2 Days - 2 Fairs

And that equals a whole ton of walking. (Mira wasn’t willing to share her stroller with me, so I had to huff it the whole time.)

Jen had to work, but Mira and I went with Grandma and Grandpa to the State Fair. On arrival, Mira’s biggest concern was eating a corndog. She was quickly distracted by baby animals, however, and deep-fried stick food was waylaid until later. It was important to say hello and goodbye to each and every little barnyard creature in turn. Can’t miss any!

About one hour in, we did start to shovel grease on a stick into our mouths. Rinsed down with all-you-can-drink milk from the dairy booth. Mira made sure to spill some on her shirt to go with the cherry Icee, sprite, and water already there. I had the best damn turkey sandwich in the world, though. Plenty of tabasco and BBQ with pulled turkey on a hoagie bun. Yummy!

The DNR pond was right across the way, so we headed over to peek at the fish. Search as we might, there didn’t seem to be any whales or sharks in there. But there was an albino carp and lots of shovel-nose sturgeon and tiger muskies amongst the other Minnesota lake dwellers. It was hard for me not to visualize them on a plate with a side of mashed potatoes and a lemon wedge. Arghgh… mmmm… fiiiiish…. [drool]

Why were there no fishies on a stick to be found?

Then up and down various streets full of endlessly milling sheep people in search of more things on a stick. Cheese curds, pork shops, corn on the cob, french fries, sausages, alligator, etc… — everything but the ice cream was on a stick (although you can get that, too). It was fun to watch Mira twist her head in all directions trying to take it all in.

Once the nearly 90° weather set in, we cruised through the craft and 4H buildings. Mira’s highlight was the Mars Explorer (read remote control car) that the kids could drive around the Martian soil (gravel and rocks). She took a bit to get the hang of it, but then had a blast crashing into the rocks and the other car.

After beating the heat for a bit, we took the Skyride gondolas to see the fair from above. Mira was a bit apprehensive (she doesn’t like heights), but went on anyway. Once in the air, she loved it. We tried to find things from above that we’d seen already. Near the end I pointed out the Space Needle. It took no convincing to get Mira to ride that up to the sky too. The sun was setting and the view over downtown was spectacular.

We ended the day with more treats on a stick. Mira went down the Giant Slide with Grandpa and said, “It wasn’t scary at all!” Then onto the bus for the ride home to rest our weary feet. But it didn’t end there…

The next day we all went to Valley Fair. There were few new rides since the last time I was there — the new wooden Renegade roller coaster being the debuting star this year. Labor Day was Corn Harvest Day, so we filled up on the over-cooked free corn cobs slathered with butter and salt. Even baby Joey chewed on one for a while.

Jen’s Mom got a great shot of me, Jen and her Dad on the new Giant Swing ride. We tried to get Mira to ride the Scrambler with us, but she’d have none of it. Later, with a belly full of corn, she decided that maybe the Tilt-a-Whirl would be okay — since Grandma, Trina, Brittany, me and Mom would be on it too. We started out okay, but primal fear and screaming at the top of her lungs ensued when the car started spinning around and around. Although she didn’t like it at all, it was hard not to laugh even harder with someone screaming so much at the ride. After that, Mira confined herself only to slow moving, low to the ground rides. Those that didn’t go too fast or too high.

We all had fun regardless of the mosquitos at dusk, the skunky Thunder Canyon water or the waiting in lines. Arriving home was awfully nice after two straight fair-going days. My feet had enough. And my gut, too. (Loved the new coaster, though!)