Our Experience at the Oakland County Fair

I received vouchers to the fair from Oakland County Parks and Rec in exchange for promoting. All opinions and experiences are my own.

As I count down my final days as a mother of two, I am squeezing in everything possible before I’m home with baby for a few weeks while we adjust to being a family of five.

Since I’m feeling pretty good, I was excited to take my girls to the Oakland County Fair. We had a blast! I brought my mom and between the two of us, we’ve been to many county fairs and agreed — this is definitely one of the tops in the area. The fair grounds were beautiful and historic {the Ellis Barn is a classic if you’re a sucker for barn charm like me}, and everything was SO clean.

We started off our trip in a mini petting farm area, where we purchased a container of carrots for $1 so we could feed the animals. My girls went NUTS. They looooove animals {what kid doesn’t?} and thought feeding them was so fun! There were goats, a ram, a camel, tortoise, emu, alpaca and more to interact with. My girls loved the goats best since they loved attention and getting fed!

Personally, I loved this camel that had blue eyes and what appeared to be cataracts. He was loving the attention we were giving him!

How can you not love that face?

From there, we checked out the Rabbit Barn, and I loved hearing Karina scream “BUNNY!” while going down the aisle in absolute wonder. I had no idea there were so many breeds out there! Some looked like they were made of velvet and it took everything out of me not to reach in and touch some of them to feel their fur.

Apparently my mom didn’t get the memo and is putting her fingers in the cage. Don’t do this, people 😉

After, I got to witness my very first pig race. It was hilarious. I had no clue how fast pigs could run! The guy doing the announcing was so amusing, too. The kids in the audience went wild for it and Kinley had fun clapping along and cheering on which one she thought would win {#3 of course since she’s 3-years-old}.

After that, we walked through the Miracle of Life Barn where we saw baby chickens being hatched, admired adorable baby piglets, and watched a cow moan and groan as she prepped for birth {which we were told would likely be that night}. Let me tell ya — I felt for her. Birthing with an audience in a hot barn takes one special cow 😉

Piggies born a few weeks ago!

After eating some fair food, we hit the rides. It was the first time we had taken the girls on any, and they loved them, even though they are only 2 and 3.5! I was SO surprised.

In fact, Karina cried when we got off the train because she didn’t want to get off. Luckily, there is plenty at a fair to distract a 2-year-old, so we lured her in with more animals.

Specifically, we lured her into the Poultry Barn. I’m pretty convinced Karina thinks she can speak duck because she said “QUACK!” to every single chicken, duck and turkey in that barn. Pretty sure we spent the bulk of our time in here — the girls seemed to be rather amused at all the different breeds. Truthfully, I was too! They are fun to watch and listen to.

After, we had to stop for some BOTTOMLESS chocolate milk for 50 cents. Best money I’ve ever spent. I love chocolate milk {OK, and all things milk} and definitely got a few refills. The milk was from Cook’s Farm Dairy in Ortonville and it was delicious!

TIP: Have the milk pourers put your kid’s milk in a child-friendly cup, like a sippy, if they aren’t so great at holding a regular cup. Karina spilt hers all over her dress…and the floor!

After we had our fair fun, it was time to head out. On our way out, we got recruited for a reading session with a dog. This was fantastic because my girls love dogs and reading! They got to pick out a book and a lovely teen girl read to them while they petted their adorable Sheltie, Maya. It was such a cool experience!

Overall, we had a fantastic time. I can definitely recommend a visit to this fair — there is so much to do there for all ages! Next time, I’d love to check out a show in the grandstands and watch more of the animal competitions.

The Oakland County Fair will be in Davisburg through July 13. Learn more by following the fair on Facebook or visiting the website.

Tip from reader Kathleen: If you have an Oakland County Parks and Recreation vehicle permit, you can park free on Thursday!

Will you be visiting a fair this summer? Where are your favorites?