Huzzah!

As summer wraps up, the fun events never seem to end. The State Fair came to an end for their 2013 season - but the Minnesota Renaissance Festival is another "must do" summer/fall event. Since we had a long weekend and the weather was beautiful we decided to venture out to Shakopee to the fantasy fair. 

The summer going into my last semester of college, I interned at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in the marketing department (and no, we didn't dress up.) We planned special events for the 7 themed , and were on site every day the festival ran. It was an awesome job, and I met a few friends I still keep in contact with today. We make a point to go back and visit every year, and each time we enjoy ourselves even more.

Last year was Harper's first festival experience, but since she was just shy of 9 months old we didn't get too much out of our visit. This year was a completely different story. We pulled into the parking lot with the rest of the patrons and festies and made our way to front gates. Harper even brought her wand from home, and fit right in! If you've never been to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, here is a little fun fact - a large portion of the paid attendees also dress up in costume. You'll see traditional costumes, fairies, video game characters, knights, wenches, pretty much anything goes. It has my vote for "Best People Watching" so if you've never been, I highly recommend it. It's worth the price of admission. We wandered around the grounds for 4+ hours checking out different shops, stage shows, vegetable justice, and of course all the animals. Harper loved every second, especially the animals. We sat and looked at the horses (or "neighs" if you ask her) she even got to pet one of the jousting horses. From there we checked out the elephants and the petting zoo. The girl was in animal heaven. We even left with a souvenir! I'm a sucker for anything personalized, and there is a puzzle vendor there who also makes step stools. We've been in the market for a mini stool for Miss Thang, so we walked away with a colorful "Harper" stool. It was so fun to see her interact this year and have a great time! I'm sure next year will be even better! Huzzah! 

The rest of our labor day weekend can be summed up in one word... lazy. Mitch had a second fantasy football draft on Sunday night so Harper and I had a date night with Amanda. We headed up to Roger's to Minne's Diner. It's this adorable diner, and they're known for their deep-fried apple pies. There are a million reasons I love Amanda, and one of those being she's always down to share a dessert. So naturally we ordered one of the infamous fried pies with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream, and holy moly was is good. Harper was less interested in the pie, but kept saying "peeeaaassss" for more ice cream. After our delicious dinner, we headed back to our house for some quality girl time. It was a fun girls night out!

We also tried to spend some time outside, since winter will be here before you know it. I mean, it's already September for heaven's sake. I'm afraid our little girlie has the TV gene like her mother. I watch my fair share of television, but we try to limit Harper's viewing. Lately, right when we get home she runs for the iPad or TV and yells "Elmo, Elmo, please!" When we tell her "no" or "not right now" we enter complete meltdown mode. She'll scream, cry, flail - whatever she can to get the point across that she's not a happy camper. Such a drama queen. I've learned distraction is key - once we find something she is even mildly amused by, she completely forgets why she was mad in the first place. We're trying to replace TV/iPad time with playing outside, reading books or playing with puzzles and toys. So far, so good. I don't think we'll be entering her in technology rehab anytime soon. :)

I also started adding to Harper's fall shoe collection. I'll admit it, I have an addition to toddler shoes. There is something so darling about miniature shoes, and I have a hard time passing them up. I've already confessed my new love for kid Crocs, but when I laid eyes on these adorable pink cowboy boots - it only took me a few seconds to find her size and throw them in the cart. I'm obsessed, and luckily Harper seems to be a pretty big fan of the boots herself. We immediately put them on and hopped on the rocking horse. Bring on boot weather!

Until next time...

The Helleen's