the great minnesota get together!

Today we took our second annual trip to the MN State Fair. I doubt the girls remember their first trip, but I think they may talk about this one for a few days to come.

This year was definitely more fun even though we went on a weekend when the crowds are ridiculous. Our first stop was the Little Farm Hands exhibit. It's kind of hilarious because all of the parents are rushing their kids through it so as not to hold up the lines. The kids are looking around like, "what the heck? what are we supposed to do here anyway?" and can hardly keep up with the volunteers' suggestions and parents' urgency.

Our next stop was the Kidway. We skipped this last year thinking the girls were way to small for rides, but I sort of had an inkling that Little Bird might be into them this year. Sure enough, any ride we pointed out to her, she said she'd try. We said she could pick three, and her choices were:

The Dora swings. She was immediately drawn to them (notice she's sitting in a yellow one).

She was so hilarious because she only had a little bit of a smile on her face, but you knew she just loved it. She wouldn't look at us either when she came around to our side; only a peek through the corner of her eye. It was hilarious!

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The Giant Slide was another choice (notice she chose yellow again).

She was all serious about this one and kind of acting like it was no big deal. Maybe she was too cool for the slide?

Her last choice was the merry-go-round. She INSISTED that she ride the horse herself and that I ride my own. I kept a hand on her back most of the time, but she kept telling me to let go of her; she wanted to do it herself and she kept telling me she was holding on tight.

Little Pie was (not surprisingly) interested in the rides. We asked her each time if she wanted to go too, but she politely declined and said she would rather watch. There was a little train that I thought she might go on, but she declined that too. She just sat back and enjoyed her apple.

Of course we enjoyed some yummy bad-for-you food. We got some mini donuts, corn dogs, milk, root beer floats, cookies and cheese curds. (I forgot how I can only eat a few cheese curds before my stomach says no way, and I gave our basket away to an awestruck fellow fair goer). The girls tried a little bit of most of the stuff but certainly enjoyed their mini donuts and milk the best.

Showing off their all you can drink milk! (At least this year they didn't spill it all down the front of themselves!)

It actually rained off and on for a little bit and it turned out that we were in and out of the animal barns during this time so it worked out great in our favor. The girls especially enjoyed the goats and horses. I was disappointed that the big boar had gone home because that is my favorite. We were actually in the Miracle of Birth center when a sow was giving birth but it was so crowded in there we couldn't see anything; even on their closed circuit TVs.

All and all we had a great day. We were at the fair for more than five hours! The girls didn't have any meltdowns or potty accidents. In fact, we discovered a new trick: Rob takes the girls one at a time to the potty since the line for the men's room is so much shorter!

The girls were EXHAUSTED when we got home so were in bed at 6:30. I kept thinking as I looked around at the millions of other strollers passing us by, why can't our girls doze off in a stroller?? We did so much walking, they could have gotten a great nap in!

Finally, on the way home I asked the girls about their favorite part of the fair: Little Bird said the goats and Little Pie said watching Little Bird on the rides.

 

Here's a video of Little Bird on the Dora swings: