Survived!

Well, we did it.

The first tough, decision of the day was: do we bring the 2 umbrella strollers or do we bring our big, sit and stand stroller for the kids? After humming and hawing, it was decided that it might be best to bring the 2 little strollers so we can maneuver easier and if both kids are out walking, they are easier to fold up and carry rather than trying to steer the big stroller through the massive crowds.

Second tough decision was: which way should we go and where should we try to park? It takes us about an hour to get down to that part of MN so we opted with going the Roseville Route down 35W and got on the UofM, St. Paul Campus and parked in the campus ramp. That was super easy and quick! We thought about doing the park and ride thing but, sometimes I hate depending on others to pick me up and with the 2 little kids, it was just easier to leave and go when we wanted to. It was a bit of a walk but that's fine because if you are going to the state fair, you have to be prepared to walk all day anyways!

We got to the fair about 11ish and loaded up the strollers and made our way down to the entrance. We ended up over by Heritage Hill and walked through there first. We saw some very cute, wood craved animal statue's that if we had more time to look at, we most likely would have bought one I think. Tyler at this point was SOOOO hungry and was wanting Sweet Martha's Choco Chip Cookies(How could I argue? I LOVE choco. chip cookies) so we walked down and gave him some money to go stand in line while Kirby went the other direction and got some fries and a pot roast sandwich for us to share. YUM-OH!

As a side note: I realized at this point that there were going to be a lot of people at the fair on this beautiful day. Now, I knew that when we decided to go but it took us actually getting there for it to become a true fact in my head. At times, I felt like I was always the one going against the flow as we walked in the jam-packed streets but overall, we still managed to have fun and see some cool things. Your mentality for attending the fair on a busy day is that you are going to have to wait, you are going to run into rude people, you are going to get bumped/cut off/cursed at for having a stroller/and have dirty feet if you chose to wear sandals that day. If you go in with this type of mind frame, you will be just fine.

We got to the animals which the kids enjoyed of course. Logan was a little gun-shy at first but eventually he got into the hang of sticking his little fingers in between the bars and petting the animals. Kirby is a little gun-shy of visiting the horse barn but even he managed to get the hang of being in that building and around those big, scary, horses.

Next we just wandered around and ended up at the DNR building (which is by far Kirby's favorite building to explore.) We took a little break out on the lawn and had a glass of lemonade and ate some more of Tyler's cookies. Logan thought he needed to help his big, brother get a drink so here is a picture of him 'helping.'

Tyler and Kirby went inside and did the shooting range and Tyler came back out with a smile and a free, gun lock. (Now he just needs a gun to put it on-or so said Kirby) We took a look at the fish pond and then headed north up to the Grandstand.....

The first stop here was at Tyler's Grandma's Sister's Jerky stand were he visited for a bit and then she gave us a few pieces of GOOD jerky to chew on. We shopped around for a bit but didn't find anything to spend our money on so we continued north to find the education building and machinery hill. We got to the education building and scored lots of free bags, posters, pens and candy to take home. The kids all got a free KIDS ID form/picture done (which is a nice thing to have) and then we headed up to the tractors. Each kid picked out their favorite one.....

By this time of the day, we were all getting tired and ready to head back to the car and go home. It was a fun day for all and we survived the crowds, the good food and didn't lose anyone or anything. (thank goodness) On the way home, Kirby and I admitted that it would be fun to go back by ourselves but for a first time going as a family, it was a fun day-exhausting day. I think this picture best shows our day.........