Subtitled: Pigs are hot dogs!
This is a story about a mom and her plans for a perfect day at the fair.
Ha.
Nice try, lady.
I have read that the Minnesota State Fair may be the largest state fair in terms of daily attendance.
After our visit this past Wednesday, I would say hmm.
I suppose that’s accurate.
Let’s just say that one doesn’t attend this fair to get away from the crowds.
Rather, one goes to the State Fair to eat.
Food “on a stick” is a novelty here. Anything and everything is served on a stick…
…including the non-State Fair-sanctioned “hair on a stick,” which George smacked down with relish.
(Although, he said, it needed salt.)
(In addition to the relish.)
We don’t just go to eat, either.
We go to take pictures of our children eating.
They’re just so earnest and…
cute and…
Gaaa! How did that photo get in here?
I had no sooner purchased this ear of corn—one of the best, incidentally, that I have ever consumed—than I was surrounded by midgets parading as sharks.
“Hey!” My 5-year-old was quick to protest. “I don’t like pepper on my corn!”
“Exactly,” I retorted.
(One day I’m going to go to the fair by myself, and I won’t have to share a single thing.)
(Not to be selfish or anything.)
The Miracle of Birth Center is also a very big draw, because you can watch the farm babies being born.
It’s true! We got to watch a litter of piglets come out!
“Watch” being a relative term and all.
We visit the barns because they make us feel like a farmer.
That is to say, they make us scratchy.
And finally, we go to meet our sisters-of-the heart.
I found there to be an uncanny resemblance between these two—the dreamy expression, the long-flowing ears locks.
They were like twins separated at birth.
Really, there is no end to the knowledge that one can gain about farms…
…including the fact that “Pigs are hot dogs!”
Which is what Angela called out to the author of this book.
(The author agreed, by the way.)
(I appreciated her honesty.)
The girls were given a free copy of the book, which Angela asked be inscribed to her. “Write ‘To Angela,’” she requested. “The second-to-youngest; the bravest; the wise.”
Cate objected to this inscription.
Now, one of the things that I appreciate about my children is that they are fine with the knowledge that pigs are hot dogs.
This means that they are usually willing to try new things.
Like chunks of alligator…
…and Sweet Martha’s chocolate chip cookies.
(Okay, this one wasn’t that much of a stretch.)
There’s really no such thing as “enough.”
Thank you for understanding.
I take my Sweet Martha’s chocolate chip cookies seriously, you see, and can say in all earnestnes that they are why we go to the fair.
No, I take that back.
They are one of the reasons why we go to the Fair—and why we put up with all the madness. There are many other reasons, you know, and they are called simply…
OK,,,which is sweeter, the cookies or those kids of yours?? Don't worry, you and the young'ens will burn all of those calories walking the park.
Margaret dear, you have the LOVELIEST blue eyes!!!!!
signed
Theresa in ALberta
I went to the MN state fair this week too. And Alligator was on my menu of food that I tried! Eating was the activity of the day, good thing the fair is huge and I walked a lot!
brave soul for commenting how about brave soul for going.
that first picture is enough to send me running for the margaritas.
I HATE crowds. My purgatory will be the Mall the last Saturday before Christmas followed up by a State Fair and rounded out with Disneyworld over Spring Break.
I am a people person but in SMALL groups. 😀 We don't even go to our little local food festivals. You see, in rural TX, ever town has a food festival.
Poteet Strawberry Festival
Stockdale Watermelon Festival
Floresville Peanut Festival
complete with Peanut, Watermelon and Strawberries Princesses and courts.
Torture, sheer torture for me.
Margaret, Your posts always make me smile! Have a great weekend! +JMJ+
Your post makes me wish I was going this year with my kids! We have had other family and friend stuff planned…but I definitely want to go next year! Thanks for reminding me how fun it is!
Did you give George a martini? I'm thinkin' that looks just like a martini olive!
Great pics, good memories. Sure wish you wouldahad a corn dog for me! 😉
Those last three shots are the sweetest pictures. So cute!
Really great post, Margaret! I'm not sure I'm brave enough to battle the crowds at the MN State Fair … with all my kids in tow. The ND is quite big enough for me!!
Hahaha!! I usually just lurk, but I had to laugh, because you're absolutely right! We went to the MN state fair yesterday, and pretty much EVERY photo I took shows my kids eating something. We were thinking that the cold and windy weather would thin the crowds, but nope… The crowds were still there! This was only our second state fair, since we moved to MN last August, and we still get a huge kick out of the whole "on a stick" thing.
I have some bad news for you…you can actually buy Sweet Martha's cookies in the freezer section of Cub or Rainbow. Plop them on a cookie sheet and in 8-10 minutes you're reliving the very best part of the Minnesota State Fair without the crowds and long lines. I know, I know, they taste a tiny bit better when dispensed into a bucket but winters are long here and Sweet Martha's cookies might make a great reminder that Summer always comes around again!