State Fair 2009

Today was the second day of the annual "Minnesota Get Together". (For all of you non-Minnesotans, that's slang for the Minnesota State Fair.) Normally, we wait until the fair has been open for a few days before we venture over there, but this time, we thought today would be good. How was it, you ask? One word: CROWDED. That place was packed! It took quite awhile to park---especially since the lines were backed-up all the way to the highway. Before we even got to the fairgrounds, Caleb complained that he wasn't "having fun yet", but once we entered the gates, he wanted to do EVERYTHING! :)


Here's the gang (minus me) ready to hit the fair:

Caleb kept saying that the only thing he wanted to eat was Roasted Corn on the Cob. So, we made it over to the corn only for him to have this reaction when handed a cob:

Okay.... What were we to do with Caleb's corn? Give it to his little sister, of course!

Caleb did help us enjoy several other yummy food items, including cheese curds...

...mini donuts...

...and Caleb's favorite: a wedge of watermelon!

(Mind you, this is only a few of the things we tried. Since it was so early in the day, we decided to skip the beer-on-a-stick for now, but maybe we'll get to it next week.) :)

Chris and Caleb went down the Giant Slide as they do every year, but this year, Caleb wanted to go AGAIN, with Mommy. I hadn't been on it for years so I was more nervous than he was, but it all turned out well. Here is us showing Daddy what faces we made while sliding:

(On a random side note, don't you think that the employees at the bottom of the slide would know to MOVE when a slider is sliding into them? I landed literally an inch away from a high school kid who worked there, and he wasn't phased at all. Sheesh!)

We saw TONS of stuff, but a couple of the highlights were the Butterfly House (which I didn't get any pictures of. I was the one ducking when a butterfly would come flying towards my head...), the dinosaur exhibit...

(Here's Caleb standing next to the skull of a T-Rex. The exhibit was dinky but Caleb loved it.)

...and the animal buildings.

The low-lights of the fair:
*When Hannah dropped her shoe and we didn't notice until we were a block away. I really felt the "Minnesota Nice": about 5 people saw me holding the other pink shoe and individually came up to me saying, "Did you lose a shoe? It's back there in the crowd." Thanks a lot!
*The sippy-cup malfunction which spilled a ton of cherry Icee all over Hannah, the stroller, and our stuff in the stroller basket. Niiiice!
*The people who forget how to walk when they're in public. You know the kind---they stop RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU as you're walking with the crowd? You may also find these people at the Mall of America...

5 ways you know it's time to leave the state fair:

1. The kids are tired, and therefore, crabby.

2. The red-heads in your family are getting sun-burnt.

3. You run out of wet-wipes.

4. You can't think of anything else you want to eat.

5. You sneer at everyone and anyone that steps in front of your huge stroller.

We had a great time, but after 5 hours of "fair fun", we knew it was time to head home for naps. It was a great day, though, and I was really impressed at how well-behaved both kids were. I hope you are able to enjoy the fair this year (if you're local) and if not, please know that we enjoyed it enough FOR you! :)