Today! Today! The 2012 Minnesota State Fair starts today!
The Fair is a cornucopia of fried foods, baby animals, and fun for the whole family.
My friend Jill and her husband have an annual tradition of attending on the first Saturday of the Fair. I joined them two years to follow them around and fulfill my dream of doing a photo shoot at the Fair.
This year the three of us will join with the now FIVE of them and several of our other friends for a full, fun family kind of day.
I’m so excited for Harry to really experience the Fair this year. I think his little mind is going to be blown. Will he think his Peek-a-Boo Barn app has come to life?
Next weekend my friend Sarah is coming up for the fourth year in a row. Their first two visits, Molly Beth was the only kid.
Last year we added Harry, and this year baby Mia will be with us.
I love that we get to share this tradition with them.
If you’re a Minnesotan, are you and your family going to the Fair? What’s your favorite part? What’s your must-eat food?
This stabs me right in the very sensitive homesick heart. I’m a Minnesotan transplanted to Kentucky and I’m trying not to think too much about the fair and its sweetness.
I always like to go on Thrifty Thursday (that’s today!). Mornings during the week are quiet, uncrowded and cool and my sweet hubby and I would make it a long date day wandering around the fair.
We always love to try whatever bizzare thing is new (camel on a stick!), cheese curds from Mouth Trap, walleye on a stick and lefse with lingonberry jam. And the people in fanny packs.
We definitely go for the food and the people! I keep wondering if I could justify a two-day trip “home” to satisfy my longing…
You should come home! It’s the best part of the summer!
You’re making me SO sad! We just moved to Kansas City last winter (after a lifetime in MN) and my heart aches for the MN State Fair! It’s been the best part of summer since I was tiny – I was very advanced as a toddler/child (ahem, reading to my preschool class at 2/3, reading chapter books/newspaper at 3)… the summer I was 2 1/2 my mom asked my dad, “When are we going to the s-t-a-t-e-f-a-i-r?” and I got so excited – “We’re going to the state fair!!” No fair for us this year
My husband so does not enjoy the fair like I do, and it doesn’t sound the same to drive 7 hours up there (alone) to walk around the fair (alone). Ha 
Enjoy! And share some more pictures from this year so we can live vicariously through you.
We really like the butterfly house. My kids could spend hours in there. The photo opportunities are endless with the butterflies that land all over you.
We don’t do the midway….would rather spend our money on food.
The kids really enjoy taking the bus to the fair and i love not having to figure out parking and directions.
We hope to make there on Monday- the coolest day.
Have fun when you take Harry…it’s a fun age to discover new things up close!
The butterfly house has always been Molly’s favorite. This year, we are scheduling an hour in there for her!
We went to the Washington County Fair at the beginning of August, THEORETICALLY, in lieu of the State Fair. County fairs are cheaper, smaller and have many of the same attractions, so in theory, it works.
Problem is, the County Fair doesn’t have Sweet Martha’s Cookies or the All-You-Can-Drink Milk Booth. It doesn’t have the baby animal barn or the Farmhands interactive farm exhibit. It doesn’t have the giant slide or Andy’s Philly steak (disclaimer: I worked at Andy’s at the fair for years) or the DNR Exhibit or the Haunted House that scares me by just walking by. (But ah. Fond teenage memories.)
I’m gonna have to go.
Oh that haunted house. I will never go in there.
Yeah. You’re gonna need some all-you-can-drink milk Kelly. We’ll be there this Saturday!
We are heading to the fair on Friday. L asks about the fair every time we are near the mall. I’m not sure if it’s the fair that he likes or the bus ride, I’m leaning towards the bus.
This year we are thankful that Grandpa Tom will be a phone call away should the kiddo start having problems or is done before we are.
Favorite part? People watching and just walking around. We just wander and see what we can. Of course L likes the kidway and we will see if he’s tall enough to go on some rides at the midway this year. Kevin is hoping for a roller coaster buddy. We are bummed that Pinball on a Stick isn’t there this year. That was one of our favorite stops for the past few years.
Must eat food? We always go for cheese curds first. Sad thing is I don’t go there for the food so I rarely eat much.
I’m so very excited that we will be there in 1 week! It’s going to be so different this year now that Harry will be able to enjoy it and we have baby Mia to drag along.
Also, the pictures of Molly through the years kills me. I can’t wait to add many, many years of photos!