State Fair: Day 3

We do it up right here in the Baker house at Fair time. The girls woke up this morning to Fair presents!



That is a silk-screening extravaganza right there. And here we all are in our matching shirts, ready to go to the Fair! (I know you can't see a single shirt, but at least we are all smiling. timer shots are HARD!)

Here you can see the shirts a little better. That's us heading out to the gate. Bella is already working on her scavenger hunt.

First stop, Little Farm Hands! Where we are very excited to see Uncle Dave!!

Hey we totally grew up with that same Tupperware colander in the kitchen. Weird! 

Mimi even said MMMMM to the cow. Moooo! Or maybe she meant MMMMM as in delicious. She is kind of a meat eater. 

After we had sold our harvest and purchased some Cheerios, we had worked up quite an appetite. I decided I would settle for nothing less than Cinnie Smiths cinnamon buns. So we trundle up to the booth, order a huge amount, plop down on the curb, and dig in with relish. YUM. Thoroughly enjoyed by all. 

Afterwards we discovered that the diaper wipes I brought were dried up. Uh oh. It reminded me of the book Curious George Makes Pancakes... "Do the napkins help? No! They make it worse!" 

Oh well, maybe the sticky cinnamon goo residue will help Bella not fall out of the Sky Glider.

She has been waiting for this moment all year!!

Mimi and I strollered along underneath them. She was none too happy to be missing out on the fun. 

Next up, family photo! And a little skee-ball while we wait. Bella managed to hurl one of her balls into someone else's lane. Nice! She got a tattoo. Then our photos were done. 

Time for lunch. We head over to the Turkey-to-go booth and get a Giant Turkey Sandwich (I LOVE THAT SANDWICH) and head over to the DNR stage for a picnic. 

We are well fortified for the GIANT SLIDE!! I didn't see Brent take any pictures, so I was surprised as all get out to find these on the camera. Yay Brent! 

He also took this picture, which makes me laugh every time I look at it. 

We went and checked out the alphabet fair booth. How cute is that?

And ran into The Backyardigans! 

Then we headed over to the prime parade watching area and ate a corndog while waiting for the parade to start. Mimi ran over to join the flash dance. It was hilarious.

The parade was pretty great--bands, flags, a unicorn! Mimi woofed and panted when the tiny horses went by. Tee hee. Bella and I decided not to rush out and give Fairborne and Fairchild their T-shirts when we saw they were seated up on fast-moving float. Darn! Hopefully we'll see them on foot sometime!!

Then we were all tuckered out. Time for a bottle, a beer, some Fairchild softie clutching, and a nap.

Ahhhhh a nap. We enjoyed some couple time walking to Heritage Square. Peaceful. 

Then we went to meet the cousins and the girls both woke up. Time to pass out some shirts!

And eat some fries! 

And here is where the kids melt down and we beat a hasty retreat, pausing only to inhale Dreamsicles on the way out.

Yes I know, who buys a Dreamsicle at the Fair? What can I say, my kids love Dreamsicles! And I aim to please at the Fair!

On the walk back to the van, we hit a huge bump in the sidewalk and flip the stroller over, which freaks out the girls pretty bad, seeing as they're sitting in it, as well as Brent and me. Yikes. 

Now here's where it gets crazy! We race home, have scrambled eggs for supper, throw the girls in the bath.... and go back to the Fair! Well, just me. BECAUSE I CAN'T STAY AWAY!

I meet Katri and we do grown-up stuff, like look at art--which was extra fun seeing as she is an art teacher! Here are some of my favorites from Fine Arts. 

A chicken!

Seville

Katri goes, "That would look so great over your toilet!" A true complement to the artist indeed!

We ate so much I'm not even going to talk about it. And we watched kids in these hamster balls. 

Very amusing. Especially when the kids crawl into the deflated ball and get sealed in--kind of disturbing watching them innocently climb into a ziploc bag. But it is quickly blown up and thrown on the water and fun is had by all.

We people-watched and stayed for the fireworks and then called it a night. 

Oh glorious day!