I'm only a week late posting about our adventures at the State Fair. (That's still better than my vacation pictures. It's been a month since we got back from Michigan and I'm still only half done with that.) It's kind of sad how much I've already forgotten. But here's what I remember of the Great Minnesota Get Together. (The fact that I have photos to jog my memories is purely a coincidence.)
It was hot that day. Really, really hot. Hot as in sweat dripping down your back and be careful which booths you check out in the Grandstand because there were stinky people everywhere.
The other thing I remember? We seemed to spend most of our time at sports-themed activities.
This was the first time ever we've gone without the rest of my family. So we let the kids call the shots. Most of the time. The Twins booth was AJ's first choice.
He played in a mock game. Three innings in blazing, late morning sun. Sydney and I missed most of it, heading to the neighboring Bazaar in search of smoothies and tutus. It's amazing what she remembers from previous visits.
When AJ's game ended, we did the pitching game.
After watching the kids each do their best to throw strikes, Jeff couldn't resist trying it out, too.
Sydney got to pick the next activity. And guess what she wanted to do?
I think we did the Grandstand after that. Nothing worth photographing there. Though Jeff managed to find a very practical souvenir. A towel that holds water and stays cold for a really long time. He wore it around his neck the rest of the day.
As long as we were close, Sydney had to ride the carousel.
And then we moved on to another of AJ's favorites. The sportscaster set in the Fox Sports North booth. On the drive to the fair, AJ had asked, "Can we go to the booth where you get to pretend you're a TV announcer for the Twins?"
"Sure," Jeff answered.
Sydney heard something else, asking the follow up question, "Dad used to play for the Minnesota Twins?"
How she came up with that stumped us all. "Where did that come from?" I asked.
But AJ had already moved on to correcting his sister, "Sydney, Dad was never good enough to play for the Twins!" He paused. "Ummm, no offense, Dad."
It was while at the booth that AJ heard - from one of the Fox Sports North girls, of all people - the news that Justin Morneau had just been traded. Good thing he was wearing a Josh Willingham t-shirt that day.
And then we moved on. To more sports. I forget the name of the building - it was for some sort of sports viewing package via satellite I think. The St. Paul Saints had a cool set up. Air blew from the cone, making the ball float while AJ attempted to hit it.
This was also the site of AJ's major heartbreak. The Vikings booth had a plinko game. Drop three discs into the touchdown slot and win two tickets to a game. Of course the line to play was about a half hour long. At last it was AJ's turn.
Disc #1: touchdown.
Disc #2 Touchdown!
Disc #3: (by now the crowd was going wild) it bounced down from peg to peg. It looked to be veering off to the side but then suddenly started moving back to the center. Everyone was cheering. It hit the final peg - just above the touchdown slot. And bounced in the other direction. Incomplete pass.
AJ was devastated.
I tried to cheer him up, pointing out it would only have been two tickets, which would be enough for Jeff and I, but not for him to go. He paused for a moment, but then went back to being disappointed.
Good thing the fair also offers Sweet Martha's Cookies. They're good enough to cheer up anyone.
We returned to the fair briefly on Sunday to meet up with my sister's and brother's families. By then the heat wave had ended. And everyone who'd avoided the fair during the previous week ALL seemed to show up. It was packed!
AJ went back to the Vikings booth but didn't do nearly as well as he'd done the day before. We did the slide and the Twins game again. And then it was time to head home.
At least we had leftover cookies.
No comments:
Post a Comment