Friday, August 23, 2019

State Fair Weekend

Fried Oreos, Snickers, and pecan pie. Our stomachs are still recovering from all of the fried foods.



Let me start by saying that at the beginning of the week we had no plans to attend the Iowa State Fair. Zilch. Then my cousin called and offered two free tickets to see Pentatonix. Apparently that was the push I needed because that brought all of us to the State Fair for an entire day PLUS the five of us all saw the concert at the fair Grandstand. It was truly a weekend full of memories.

Friday night the minis got their first night home alone. I had to work an event for the Children's Museum and Hubs wanted to make a date night out of it. The minis have been practicing being home alone for short periods of time, but never at night. Hubs and I decided to give it a try for a few hours on Friday night. They did great! They actually did better than if we were home with them....go figure. They're not ready for late nights or long periods of time by themselves, but it's nice to know we can leave for two or so hours and not have to worry about finding a sitter.



The next day we spent all day at the Iowa State Fair. We made a point of seeing and doing as much as we could. Our food list included: corn dogs, lemonade, a wrap from G Migs (which also won best new fair food), fried avocado, fried pb & j, onion rings, mac and cheese bites, pork chop on a stick, and fried Oreos, Snickers, and pie. As you can imagine we've been going through a food detox since then! Our to do list included: all of the barns (horses, cattle, sheep, pigs), Iowa craft beer tent (my favorite), free stages, the giant slide, seeing the butter sculptures, and seeing Pentatonix at the Grandstand. We didn't make it to several things on our list. We've decided that next year we'll go not only a full day to the fair, but we'll add in an additional day so we can see it all. This is the first year since having kids that the Iowa State Fair has been enjoyable. I'm hoping that future years are just as fun!

Sweaty hugs on the main concourse




Corn dogs while Hubs got a hunting and fishing license (we don't do either).



This made me really happy to see. Safety always.



The lines were crazy long! Thankfully they moved fairly quickly. This was the line for the giant slide.

This picture was a must at the Iowa Craft Beer tent. Elizabeth was holding my drink tickets and ordered my beer for me. 

This picture is titled 'City Girl Pets A Horse.' She quickly pet the horse and then freaked whenever it moved.

Biggest bull





We all live in a yellow submarine (made of corn on the cob)





The minis very first concert at the Grandstand. Max and I had two great tickets (thanks to my cousin) and Matt, Harrison, and Elizabeth sat in the waaayyyy back. We all enjoyed the concert, but Elizabeth made mention that "next time I want a really loud concert. Like, loud that I can scream and dance to." They ended the concert by asking what concerts are coming next year that we can go to!






Naturally, on Sunday we rested....WRONG!! We did sleep in, but I worked hard to get everything set up for daycare on Monday because that evening I went back to the fair! I had tickets to see Hootie and the Blowfish at the Grandstand, but I took advantage of a few more hours at the fair. The concert was amazing!! 90's me was extremely happy.


Setting up for one last daycare Celebration Around The World -- Yi Peng Lantern Festival.



I didn't have any time to run the traveling exhibit back to the Museum after the event on Friday night so we unloaded it in our garage. It's of no surprise that the minis found everything and pulled out their favorite fairy things to build with. At least it kept them entertained while I got the house ready to go!


Naturally the first thing to happen at the fair is get caught in a down pour. 


Mom's Night Out!!! This one was planned back  in November!



I completely forgot the Barenaked Ladies were opening for Hootie. This shot my excitement through the roof when I remembered!





I have never been on the last night of the fair. It was odd to see the entire fairgrounds tearing down for the year. I'm not even a huge fan of the fair and this made me a little sad. Until next summer Iowa State Fair! Thanks for a fun (and unexpected) weekend!