The fair opened Thursday, and we were there on day one. The plan was a two-act night: Charlotte and me early, everybody else after 5:30, and the SkyRide before anything else. What we actually did was whatever the kids wanted, in whatever order they wanted it, and the SkyRide ended up being the last thing instead of the first. Nobody minded.

Illustrated Ferris wheel of twelve round photos from the night, with Charlotte and Dad on the SkyRide in the hub The whole night on one wheel.

  • When Thu, Oct 1opening night
  • In the gate 5:30an hour behind the plan
  • All eight of us By 7:00we met up in the barns
  • Wristbands The kidsbought at the booth, before the 7 PM cutoff
  • Prizes 1 dumplingwater-gun game, Charlotte
  • SkyRide 8:45one ride, at the very end

👪 Who Came

  • Me + Charlotte
    In the gate at 5:30

    School pickup, I-17, the parking lot, and the line turned 4:30 into 5:30. Wristband on at the first booth, then an hour of the fair to ourselves.

    • Charlotte: wristband
    • Me: gate ticket
  • GiGi, Sammy + Nathan
    In by 6:20

    The circus crew, back together. Wristbands at the booth, then straight up the Euroslide before anybody had said hello properly.

    • Sammy: wristband
    • Nathan: wristband
    • GiGi: gate
  • Steven, Rachael + Ryha
    In by 7:00

    Found us at the rabbit cages. Ryha, three-going-on-four, was our youngest fairgoer yet and spent the night in kiddie land with her parents, loving every lap.

    • Ryha: free at the gate
    • Steven: gate
    • Rachael: gate

The whole crew in front of the souvenir booth by the Coliseum: Nathan, Charlotte, Sammy, Dad, Rachael, Ryha in her stroller, and Steven 8:54 PM, everybody but GiGi, who took it. The crew again, this time with GiGi on the end and Steven behind the camera And one with GiGi, by Steven. Nathan, GiGi and Sammy on a SkyRide chair under the lights, Nathan in his Forky shirt Nathan, GiGi and Sammy on the SkyRide, caught from the ground.

🕑 How the Night Ran

  1. Act 1: Just the two of us5:30 to 6:20
  2. 3:30
    School's out
    Regular dismissal, then I-17 south with the rest of Phoenix. The 4:30 plan became 5:30 somewhere between the lot and the gate.
  3. 5:30
    Through the gatewristband on
    Charlotte’s wristband from the first booth we saw, with a band already playing on the Backyard stage and the sun still up.
  4. 5:56
    The bumper boats
    Charlotte scouted the pool, I found a drink, and the wheel lit up behind us right at golden hour.
  5. Act 2: Everybody6:20 to 9:00
  6. 6:20
    The crew lands
    GiGi, Sammy, and Nathan came through the gate, wristbands went on, and the next half hour went to the Euroslide, the Sound Storm, and the carousel.
  7. 7:06
    The barns
    Steven, Rachael, and Ryha found us at the rabbit cages, which made it all eight. Silkie chickens, rabbits bigger than Ryha’s head, and a cool building when we needed one.
  8. 7:19
    The dragon
    GiGi and Nathan posed in its claws outside the dark ride. Neither of them flinched.
  9. 7:50
    The split
    Ryha took the pink quad for a lap, then another, with Steven and Rachael. The big kids went for the rope bridge, the flyer, and the flying elephants, and I bounced between the two.
  10. 8:41
    The dumpling game
    Charlotte, Sammy, and Nathan on the water-gun balloon race. Charlotte won, and she picked the dumpling.
  11. 8:45
    The SkyRide
    One ride, at the very end, with the whole midway lit up underneath us. Charlotte and me in one chair, Nathan, GiGi, and Sammy in the next.
  12. 8:54
    Last photo
    Everybody in front of the souvenir booth, everybody done.
  13. 9:18
    Home
    Charlotte was asleep before we were out of the lot.

Charlotte walking into the fair in her Hello Kitty shirt, late afternoon sun on the midway 5:30. First one through the gate. Sammy and Charlotte together on the midway as the crew arrives 6:21. The crew lands.

🎢 The Big Kids’ Night

Sammy, Nathan, and Charlotte went where the wristbands took them: the Euroslide first, the Sound Storm with Charlotte screaming next to Sammy, the carousel while the sky was still orange, then the rope bridge, the flyer, and anything else with a line short enough.

Sammy, Charlotte, and Nathan climbing the stairs of the Euroslide, the giant rainbow slide The Euroslide, first stop for the cousins. Sammy and Charlotte laughing in a Sound Storm car under red lights The Sound Storm. Charlotte did not stop screaming. Sammy and Charlotte on carousel horses with the midway lights behind them The carousel at 6:46, with the ARIZONA STATE FAIR sign behind. Sammy, Charlotte, and Nathan crossing the rope-net bridge on the green climbing structure at night The rope bridge, 8:21. Three across. Sammy riding the flyer, a yellow and pink spinning ride lit up at night Sammy, airborne. Nathan in his red Forky shirt standing in the claws of a giant green dragon outside a dark ride Nathan and the dragon. Nathan won.

🐔 The Barns

A fluffy white Silkie chicken in its cage at the Agriculture Center The fanciest chicken in Arizona. The crew walking the rabbit rows in the barn: Nathan, Sammy, Charlotte, Rachael, Ryha, and GiGi 7:09. The first photo with all of us in the same building.

🚗 Kiddie Land

Ryha’s night, with Steven and Rachael on duty. The pink quad was the main event, lap after lap, and she gave the fence outside the barns a thorough inspection too.

Four ticket-stub graphics with photos of Ryha: driving the pink quad, standing at a wooden fence, a second lap, and peeking through the fence Admit one, four times.

🎬 The Action Reel

Four clips, twenty-one seconds: the cousins coming down the Euroslide, two passes of the Sound Storm car, Ryha’s lap on the quad, and the rope bridge. Sound on.

Action reel: the Euroslide, the Sound Storm, Ryha's quad lap, and the rope bridge The action reel. Tap to play.

🧸 The Treasure Hunt

Illustration: a midway prize booth at dusk with plush bears and stars under a striped awning, and a mystery box with a question mark The mission, as planned: a Labubu, and some other stuff.

The plan was a Labubu. What the fair had was the water-gun balloon race, with a wall of plush above it, and a three-way showdown: Charlotte, Sammy, and Nathan, side by side. Charlotte’s balloon popped first. She went home with a dumpling, which is not a Labubu, and she could not have cared less.

Charlotte, Sammy, and Nathan racing at the water-gun balloon game, a row of plush prizes hanging above the booth 8:41. The dumpling game, three across. Charlotte won.

🍟 Snacks All Over

There was no dinner, and there was never going to be. It was cotton candy, fries, nachos, and whatever else was closest to wherever the kids ran next, all night long. Not one of us took a picture of any of it, which tells you how fast it went.

🚡 The SkyRide

The plan said SkyRide first. The night said SkyRide last, and the night was right: at 8:45 the whole midway was lit, the lines were gone, and everybody was ready to sit down for ten minutes. Charlotte and me in one chair, Nathan, GiGi, and Sammy in the one behind us, feet dangling over the food row.

Photo-booth strip of four SkyRide frames: Charlotte mid-scream twice, then two selfies of Charlotte and Dad with the lit Ferris wheel behind Four frames from the chair.

Animated loop of nine SkyRide selfies of Charlotte and Dad with the Ferris wheel behind them Nine tries at the same selfie. Keep them all.

Dad’s shoes dangling over the midway from the SkyRide, the food stands and crowds far below The view from the chair. Nathan, GiGi, and Sammy on a SkyRide chair as it comes into the station Three to a chair, and GiGi's turn up top.

📸 Snapshots

A board of seven polaroid-style photos from the night with handwritten captions Snapshots from the midway.

✅ How It Actually Went

  • Gate tickets bought ahead. Eight for $111.92, one more than we needed.
  • Wristbands at the booth, before 7. Charlotte’s at 5:30, the cousins’ at 6:20.
  • In the gate at 4:30. Try 5:30. School pickup plus I-17 plus the lot plus the line.
  • SkyRide first. SkyRide last, and better for it.
  • The crew after 5:30. GiGi, Sammy, and Nathan by 6:20. Steven, Rachael, and Ryha by 7.
  • Two groups once we were inside. Exactly as drawn up. Ryha in kiddie land, the big kids on the thrill rides, the grown-ups wherever the kids ran.
  • The high school rodeo at 7. Skipped. We saw the arena from the SkyRide and that was plenty.
  • A Labubu. A dumpling.
  • Dinner at sunset. Snacks all over instead.
  • Group photo before anyone left. 8:54, by the souvenir booth, two versions.
  • 9 PM hard stop. Asleep in the truck by 9:18.

Eight of us, one wristband night, and one SkyRide to close it out. And when the lights on the big wheel went dark: I’ll be back.