Just like the Dakota County Fair, the Minnesota State Fair has become a family tradition for the three of us. This year, I was VERY excited because the adults had tickets to the Def Leppard concert on Friday night. The last time Def Leppard was in Minnesota, I was 8.5 months pregnant, and was not able to go. They are my absolute favorite rock band and I just couldn't wait to see them in concert.
Our good friends Pete and Jamie came with us for the day and then to the concert that night. Mallory was excited to go, but once we arrived she was a bit lethargic and just wanted to sleep. Very unusual for her, so I was worried she might be getting sick. She perked up a little to eat a few cheese curds, but REALLY perked up when she saw the Giant Slide. Who doesn't love the Giant Slide? Mallory got a real treat, because not only did she get to ride with me and Christopher, Pete took her for a ride too! She was just beaming after each trek down the slide.
Pete and Jamie took off for a bit, this was a good time for us to head to the Kid Way so Mallory could enjoy some more rides. This was after a pit stop for some roasted corn on the cob of course. One of my favorites at the fair! Once at the Kid Way, Mallory was WIDE awake. There were a few rides I had to accompany her on, and then there were a few she was able to ride herself. Either way, she was smiling, laughing and having a great time. Mallory is such a great kid when it comes to this kind of event and environment. She never whines, always waits patiently and I have never seen her shed a tear. She is usually disappointed when we run out of tickets, but she has yet to throw a fit. We are so blessed to have such a well behaved little girl. Mallory and I rode the Balloons together, along with the Bumble Bees. Mallory was able to ride the Animal Train, 4x4 Riders, Water Whales and the Kiddie Ferris Wheel by herself.
After about 90 minutes or rides, we ran out of tickets.
We went in search of Jamie and Pete to reunite. Once we found them, it was time for more food. We were at the State Fair after all. We headed to the French Fries stand. Mallory seemed to have her appetite for those french fries. After she had some num nums in her tum tums, she took a nap. I can't believe anyone can sleep with all that noise, but when you walk around the fair, that's all you see, a bunch of babies and toddlers taking naps in their strollers. Crazy. Mallory napped for about an hour and when she woke up, she wanted to see some animals.
First we checked out some horses, but as Mallory said "I smell like something" which translates to, I smell something, and "it's stinks in here" which means exactly that, we left the horse barn. I have to side with Mallory on this one, the horse barn STUNK. Off to see some cows. The jerseys they have at the State Fair are HUGE! They are fun to look at, but don't provide any other kind of entertainment...until this year. There was one, younger brown cow that was almost smiling at us. He was super cute, and kept giving us this look like he was about to give us a zerbert. I didn't think to grab the camera, well, actually I did, but I wanted so badly to have that moment with Mallory not be interrupted. I have the memory in my head and that's good enough for me!
Onto the Swine barn. Mallory got to see a HUGE sow, and huge doesn't even describe it. She was GINORMOUS! She had just had babies, so we also got to see piglets that were five days old and pet them! Mallory was squealing with delight, ha ha ha.
Before we knew it, it was 5:00PM and Grandma Dee was at the gate to pick up Mallory. She was so gracious to take Mallory overnight so we could go to the concert. Before we could meet Grandma Dee at the gate, we had to get her cheese curds and a pronto pup. It was her request since she was not attending the fair. It was the LEAST we could do for Grandma Dee! I have since found out Mallory ate a few of her cheese curds on the car ride home. Little stinker!
Since this is a blog about Mallory, I won't go into detail about the concert, but I will tell you this much, Mallory's parents (that would be us) had a GREAT time. It was a very good show, worth every penny for the tickets, and we are so grateful we were able to have some us time.
The State Fair has always been a symbol of the end of summer for me, and while that means the snow is soon to fly, we sure took in as much of summer as we could this day. I just love the State Fair and seeing it through Mallory's eyes enhances the experience to a level that is hard to put into words. We're evening thinking of going back for another evening before the 2011 fair comes to a close.
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