A Day at the Minnesota State Fair

Before we get started, you should know this is the highlight of our summer!  If money was no object, we would go to the Great MN Get Together every single day of the 12 days!  We love it! 

We start off our day at approximately 12pm on Thrifty Thursday, which is also the first day of the fair.  We drive to the U of M where we park for free and shuttle over on a tour bus, for free!  The kids like this part since it's not everyday you we get to ride a bus.

Once we arrive, the first thing we do is head for the Miracle of Birth center.  Here we walked in right as a newborn calf is learning to stand up for the very first time.  Allie was in awe.  Jonathan was grossed out by the blood and what not and Aaron was ready to tell him all about his own birth.  I quickly stepped in and said, "now is not the time."  It was quite funny (you had to be there to see the look on Jonathan's face).

We then head over to the Root Beer Hut.  Friends of our family own it and this is where Aaron has worked nearly every fair since he was 15.  He is working 9/12 days there this year!  Be sure to stop by and say hi!  Their jumbo root beer is $2.50 and they are in the Blue Ribbon Book.  (shameless advertisement)

After a root beer, it's off to the barns to see the animals.

Jonathan and Allie made these adorable hats in the horse barn and they got free admission tickets to the MN Zoo!

Next up, Little Farm Hands!

This has been a hit with our kids since it's first year on the fair grounds.

Jonathan still loves it and it's his 8th year participating.

They always look forward to the box of cereal to munch on at the end.

We met up with our friends, Dan and Ang and their three kiddos.  The older four had so much fun together and so did all the kids!

I love this, Farmer Jon (mohawk and all).

Vroom. Vroom.

Jonathan and Allie operating heavy machinery.  You may want to look out.

Must take time to pose and prove Princesses can get dirty too!

Before heading to the rides, we stopped in at Giggle's Cafe where the kids each got a kids meal (chicken nuggets, steak fries, and a dessert cracker) for $1.50!!!!  Best deal at the fair!  Mom and dad tried the Chicken Fried Bacon.  Oh my was it delicious!

Monkeying around.

And it's off to the rides.

In the Blue Ribbon book, there is a coupon for 6 bucks off 30 ride tickets (which is a tad cheaper than buying them before the fair starts).  So, for fourteen bucks, they each rode 4 rides and all the smiles were worth every penny!

We ran into many friends of ours.  These friends, here, are like a second family for us.  The guy in the shades, Pastor Bryan Buch, he officiated our wedding.  Notice the matching shorts?  They had matching shoes too!

After dark, it's off to the Big Slide!

Here is my crew after the ride down...

We always end the night with fireworks.

Complete, of course, with jammies for the exhausted baby girl who will soon fall asleep on the bus ride back to the car.

Awwwww...the memories we made and the traditions we will continue living out!