Ah, the Fair.

An annual tradition is the Minnesota State Fair. Usually we go at some off hour, a Thursday evening perhaps, to avoid the crowds. Alas, with two kids, you work on kid time. That means morning into afternoon, and for daddy working, that means the weekend.

We had fully intended to get an early start to the day. I did not set an alarm, expecting that Isaac would wake up at his usual early time and we could be at the fair before 8... so naturally we all slept in until 7:30. We didn't get to the fair until 9, but that was still early enough to avoid all traffic and get a decent parking spot.

We started with the "Miracle of Birth" building, and saw calfs, lambs, ducklings, chicks, piglets, the works. My favorite was a "ball of ducklings" - around 2 dozen tiny ducklings piled up under a heat lamp. That building is always very crowded, however, so we had to escape the crush quickly.

We did our thorough tour of the animal barns, somehow taking a wrong turn and walking into a show ring... The Roosters were all crowing in the poultry barn again. Isaac loved the crowing and laughed every time he heard one go. We also saw a goat competition being judged. Bella parked herself and watched the whole proceedings intently. Afterwards, she milked a goat and got a good squirt off... She was all business about it - as though she was doing them the favor.

We met up with Jenny and family after getting two beef tacos into our increasingly grumpy Bella... a little protein and the prospect of Jenny re-invigorated our girl! We stopped in for face painting, and were pleased/amazed to see that the painter was Lulu, who does face painting and balloon animals at Byerlys weekly: She is a true artist of the face paint, and turned Bella into a very cute dog, and Jenny into a silver cat.

The girls went on a few rides on the "Kidway". One of them was a Pirate ride, which seemed a bit scary for Bella, but hey if Jenny was going on, so was Bella. They both emerged looking very serious - they would not be going on that ride again. They stuck to the more silly rides - spinning monkeys, floating boats, you know the drill.

This evening we asked Bella about the Pirate ride, and she said "Jenny said it was pretty scary - good thing I kept my eyes shut the whole time!"

Back to the Fair: We didn't quite enter the same state of food frenzy we have in years past: Something about 9am doesn't sound right for Pronto Pups (though that didn't stop me from having a Pronto pup at 10am). Also, Isaac was a bit of a handful: With the crowds and the litter and the animals, we had to either have him in the stroller, or carry him. And he's in a very "live free" mode now, so the restrictions were chafing him. So instead of running up to every food stand, I had to think "how will I eat this without him knocking it out of my hand?" More often than not, I passed.

Anyway, here's the score:
Jim: Egg+bacon Sandwich, Waffle with Strawberries, Pronto Pup, Strawberries and Cream, Beef Burrito (Tejas).
Pamela: Egg Scramble, Caramel Roll, Cheesy Hashbrowns, Deep fried pickles (which she loved, and would eat every single day if available).
Bella: TWO beef, cheese, and sourcream tacos. One brownie.
Isaac: 2 bottles. Almost a cigarette butt, but I was fast enough.

In the end, we did make it through 5 hours of the fair, and hightailed it home around 2. Isaac, having refused to nap at the Fair, dropped off JUST as we wheeled the stroller into the parking lot. Fortunately, he got a good 3 hours (30 min on the drive, and after a successful "transfer", another 150 minutes at home).

Into the evening, I mowed the lawn (and was eaten alive by the mosquitos), and Pamela good a good nap in, too. The kids all went to bed around the proper time, so we should have a good night of rest!

And that was the fair. Next year, Bella will want to do more things, and Isaac will be unstoppable. You may be reading about our visit on CNN.com.