This year we introduced Elspeth to another family tradition – the C.N.E. We have been taking Katrine since she was little and she loves going. 2011 Elspeth had been home for a little over two weeks so a visit was definetely out and last year she still wasn’t quite ready as she would have been too overwhelmed by the crowds to enjoy any of it. This year was a different story. She did so well on our trip and at Santa’s Village that we decided to give it a go. Fun was had by all and to top it off, I even got to eat!
Let me begin with this cuteness. “I wear my hat like Baba at the CNE”
Elspeth was a half an inch too short to go on most of the rides by herself. It breaks my heart that kids a year or more younger are able to go on these rides by themselves and here she is almost four and she has to ride with one of us. Her favourite rides were the merry go round and the motorcycles. Katrine was able to do rides in both the kiddie zone and the midway. Boy did she have some fun.
She rode well into the night with her Baba. This was her last ride of the day. If you look carefully you can see the larger figure with a green shirt. That is Glenn. He hates spinning rides yet here he is being a trooper for his daughter. What a dad.
The girls both loved the farm building. They did all of the kid’s activities with the fishing zone being a particular highlight. After our late dinner, Glenn and Katrine went to enjoy the midway while Elspeth and I cycled back to the farm building where she redid everything.
Her Aleigh had to come with us, of course. Apparently Aleigh quite enjoyed seeing extended family from the farm.
Looks like Elspeth raced her pony to a ribbon!
Elspeth practiced casting for these plastic fish.
Katrine tried to catch the real thing but settled for a softer fish.
There were also the necessary fair games where the girls selected twin frogs as prizes. I tried to convince them that different was better but as you can see I failed.
Here is one of my favourite displays, the sand sculptures. I also enjoyed the butter sculptures but the photos didn’t work because of the flash and glass.
Some shows, a parade, dinner and then it was time to break into two groups. Once we finished at the farm building it was off to the Arts & Crafts building for some more crafts. I think that this was one of our most crafty CNE visits. We created with playdough, coloured, made masks and finally, art trading cards. I think that Elspeth did a great job for 9:30 at night.
Promptly there after she fell asleep as we were going to meet the other pair for the final CNE tradition – mini donuts.
Okay, now for the gluten free food! Lunch was nachos. I only got meat and cheese as I was sharing with Elspeth but I could have had beans, lettuce, salsa. They were yummy despite their simplicity. Dinner was fries from Chicago Fries stall. It was too bad that I didn’t pay closer attention or I could have opted for the sweet potatoe fries.
