Monday

Monday, (it is now Sunday) but who is counting. I am glad I accomplished as much as I did today.
Stella woke up with no voice.  She described herself as a squeaky toy that lost it's squeak.  I immediately thought of Wheezy from Toy Story.

Today is Mom & Dad's 52nd Anniversary.  Mom had dental work and Dad had commitments at church, so their anniversary breakfast had to wait.

Mom & I went over to the fair together and headed straight for Creative Activities.  I wanted to find Claire's prize winning sweater and the little toys she made.

These were super cute

This jacket/cape/wrap was just beautiful.

We went to find Cindy's granddaughter's cookies, and I think we found the right ones!

I noticed there were no springerle this year. Maybe dad and I can enter something next year!  When there are few entries, you can usually win!

There is a lot of beautiful stuff this year!  Love this little girl outfit, all fleece and roses.

This puzzle was cool too.

I love looking at the potholders on a stick.  This year the theme was Halloween at the fair.  I love the mini donut ghosts, and The prize winner was beautifully made!

Mom & I walked into the Annex and the ventilation system was making horrible noises!  It was deafening, and must have just started.  Everyone was looking up at the vent tubing and plugging their ears.  Not sure if someone turned it off or if the system died, but it stopped!  Luckily the heat was waning and cool weather was coming!

We perused the booths and found all the freebies we could.
There is a dipping sauce booth

There are cheese and meat samples

My favorite, the d'marie wine slushie people,

There are some cool new vendors here, the dog treat people.

The Sur la table booth where they sell really cute versions of the silpat silicone baking mat.   We went home and measured our pans so we would know which size to get.

There is a silk scarf dying booth with and Ebru technique.  The dyes float on the surface of the water and can be designed any way you want.  Susi & I (my Austrian sister) used to do this with all sorts of paper!

We cruised through the Education Building one more time so Mom could get her glasses cleaner.  We scored ear plugs, and pencils too.

I had to get up to work, and it was still quite warm, so a malt sounded good!

I like to sit at a table near the Alphabet Forest and watch all the kids having fun.  I started my shift and today I was working at the Bean bag toss game.

I look up t find another New Horizon family has come to say Hello!  Frances was not sure about it all.  She is shy when I take out the camera at work too!  Her little brother will be joining my room soon too!

Every day there are different vendors parked on Wright Ave in front of the forest giving away free samples. Yesterday it was the pickle people ( I'll pass) but today I saw a McDonald's canopy.  Out of curiosity I got in line to spin the wheel.  Spin the wheel answer a question, get a bag with freebies.  Ironically, the bag contained a coupon for free large sandwich along with a note card describing how you can eat at McDonald every meal, every day and make healthy choices...and a pedometer.  Funny, there was no chart telling me how many steps I had to walk, to burn off that free large sandwich!

I was hungry for a Turkey To Go Turkey tenderloin sandwich.  I told Mom I was going on a walk and would meet her back up for the talent show later.  I decided to take advantage of my walk and see some stuff on the way!

I walked down through the HealthKare11 Booth and got a bag, and spun a wheel at Hennepin County Medical booth and got some band aids and sunscreen.

I wandered through the DNR and instead of seeing fish and game, I found Val!

There is an interesting invasive species display, but it is only open during certain hours.  If I have time, I will check back.

I had to make my obligatory stop at the family bricks inside the DNR cave.

I got to see the river trash sculpture.  As I was trying to take a picture, there were three kids climbing all over the ropes and falling into the sculpture space.  I may be becoming more intolerant of bad behavior....by parents.  I could see no parents telling these children that this is ART not a climbing toy.

I got my turkey sandwich....as good as I remembered!

I have not seen a single animal barn yet so I decided to just stop in and see something, forgetting that Monday is barn changeover day.  Nothing to see here.

My "boss" up ate the Forest likes BBQ sauce from Gridiron Outdoor Sauces.  Since I was heading this direction, I told him I would stop and buy him a bottle.  I walked past the Miracle of Birth Barn and made the decision to walk through the Coliseum first.  Poor Choice.

I stopped and bought my Simply Nuts toffee roasted peanuts.

Then wandered all the way around the Coliseum, not finding the BBQ sauce place.

Once I made full circle (or oval) I looked at the back of the coupon and learned the booth was on the outside!  I got the sauce, took a few pictures and made my way back up the street to the Miracle of Birth center. On the way I did get to see a cute Alpaca!

I walked into the Miracle of Birth and a calf was born ten minutes ago.  *sigh*

I walked up Judson through the crowds

I saw that the Water ride is working well this year and the Go karts were very busy.  There is a new booth where the Dept of Transportation used to reside.  It is called Christmas in Bentlyville "Tour of Lights"  I did a quick walk through and it is kind of cute.

I walked across the street to check out the hot tub prices.  Our hot tub is over ten years old, has a hornets nest inside the wrap and needed a new cover.  With all the repairs, Randy decided it was time for a new one.  He went to Cal Spas before the fair started and got the "Gurban Special" with his friend Jon.  I was curious if the fair had better deals.  I learned that Randy got the best deal available.  The man who sold him the hot tub was at the fair.   I did get a look at the beauty that will be delivered to our house next week!

I ran through the ball park to get a beer and meet Mom.  On my way through, you never know who you might see!

I got back up to the Baldwin Park stage and realized I was gone a little longer than I thought....and missed the talent show.  It was a short show too.

When we were at the fair with Estella, she told me about a little engraving pace where she could get a "fun size" name card.  Mom & I walked through the Merchandise mart to find it and had no luck.  I did however walk past the Gator Smooth booth.  last year I remember stopping here and they massaged my feet with this lotion.  It feels wonderful!  It is a topical natural pain reliever.  I was just sure I bought some last year.  I decided I would get a small bottle for Stella and I to relieve our aching feet.  The price tag is $40/small and $60/large.  I guess maybe that is why I decided to not buy any last year.

 I sprang for the big bottle, (we have used it every night!)   As we left the merch mart, I sat on a bench to apply some of the lotion.  I got it on one foot and was so grossed out by my own feet, I could not proceed to the other foot.  I walked around with one sore foot and one happy foot!

We stopped into the Health Fair to inquire about flu shots.  One more thing to do on Labor Day! Mom took the MN Sure Quiz and won five bottles of hand sanitizer!

Mom wanted to see what the Health Sciences Department was doing in the U of MN booth, so we walked in to find the School of Dentistry.  There was a dental care survey that we took to get a toothbrush.  I got brushes for the whole family and then I noticed kid sized ones on the next table.  It was the end of the day and I asked if the had any extras since we brush teeth every day as part of our curriculum at school.  I have some kids who don't bring them, or need a new one.  When she asked how may I needed, I told her three or four would be nice.  She gave me an entire bag!

Mom was cold.  The weather changed quickly today as the sun went down.

I sat on her front porch and worked on the blog a little and took pictures of all the freebies I hauled in that day!

As I was blogging we heard the fireworks start and got to see the out the back door!

Distance: 15,439
Freebies: Toothbrushes, chip clips, pedometer, ear plugs, band-aids, sun lotion, glasses cleaner, HeathCare11 bags, hand sanitizer, pencils and the Pope on a stick!
Food: Malt, Turkey sandwich and a beer.
Something new: I got a Pope on a stick.  Being Lutheran I tend to stick to Lutheran religious merchandise, but this guy....He's gonna change the world!