Minnesota State Fair 2013

Andi, Tory and I made our annual trek to the Minnesota State Fair on Monday. It was a balmy 97 degrees outside and my tired pregnant legs have been giving me all kinds of grief this past week ... so it was basically the worst time to visit the fair with a small toddler in tow. But! We went anyway because it's a great little tradition of ours. We can't not visit the fair every year. How could we pass up the chance to make our annual State Fair Video?

Minnesota State Fair 2013 from Andi on Vimeo.

[video link here]

The fair was hot (very, very hot) and we were all a sweaty mess within five minutes after arriving ... but, there were hardly any crowds due to the heat and we still had a great time. I mean, deep fried pickles. How could you not enjoy yourself? YUM.

I made Andi pay for ridiculously expensive parking in someone's front yard across from the fairground entrance because I knew I'd be hobbling out of there by the end. Guess what? I was. MONEY WELL SPENT.

First stop was The Bailey House to see Andi's sister, Lindsay, who works at the fair full-time. She brought us some cold bottles of water and took her dinner break during our visit so she could walk around the fairgrounds with us. We stopped for honey-made ice cream (a new fair food for us!) which was a refreshing treat. We also cruised through the Food Building to eat fried cheese curds. They weren't very appealing in the heat, but they're a fair staple and always delicious.

Tory and Auntie Lindsay

Party of three (... next year it'll be four)!

Tory was in a bit of a funk since she didn't have much of an afternoon nap, so we decided to cruise over to the animal barns next to pep up her spirits. Surprisingly, the Miracle of Birth Center was practically empty and we were able to get up close to all the animal babies. Tory was beside herself with excitement once she saw the sheep, ducks, pigs and cows. "Mommy cow! See that! Baby duck!" she shouted over and over again. The fair was even more enjoyable this year to see the excitement through Tory's eyes.

Of course we stopped by the deep fried pickles booth (because, obviously no trip to the fair is complete without them) and enjoyed a hot, crisp Pronto Pup. We definitely ate less fair food during this visit due to the sweltering temperatures and the fact that Andi started a three-day juice cleanse this week. He's usually the food instigator at the fair, but I think he was a little nervous to pump his body full of greasy, fried food and then cleanse for the remainder of the week.

Next, we made the trek to the Little Farm Hands exhibit. Last year, Tory was just old enough to walk through the "farm" and I knew she'd really enjoy it now she could navigate it on her own. It was so adorable watching her ride the little kid tractor and carry "animal feed" in her farm bucket. At the end, she got to "buy" ice cream with her harvested produce at the market. It's safe to say the ice cream was her favorite part.

As we were leaving the fair, I asked Tory what she liked best and she said "farm." Though since Monday night, all she's been able to talk about were the sheep and baby ducks. Since our fair visit, we've read every farm book we have at home. Girlfriend loves barnyard animals!