Family Fun at the MN State Fair

Wednesday, Pharmie didn't have to work. So we loaded the boys into our "Chariot 2" and biked to the Minnesota State Fair (about 3 miles away).

SIDENOTE: Our Chariot is "convertible." We bought the "running" front wheel and the "bike arm" attachment when we got it a few years ago. The night before we headed to the fair, Pharmie went out and bought the "stroller" attachments: 2 small front wheels that pivot. (Chariot was bought by Thule, so technically, it was a Thule stroller kit.) That way we could (1) move around the fair easier without having a slide around a big non-pivoting running front wheel, and (2) we wouldn't run over as many people because the stroller wheels don't stick out 2 feet like the running wheel. And look at how nicely the stroller wheels can be "stowed" - here they are on top of where they go, and I just had to take them out and click them underneath (and unhook the bike arm) when we got to the fair:

Sweet.

It had rained overnight, so the roads were wet. So we had to have the plastic weather shield down for the ride to the fair so I didn't splatter the boys with mud. Charlie was a little sweaty when we got him out:

The free "bike lot" at the fair. My bike still has the Chariot "bike arm" sticking out.


GO TWINS!


Henry couldn't take his eyes off the "Sky Ride" next to us.

Our first stop was the Horticulture Building because I love the "honey sticks" that are just $0.25. (Head to this post on my Root Beer blog to see those.) After that, we headed for the kids "farm experience" on the far side of the fairgrounds:

This guy LOVED the machinery!




Milking a (fake) cow with gusto!


More tractors.


Beating up his brother to get the best seat. Seriously, we have an issue with slapping.


MINI DONUTS! He has part of one in his mouth, and there's another sitting next to him.


Getting sleepy after looking at the sheep, cows, bunnies, and pigs.


Asleep on Mama around noon.


A diaper change before packing up.

We saw lots of "kid friendly" things (like the bees in the horticulture building, the fish and snakes in the DNR building, and all the 4-H farm animals), and ate a lot of stuff. Our final food tally is:

- 4 honey sticks
- turkey jerky
- fruit snacks (Charlie) and popsicle (Henry) from the "farm experience"
- mini donuts
- licorice
- shawarma
- deep fried cheese curds
- deep fried cookie dough
- a "good" soft pretzel (not a cheap take-it-out-of-the-freezer-and-microwave-it kind)
- cotton candy

We got back to the "bike lot," popped off the stroller wheels, put on the bike arm, and loaded up:

My wife posted this later that afternoon saying "The fair wiped out daddy, too."


Henry eating left-over cotton candy that night in his sunglasses from the fair.

Here are a few other State Fair links: I went out earlier this week to make one of my "4 a.m. photos" at the fairground. See that here on my Photo Blog. And here on my root beer blog is more about the goodies we had this year. Oh, and here's a post from last year with a cute 3-year-old Henry:

A year ago with my big guy.

Back with some notes on a solid week of training on Monday. Happy weekend!