The Great Minnesota Get Together

We went to the State Fair on Friday and Sunday with the kids. Here they are watching a cow being milked.



Tractor time!



Can't go to the State Fair without getting a corndog!





Steve loves to relax and catch some of the free concerts at the fair. Once you make it to a concert area and are within a reasonable time frame of catching a concert so your 2-year old and 4-year old don't have to sit and wait forever, you are kind of committed to whatever is playing. We found a seat 15 minutes before Neil Dynamite played at the International Bazaar, and weren't sure what to expect. M kept telling us he was going to dance while waiting for the music to start. Turns out, this group did all Neil Diamond covers and M must be a big ND fan, because I've never seen him move like this at all. Ever. I was crying I was laughing so hard, and he was quite the entertainment for all the concert-goers. The picture just doesn't do it justice. Of course, big sister doesn't like it when he gets all the attention, so she joined in with her own crazy moves.



Back to the fair again Sunday, this time early in the morning as I ran the Milk Run 5K. This race starts in the fair, then winds its way through the neighboring streets, and back to the fair. My friend Julia ran with me and here we are bright and early, before the race.



Steve got the kids up early to come and watch. Supposedly I'm in this crowd somewhere crossing the finish line. It was very crowded and Steve didn't catch me until it was almost too late.



The best thing about the Milk Run is you get a free malt for running. Plus the nifty shirt I am sporting. Julia placed first in her age group (thus the plaque) and her sister Kristin also ran with us. Good times!



Steve took the kids around the fair while I changed out of my stinky clothes. They did lots of fun things. D insisted in pulling the wagon with her brother in it.



They went to the Little Hands farm. At the end, you can choose something to take home. D chose a can of corn so we could eat it together as a family. M chose a bag of chips and promptly ate the whole bag.







A picture with the gopher.



We knew the kids would only last so long at the fair as Steve got them up two hours earlier than usual to make it there for the race. M told us exactly when it was time to go home. He got a wee bit crabby and decided to make the wagon his own personal bed.