State Fair Fiasco

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas - it's State Fair time! The "Great Minnesota Get Together" kicked off yesterday and is by far one my favorite Minnesota traditions. When you combine crazy crowds, foods on a stick (that are usually fried goodness), vendors galore and some of the best people watching the state offers, how can it not be a good time? 

Mitch and I both took the day off so we could get an early start and make the most of our fair day. We were on the road by 9am, and arrived at the fair grounds a half an hour later. My parents have parked at the same church parking lot for the last 15 years. The last few years we've followed in their footsteps since it's so close to the main gate and reasonably priced. Everything was going according to plan, until we turned on to the street to see there was no parking there this year. Empty. Vacant. Notta. By 9:30am it was nearly impossible to find street parking and I refused to leave my car keys with a house owner offering their yard for parking. 

I continued to drive around aimlessly, pretending I knew where I was going and what I was doing. Patience was quickly fading for everyone in the car. We decided it was best to hop back onto Snelling Ave. (the main road) and try a new route. A wrong turn didn't help our situation and Harper let us know she needed to go potty. Oh, and did I mention my "Refuel" light came on? Perfect. 

We quickly exited in foreign territory and found a gas station. I filled up the car while Mitch took care of potty duty. By this time, I'm in complete meltdown mode. After a few deep breaths, we decided it's best to do park-and-ride rather than roaming around for a parking spot. In the past we had parked at Rosedale Mall and hopped on the bus, so that was our new plan. Luckily the mall is just a couple miles away - so it didn't take long to get there. As we pulled into the lot, I didn't see any signs or crowds - which made me worried. We pulled into a parking spot and googled park-and-ride locations. Rosedale Mall, not on the list. Clearly it wasn't our morning. We were all negative, but I was determined to make it to the fair. I found a church on the list that was less than 2 miles away. We got back in the car and were on to plan C. 

Finally we found the church, parked the car and hopped on the bus. Nearly 2 1/2 hours after leaving our house - we were finally walking through the State Fair gates. WE HAD MADE IT, somehow! Our moods quickly shifted and we were ready for a fun fair day!

We ate our fair share of food, none with actual nutritional value. Harper finally had her mini donuts she's been gabbing about for days and we also introduced her to Dippin Dots Ice Cream. She was in treat heaven. I immediately got my fried pickles (they're so amazing!) and throughout the day Mitch and I shared a few other staples. My new favorite? Pretzel curds! Cheese curds with a crushed pretzel outer crust? Yes please! 

Harper seems to be a State Fair natural, which makes this fair loving Mama a happy camper. We visited all the animal barns and Harper had a perma-grin the entire time. After petting every animal she could, and a lot of hand sanitizer later we finished up our time at the barns. 

As the day went on, we realized some familiar faces were also visiting the fair. We met up with Paul, Kody and Bennett for a while. Bennett and Harper enjoyed some quality play time out of their strollers while the rest of chatted over Summits on a stick (or the boys did). Later we met up with Kelly, Ryan, his parents and baby Blake. By this time, Harper had crashed in her stroller. She was all tuckered out. The rest of us walked around machinery hill until a few people noticed a "COLD BEER" sign, so naturally there was a pit stop. It was fun catching up with all of them and enjoying elements of the fair together with our kiddos. 

Nearly 7 hours later we made our way back to bus station. We might have had sore feet, full bellies and food stains on our clothes (actually that was just Harper and I) - but we all left with a big smile on our faces saying "today was fun!" 

 

Although our day didn't start off as planned, it ended up being another fantastic year at the fair! At 39 weeks pregnant and just 3 days shy of welcoming Baby E, we still enjoyed another year at the Great Minnesota Get Together!

Until next time…

The Helleen's