Jillian kicked my butt as usual. Since that’s all I really have to say about that, here’s how our date night went this weekend.

Saturday evening Barry and I made our way over to the fair for our date night.

First we walked around and looked at all of the displays and awards.

Then we headed in to the main event: the bull riding!

I managed to get a picture of the guy who ended up winning. He was the only one of the night who stayed on for 8 seconds.

But my favorite bull was one called “Spin to Win.” Look at him staring down the bull fighter, deciding whether or not to charge. He did end up charging, but the bull fighter got out of the way in time.

The main bull fighter (the “rodeo clowns” who protect the cowboys from the bulls) was quite entertaining. He did a lot of dancing, had at least three wig changes, and a bunch of good jokes. Did you know there are three rings in marriage? There’s the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and THEN the suffer-ring! Hopefully that comes across as well in text as it does when it’s told out loud.

Dancing while dressed as a Hooter’s girl

One really neat aspect they had was a trick rider. I’ve seen trick riders in movies, but never in person. This girl was talented, and she was only fourteen!

Once the rodeo wrapped up we walked around the fair some more. Barry indulged me in playing fair games. First I tried to pop balloons on a wall with three darts ($5), but I missed. Then I decided I wanted to play a game where you try and get a ping pong ball into one of about 25 glass bowls circling around a baby pool full of water ($5). I still didn’t win. So then I decided to play that strongman game, where you swing the mallet and hit the thing and then the puck shoots up towards the bell. You know that game?

So anyway, that cost $3 to play, but I guaranteed beforehand that I would win a prize even if I didn’t hit the bell. The lady ended up letting me swing twice, and I got a bit higher on the second try than the first. Then I won this purple ball! And it bounces! Success!

Kind of an odd picture, but I couldn’t figure out a better way to show you my prize

Funny thing is, if we had started out with this game I wouldn’t have played the other two. But the reason I shared the price to play of each of them is to show you that it adds up to $13. The bull riding was supposed to cost $8/person but somehow we went in a side gate and didn’t pay (I swear it wasn’t on purpose). So even with my need to play overpriced fair games, we still came out ahead!

Have you ever played overpriced fair/amusement park games? Did you ever win?

Do you like amusement-park type rides? Which one is your favorite?
I love roller coasters!
Have you ever seen a trick rider perform?