MN State Fair Extravaganza!

Well....not so much an extravaganza, but, fun nonetheless.

Ahhh.....The MN State Fair. Deep-fried-people-watching-crowd-managing-animal-poop-smelling-fun-on-a-stick.

I love the fair. My kids love the fair. At breakfast today, we were discussing all the things we wanted to do, see and eat. Miles HAD to do the Little Farm Hands. And Claire insisted from morning and pretty much for most of the fair that she would "please like some cotton candy, dad PLEASE???" Cause she knows it's not my favorite and that it's something Ryan WILL eat.

And there we went.

First off. It's 96 degrees with a dew point of 70 today. So, yeah...it's a hot one. But there's a delightful breeze.

Second, we were able to make our annual pilgrimage with our friends, the Paulsrud's, yet AGAIN this year. We always have fun with them. And Ryan was able to tag along today too. Super bonus.

We started at about 9:30am. I know I know...that's not very early. But it's early enough for me. And this year was the FIRST year I attempted the fair without a stroller. For those of you who have been here. You know. It can be a daunting task to manage the fair with two kids under a certain age. Especially without a stroller. But I figured..the stroller gets in the way, my kids are 4 and 6, and they can walk. (Lazy bums).

It was awesome. The kids were able to do the Little Farm Hands without a huge crowd. We headed to the Eco building, and the kids insisted we recycle more than we already do. (How that's going to happen I have no idea.) And then off to the Kidway for some "Carnie-tastic" rides.

Miles is NOT adventurous at all. He did the fun house, and some ropes course for kids. Claire on the other hand wanted to try this ride called the Lady bugs. It goes around and around super fast and then backwards super fast. I certainly wasn't going to take one for the team, with my dizzy crap, and made Ryan go with her. I know..mean...but he loves rides. I do not.

Claire was hilarious. She started yelling her fool head off, cause they say, "If you want to go really fast, scream!!!" And of course she did. Man did that girl laugh her ass off. It was hysterical. Then they slowed down to go backwards. New face. Not laughing her ass off.....more....trying to be cool and not puke kinda face.


Then food. French fries, Cheese Curds, and Root Beer. Thaaaat's about it. Deep fried goodness that Ryan KNOWS isn't fried in Partially Hydrogenated Oils. How do we know that? Don't ask. And yes, those are the only places we go. But hey...it's all good.

We saw the Agriculture Building, The Arts and Crafts Building, and the Healtheast building. The kids found some Webkinz booth that allowed them to purchase one for 5 dollars. 5 DOLLARS! That's like major jackpot if your kids like Webkinz...and mine do.

The heat just about killed us. But the shade was nice. We also tried to duck into the Dairy Building in hopes of cooling off. Clearly not going to happen. The kids did want to sit in the egg chair. Miles remembered seeing a friend of mine's photo from last year of her in the egg chair. I can't believe his memory sometimes.

Look at my poor sweaty babies. Ah well...the Miracle of Birth building was GOD AWFUL HOT AS HELL. I said to Ryan..."It's 2:30. Let's get the hell out of here." Besides...the calf wasn't ACTUALLY being born. They were doing a "vaginal exam" *shudder* Claire just laughed that they said vagina. She turned to me, scrunched up her nose, and said..."Vaginal means vagina right mom?" And again with the turning around to say, "Why is there poop in that cow's vagina."

Oh Jesus help me. I wanted to make her stop, but I couldn't. And you know if there's a birth on the horizon in that place, there's a fucking crowd.

We left.

Final shot of the day. The kids sharing an ICEE. That thing was delish in the heat. The red teeth proved it when they were done.


And that's it. School can start now. We have had our day at the Fair.