The Great Minnesota Get-together

Minnesota is an interesting place. People who live here, especially people who have been born and raised here, are VERY proud of their state. This comes out in things like celebration of their Scandinavian heritage, celebration of their "educatedness", love of the University of Minnesota (Aren't they the team that everyone looks forward to playing during the Big Ten season?), and many other points of pride. This pride comes out no more than during the twelve days before Labor Day every year--The Minnesota State Fair. I have never been to any other state fairs, but I cannot imagine that anything is like this. Every television and radio station has a booth there and they all broadcast live there every day of the fair. It is held at the state fair grounds which is approximately 10 city blocks between Minneapolis and St. Paul. It was a ton of fun and quite a spectacle. They see over 1 million people in the twelve days.

The boys loved doing the sky ride (gondola), the Giant Slide, and eating the fair food. Matty especially enjoyed his pronto pup (corn dog) and licked the bowl of french fries clean. We looked at all of the animals in the barns. Matthew really liked this. MOOOO, NEIGH! The boys rode the motorcycle ride and a little roller coaster. They loved them and it was so much fun to watch. All in all, it was a great day and a tiring day. Matty even cashed out on our way home, mid-cookie.

We are hoping to make a return trip on Saturday without the boys. Shube (Amanda's mom) plays the piano for a gospel quartet and they are singing at one of the stages. My mom is coming from Michigan this week too, so she will join us. I am hoping to load up on some more fair food. I saw on the news yesterday that Famous Dave's sells Kool-aid Pickles. They are large dill pickles soaked for two weeks in black cherry Kool-aid. They said that they were quite good. I think I'll pass.

You can check out the rest of our fair pictures here.