Day Seven Sept. 2nd, 2010

Shortest visit yet!  I got off work at 4:30 and told Stella to be ready to jump in the car!  Changed out of work clothes and grabbed a water bottle and off we went to connect with Aunt Kathy (Mom's sister) and her daughter, Stella's Godmother, Becky and her girls.  Always a State Fair tradition!

We got to Mom and Dad's at 5:00 and knew we had to leave again by 6:30 to get to school in time for Stella to do her duties as a member of the National Junior Honor Society, and take new 7th grade families on tours of the school. ( School function?????Don't they know it's the fair?)

We had no phone numbers for the cousins that we needed to connect with so we made a beeline to Mom, who we knew we could find at the bandshell...where else would she be?  Leaving Stella at the back of the crowd, I cruised the aisles to find her.  I usually find her on the first pass, but tonight I made it to the front and was rounding the corner when she quickly stood and waved.  I turned heel and retreated, and as I walked back up the aisle, I was thinking I must really be in the way because ALL of the crowd seemed to be looking at me.  When I got close to Mom she was looking just past my shoulder and I turned around to find, unbeknownst to me, the wireless Bass guitarist and lead singer had jumped off the stage and followed me down the aisle and was right behind me!  I turned and screamed and the crowd roared as he screamed like me!  I think it was funny!

Now, trying to be as little as a girl my size can be in the aisle, already having made a spectacle of myself, I quickly transferred phone numbers to my phone.  I exited the bandshell area and tried to call Becky and got some poor lady in Lincoln who couldn't figure out why people from this area code kept trying to call her!  I then tried Kathy and had her number wrong too.  Back up the aisle I went and got the correct area code for Kathy or so I thought.  WRONG again,  I finally got the numbers and we called and found out they were just up the street.

Becky and Kathy

We caught up with the cousins in the Education building, where the girls were thrilled with the free loot they had collected so far.  They had to show us ALL of it!  We found a few more wheels to spin and pencils to collect when we got the text from Mom she could no longer hold seats, for the talent show was about to start.

Kathy headed off to join Mom and the rest of us girls headed for food. We all needed to eat some dinner and I asked if Spaghetti Eddie's would be good and Camden was very excited, but Riley just wanted steak and potatoes!  (Daddy's girl?)  Her Mother, the Becky I knew, had been a vegetarian most of her life!

Margie, Becky, Stella Camden, Riley

As we headed for a hand washing break we ran into Margie (Mom's other sister) and she suggested we get in line for the free backpack giveaway at the UofMN.  Riley and Camden could not resist!  The line for the packs was two blocks long, but Margie (a veteran fairgoer) knew the lines are sort of a jumbled mass of people and she stayed close to the front of the pack. They were able to get in and out quickly!  I stayed back with the stroller, but sent Stella in to get hers!   As we waited in line the QuitPlan people were giving out water bottles.


Double freebie score!

on a side note; I realized that I just celebrated three years of being a non-smoker yesterday!  It sort of all started at the fair, the virus, the subsequent pneumonia....That Labor Day Weekend I drove myself to urgent care with a 103 fever....seriously!





We got Pizza, pasta and sodas at Spaghetti Eddies and right next to it was the deep fried twinkie booth.  Riley jumped right into the wooden cut out and wanted a picture!  Here I finally have a kid who will stick her head in anything and we can only spend 15 more minutes with her!








Riley needed her steak , but as we walked over to Axel's to get her bull bites, a dark cloud came out of nowhere and the skies opened up, pouring rain and hail!  Stella and I sought shelter under an awning with the girls sealed up in the burly stroller (with a bee BTW) and Becky ran for the beef!





Sadly, as we ate our food out of the rain, Stella and I realized we had 5 minutes to meet Grandpa outside the main gate for our ride to get her to school on time!  The rain was lightening up and with promises of Saturday back at the fair, I kicked off my shoes and we ran all the way back to the main gate.



We spotted Sophie and her boyfriend Dan (more cousins...yes the WHOLE family is at the fair any given day!)  emerging from their port in a storm, O'Gara's Pub!  We did not have time to chat, and kept running!

Just as we were exiting the fair Stella saw the rainbow.  Despite our need to make the light that I could see GREEN in the near distance I made her stop for a picture for the blog!

We did get our hands stamped again..."Just in case!"

We would have returned but realized we did not have the needed sweatshirts!  *sigh* my absolutely favorite Fair weather!  The forecast looks good for it this weekend though!

Day Seven stats:

Walked ??? during the week my pedometer is on work clothes and I forget to change it over!
Food Consumed by the group: Spaghetti, pizza, soda, bull bites.
Free Stuff:  H2O bottle, backpack, assorted pencils, rulers, et al

Still have to see: Fine art and that darn calf!

only three more chances!