Day Two August 27th 2010

Governor's Fire Prevention day!   My favorite day at the fair did not let me down!

Stella did not want to get up this morning blaming it on the new pillows we purchased yesterday.  Yes they are nice pillows, but it was more about being 13.  We didn't get moving until almost 9:00 :(  and only with the promise of Fudge Puppies again.

We started by walking throught the Kare11 Health Fair (to get our bags) with the ultimate destination being the Fudge Puppy booth directly on the other side.  The irony was not even lost on Stella! In the Health Fair, Stella practiced the new compression only CPR techniques and we battled the Germs and impressed the volunteers with our comprehensive hand washing! 






Why do you quickly run through the Food Building? 

To get to the other side!

  BREAKFAST!

Then down to the DNR to let Stella try her hand at Archery and the shooting Range.  She was a crack shot at both!  25/25 on the Clay targets and 4/5 arrows on target!  That's my girl!  It was suggested to me by a Female Highway Patrolwoman to look into a Mom/Daughters outdoors program that the DNR runs.

To the Fire Trucks!

The banner and Sparky the Fire Dog welcomed us to Emergency Vehicle Row where we saw truck upon truck lined up to offer us tons of freebies and the opportunity to learn!  We got tote bags, and pencils, punch balloons, hot pads, sunscreen and more pencils, fire fighter hats and ashtrays ( even tho I don't smoke anymore....they were FREE!)

We stopped at the local St Paul Firefighter booth and they had a stove set up with information on what NOT to do in the case of a grease fire.  The guy asked Stella what she would do and her response was to put water on it.  ( I guess I have failed....)  He instructed us to continue down the road to the Grease Fire DEMONSTRATION!  No bread making, knitting or clogging demonstration could beat this one!  Here is the Video:

Burning Oil and Water DON'T MIX!

After all the excitement we went under the Grandstand bridge to see the Window Escape, the Red Cross dollhouse and the Regions Burn Unit.  Sadly the burnt dummy was not in attendance this year.  Usually a source of great curiosity for Stella.

Off to the Ball Park for cheeseburger and fries for lunch at a lovely table in the shade of the big screen TV's :)

We got a great tote bag with water bottle holder and zipper pocket at the Bremer Bank, and walked up to the Peace Pavilion. Not quite what we thought it was, simply a place to purchase any "peace sign" related merchandise you ever wanted to find! Oh and they have a GROOVY Van! Cutting across the North end of the Kidway we found  a few more wheels to spin.  ( we LOVE to spin wheels!)

 

Stopped and had our pics taken at the Bicycle Card traveling show. (again NOT what I thought it might be, there were no free cards, just these silly pics.)

Then on to the Sensodyne traveling show to get our free toothpaste!  Since the Alphabet people were having trouble getting their uploads to work here is the "retake" I made Stella take part in today!  She would not do hers this time, but let me make mine!

Stella had her stomach set on a malt from the Kiwanis booth so she got that and then we strolled the Hall of Technology.  Didn't see too much new this year, so it was a quick trip!

Home for Stella to work and weren't sure if we were heading back, but Stella just got home and wants to meet up with cousins!  Here we go!

Upon our return we hooked up with the cousins at the Leinie Lodge Bandshell for the tail end of the talent show.   We were thrilled to see the kid who won the finals in the junior level last year with I'll be There, sing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.  I have a short video clip of it.  The song was a bit high for his range, but wow can that kid sing! We'll see how far he goes if he is there next Sunday! 
Talent Show

Then there was the wardrobe malfunction.  A kid came out and danced with his pants completely torn open.  Not sure if it was intentional or not, but just made for sort of an uncomfortable silence around the area!

Stella and I met up with some friends at the Ball Park ...again, and had my first beer at the fair.  Ahhh cold beer and fun catching up with friends.

Texting out at the fair had a bout a half hour delay tonight, so every now and then I would get 8-10 messages of where I should have been before and answers to questions long ago asked.  It was rather comical so we gave up and went old school and just called each other...that worked!

We later caught up with Grandma and Keira down by the Grandstand and we went to the....drumroll please..... MIDWAY,

 For those of you who don't know, I hatched this plan when Stella was younger that we did not set foot in the Midway until Labor Day when we came with Daddy, and otherwise there was only ride a day in the Kidway. As she was tall enough for Midway rides since she was 7, this rule has saved us a fortune over the years! It also kept her from begging for rides every time we went on the grounds. This was a great rule when we came almost every day!  Well, now that she is too tall for any Kidway ride but the Ferris Wheel, and she is packing her own well earned money, the rules can be bent a bit.  I have to say it was a blast walking through tonight with my Mom :)  I realized my exclusion of her also excluded my Midway wanderings!  Since Randy only likes to come early on Labor Day for part of the day, we never really went at night.  I forgot how great it all is!

Stella was too tired to walk home, so she, Grandma and Kory caught a pedal cart back to the house.  She is already sound asleep as I type this.

I don't think I can get Stella to go tomorrow, but I am going to head out for a bit and see some of the stuff she'd rather skip!  (Fine Arts, Creative Activities,etc)

Stats for Day Two:
Walked only 8 miles today
No sunburn, reapplied at noon!
Food Consumed: Burger, some fries and a slice of pizza.  oh and a beer :)
Grammie's Bench: still AWOL
Free Bags: 4 (Fire Fighters, Bremer, St Thomas, Health Fair)
Baby cow report: none