The Great Minnesota Get Together!

We are not regular fair goers.  In fact, I believe that two years ago we went to the Minnesota State Fair and said that every 5 years would be plenty for us.  Well, here we are two years later and we headed back to that great Minnesota get together.  Honestly, it doesn't feel like summer without a fair of some kind and we were camping during the county fair we usually check out, so in the spirit of summer I said, "Girls, let's go to the fair!"  And so we did.  

Our last day of summer, we had to go out with a bang!  We dropped Daddy off at work and hopped on the bus at 8:00 and were on our way!  

The girls love to ride the bus.  

There are a few fun things that made the day even more summerish and exciting.  First we had a heat index on Monday of 109 degrees.  So, it was kind of hot.  We drank a lot of water and didn't eat too much fried food; it may have been the most healthy trip to the fair we've had!

Another fun thing was seeing our friend Cheri at the fair.  It was MN State Patrol Day so she was there in full uniform sweating up a storm and greeting all the fair goers along with her fellow patrolmen.  

We got our picture taken with Cheri.  Anna was a bit scared of her in full uniform and had a grumpy face, so we all made a grumpy face.  

Another highlight was that I didn't have to corral the girls on my own.  Our friend Pam was there to help and Anna loves to hang out with Pam, so it was perfect!  We hit all the animal barns before it got too hot.  

Anna got to pet a calf.  

Checking out the pigs.  

Claire got to stroll through the animal barns, even though she really wanted out of the stroller to get a closer look.  Mommy thought there were too many piles of surprise in the barn and didn't want to deal with a kid covered in surprise.  

We had corndogs for lunch with Pam.  

Claire chilled out by the fan.  

Anna's favorite part of the fair was the Miracle of Birth barn.  She loved seeing the baby animals.  

Petting the baby lamb.

Claire wanted in on this action too. 

Checking out the baby calf.  

Anna loves animals and is so gentle and careful with them.  Even Lola, our kitty at home, now lets Anna pet her and carry her around.  

Sisters with the baby cow.  

The other highlight of the day was the Giant Slide.  Anna got to go down twice, once with Mommy...

And once with "Auntie" Pam.  

Claire found her own Giant Slide.  

We also went through the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit for the first time.  It was fun, but so hot and unshaded.  

The girls looked so cute in their aprons and with their buckets.  

Pulling the wagon.  

Claire tried too.  

She was so determined to do everything just like Anna.  

Milking the cow.  

Planting a seed to take home and watch grow.  

At the end, they both chose to use their money to buy and ice cream cup.  Mommy got one too.  It was very delicious and timely after all the hard work!  

On to other exhibits....

...and a nap.  

Face cutouts!

We left the fair shortly after 1:30 and rode the bus back.  We had a little time to spare before Daddy would be done with work so we went to the girls' favorite library.  The "big" library.  They have lots of great play areas so it was easy to spend a couple hours there.  

It was a great, hot day at the fair.  Tuesday we all headed back to work and school.  We only had 3 days this week of school so it is nice to ease us back into this whole routine thing again.  

It was a great summer and we know that next summer will be even more awesome.  Can't wait to see what our adventures will be!