State Fair 2011

I'm a little late with this post. We went to the State Fair on the last day, Labor Day. It was a beautiful day, not very crowded. I did not eat my typical fair food, which made my body feel pretty good. I feel like I missed out a little though. The whole point of the fair used to be the food. This year it was more "the experience" and all about Jolynn's experience. I love watching her discover everything.

Her favorite booth at the fair: the shower heads. See Facebook for photo.

First stop was the K-9 building and she received her dog ears.

Then she went through the Cub Foods Farm.
Apron: check. Gathering bucket: check.

Driving the tractor full of hay.

Payment for all her hard work: CHEERIOS!

Midday nap. She can sleep through anything.

A tradition that we started last year - we will get Jolynn's hand mold done each year at the fair. The one the left is her first year at 5 weeks old. The one the right is from this year. Can't believe she used to be that little!

**I forgot to mention we stopped in the Education bldg for our family photo and weighed in Jolynn. Last year I had to weigh myself, then hold Jolynn to get her weight. This year we had her STAND BY HERSELF on the scale. She weighed in at 21.1 lbs.

State Fair 2010-Part 2

We went to the fair again on Thursday. This time we went with Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa Moritz. We arrived a little before every one else so we went to Hamline Dining Hall again and fed Jolynn. We also met up with Knute, Olaf and Stephanie, Sara and Tony, and a couple of their friends. This visit to the fair was all food and purchases. I had corn again and Mouse Trap cheese curds. I swear they are better than anyone else. Also had a Chicago dog, foot long corndog, foot long hot dog, flash frozen ice cream, and my new favorite-fried pickles. Seriously, better than cheese curds.

We ventured into the Merchandise mart and Grandstand. Margaret found this booth that had fairy stuff. Tutus, tiaras, wings, capes, and these crocheted hats with big flowers on them. She came back with a white one. Jolynn was so cute. We went back to the stand and she brought so much attention to the booth. "look how cute she is!" Of course I had to get a purple one and a matching tutu-these will be used at her 3 or 6 month photos.

Jon wanted to go to the Wild booth. They weren't in their normal spot in the Grandstand this year. Finally found them in the Fan Zone-go figure. We picked out 3 outfits there-maybe we will get to a game or two this season.

Inside the Merchandise Mart was a booth that made casts of your hands. We thought what a great idea to get Jolynn's hand done and then again each year. It was soo tiny! I was thinking this morning that I could teach her sign language for all the years (after five you have to do different things with one hand to make a six, seven, etc. without using two hands). Then each year we go back for the cast she can make that sign and we will have how old she was at that State Fair.

Inside the Education bldg they had free calendars with your picture. Jolynn had her photo taken with us and then with the grandparents.

On the way back to our car the sky got really dark and opened up. Luckily we were next to a display of trailers. We ducked inside with 5 other people and waited it out. There was hail and downpours. Good thing we found shelter. When it was over we continued on our way and saw this beautiful double rainbow. Other than that brief downpour it was a gorgeous day.

State Fair 2010

My day started off at 4am with a feeding. Then pumping and a shower. I had a bowl of cereal to tide me over until getting to the fair. I got everything packed up and ready to go, time to get Jolynn in her car seat. Woke her up at 7:30 and she was ready to eat - so I had to feed her and then we were off to Grandma and Grandpa Benson's at 8:00am. Once we got there they were ready to go. We got to the fair around 9:00am. We went to a restaurant called Hamline dining hall (or something like that). Sally met us there when we were just about done. We mapped out all the places we wanted to go and times of things we wanted to see.

First was the Robot Demonstrations in the Educational building. I wasn't impressed. I guess I was expecting more like robot wars. So we passed on that and took a walk around. We found a booth that was taking pictures and putting them on a calendar for FREE. Score! Jolynn brings a lot of attention where ever she goes. How can you resist such an adorable little girl :) The Educational building also had free bags. Jolynn was ready to eat after this excursion. So we went back to the Hamline dining hall and asked for some hot water - they were very nice and didn't mind giving me this and letting me sit in there to feed her out of the sun.

Then we went to see the chickens. My mom is now into raising chickens, so she really wanted to go see them. Jolynn and I waited outside. This was the only photo I took the entire time we were there. Don't worry - you didn't miss anything. This is what she did the entire time we were at the fair.
After the chickens I was on a mission to get my cheese curds. I stopped and got corn on the way. Then we got to the cheese curds. I got those and should have shared. I ended up getting a belly ache and was in the bathroom later.

It was pretty warm. Every now and again there would be a breeze. I was drinking pop (not caffeinated). Pop is not a good source to keep you hydrated. I started to feel faint and decided I better head back to the car and home. Once we got to the car my mom had some water in her cooler. I drank that and combined with the AC in the car, was feeling much better. Note for next time is to bring water, sunscreen, and a hat.