Soupy Tuesday

Tuesday is usually my favorite day at the fair. There are less wheels to run over you since it is not kids day or seniors day, there are fewer people and you can get through buildings and exhibits quickly!  The weather made it a hard day to love.

I knew there were some dogs I really wanted to see up in the Pet Center, so I got out on the grounds early and made my way all the way up to the north end, taking pictures of some fun things to do along the way.

The Great Big Sandbox is fun, but well, sandy and sticky.

The Little Hands Farm is free family fun, and there were very few people so I ran through and got a picture of the piggie tree!

Stella's compatriots in the sign shop do the awesome painting work on these barns!

I could not help but be drawn to the beautiful sunflowers here. (Stella's favorites!)

I walked past the Eco Playground with teepees,

fairy houses,

sand kitchen

and water and log bridges!

I got up to the pet enter to find this guy.

My dream dog.  And this guy!

I had to pay homage to the Shitzhus for Carole

and then found this critter.

 Poor guy :(

I walked over to see what you could spin to win at the Home Depot booth.

There was no line and it was because the wheel did not start spinning until 10:00am.  I took a shot of the winning wall an decided I did not need to come back and wait.  The building is still a cool place if you want to find relief from the heat!

Walking back down the hill I ran into this sweet face!

Another hard working CPLC youth on the fairgrounds!  Day Six for her and still smiling!

Only at the fair will you find tractor row, with cows driving

and "Tractor Talk" on the hour.

I really wanted to check out the YOXO toys.  They are recycled building blocks that can be used with paper towel and TP tubes.

At New Horizon we use these wipes that have orange tubes inside that would be great fun to build with these connectors!  I told the guy I was a teacher and asked about a classroom pack and if I could get a sample to try out with my wipes tubes.

Yay!

I had lots of time to check out all the Fine Art and as I walked through I found this guy!

Stella made this sign back in July and we had to look him up to see where I would find it.

He was actually there and was going to be painting!

I love this blue blown glass bowl  

 This vignette on the origin of a photobomb cracked me up!

  

I could have stared at all the facets of this "Simplicity" collage for hours.

Some paintings looked like photograph....

 And some photographs looked like paintings.....

I like the snowball irony and colors of this one.

Creative activities was quite empty as I did another pass through to find the mittens my friends daughter made!

 I was SO CLOSE to it last time and even took pictures of the all the LOTR and Harry Potter stuff around them.

The names are not on the submissions and that makes it hard to find!   This was this book & movie character display case!

It was heating up and I was wearing poor clothing for the day, so I decided to hike back to Mom's and get a different shirt and as I was walking back, I saw the flyover in honor of Military Appreciation Day.

 My friend Jan was over at the fair and she got this shot of them going over the flags.

Nicely done!  She apparently walked right into the Miracle of Birth Center and watched for 45 minutes as a calf was being born.

Ya...sure, I missed it.

Sara told me there is a puppet show about Lillian Colton, the Seed Queen, in Ag-Hort crop art aisle every day.  I headed there to check it out.

I first grabbed my Apple Cider Freeze for $1.25 and got a better look at the crop art.

 I found a bench for the show and the crowd was sparse.

I was concerned I might be the only audience member, but as they began the seats filled in!  It might have been awkward!

The show is indescribable!

These two women, dressed to camouflage with the back drop, begin with straw hats and kazoos and lead off with hand gestures acting out the recurring lines..."we use our hands to make, create and sew, the seeds of our future!" It a combination of marionettes, masks, acting and storytelling and it told of the entire life of the most prolific seed artist at the fair!

Post puppet show, I had to take a gander at the big veggies!

The heat must have taken its toll as there hrswere not many on display and the ones that were, were not at their best.  I know Stella made all the signs for this area too!

My friend Mike is an acquaintance of the giant pumpkin growing Foss family!

I was hungry for something different and my palate remembered eating Panda Palace sweet & sour chicken every day at the fair one year when I worked for the Scandinavian gift shop booth, the summer before I left for college.  I had to try it and see if it was as I remembered.

It was not.  The chicken was good, but the rice was really gooey.  For those of you who know me...this should be par for the course.  but I recently learned how to make non gooey rice and I prefer it!

I wandered through the Bazaar and this year the only thing that still appeals to me is the polish pottery!  So pretty!

It was almost 1:00pm , hot, and I had put on 12,000 steps already.  I wanted to sit.  I found Grammie Kelseys bench and had a sit down in the shade and posted to facebook my whereabouts in case anyone wanted to join me.

 I was planning to just sit and wait for the parade to pass me by!  I did not get any facebook results, but I did catch my "double twins" Sarah and Sue and their twin nieces.

 Ironically I was sitting in front of the Minnesota Twins booth...I should have taken the picture with that in the background!

The parade came by and much of it is the same as years past. One thing I learned is that the cakes and pies that are on the Key's cafe float are generously donated to all the float drivers, managers and assistants!   My main interest is that shotgun rider in the Princess Kay float!

Her driver Sara, apparently enjoys my "pop up" appearances as I walk to parade route in different paths and suddenly appear next to their truck!  I guess it would be "parade stalking"!

After sitting for an hour and catching Stella in the fourth parade unit, I had to start walking.  I wanted to catch a glimpse of the Foundation brick in honor of Debra Frasier, and so I walked through the brick path of the Bailey House.

Not only did I find that one, but I was happily surprised to see this one in honor of my brother & his wife!

I then headed over to get a pie!  As I waked through the food building plaza, I ran into this sweetie Olivia and her family!

 (one of my former toddlers!)  Mom & Dad were grateful for the chance meeting, since having spent much of this hot day at the fair, they were ready to go home but Olivia insisted on getting up to the Alphabet Forest to see me prior to leaving the fair!  No side trips needed now!  Love this face!

I never did get pie, since I heard the parade approaching and wanted to get another stalking picture!

I was HOT, the humidity was increasing and the breeze was decreasing.  I decided my best bet was to cool off with my first Kiwanis malt before my shift.

I took my place in the photo booth, and I find that when I get there, I am regenerated by the fun energy of all the kids enjoying themselves!  It was fun to get through a very busy burst of customers in the booth and find this sweet note written on the comment sheet!

My friend Sara Q braved the heat and was wandering around the fair and came and picked me up after my shift.  We headed to the Ball Park Cafe for a beer, and I needed some dinner so I ran down to Dimitri's and got myself my first Gyro!  Sara got some garlic fries to share.

 Texts were coming in from our family units.  Stella was trying to hitch a ride onto the grounds, my brother Mark, Kim Alec & Allie were on their way to the Grandstand show.  Wednesday was Allie's birthday, and Alec surprised her with custom t-shirts and front row tickets to the R5 concert!  They stopped by for a quick hello!

Sara's family was making their way over too, so we just stayed put.  I way too hot to move very far or fast anyway!  The air was just like soup and we would pray for a slight breeze to ripple through.

Once Mike, Sara, Carrie, Stella, Grandma & I were all together, we decided a bucket of cookies was in order!

Mom wanted a night time picture on their bench!  This year I have not succeeded in getting a picture with both of them!

Now some of us were full and hot.  Walking did not seem like much fun, but there was lots of great music to check out tonight and Mike was up for some fair food sampling!  The childhood friends went off on their own to commiserate about upcoming college plans and we adults wandered for food & music.  The band at the DNR stage was OK, but like one of the groups that meets your cruise ship at the port.  We walked up Judson and walked through the Bentlyville Christmas lights display,  If only wishing it were Christmas, made it feel like it! No snow here, just lights.

We ducked into the Dairy Building a little before closing and I gave Sara my free Salted Caramel Puffed Corn Malt coupon.

 I didn't think I'd get around to using it, and I got to try one at the Taste!

Mike and Sara got a frosty treat and we wandered over to see Butterheads, wishing for the ONLY time in my life I were Princess Kay of the Milky Way so I could sit in the sculpting booth and cool off! I found the prize winning bacon.

This is my "after" picture of the pigs!  Now I just need to find chocolate covered bacon.

Mike was looking over the bios of the twelve Princess Kay candidates, and noticed that possibly the name had something to do with being a Ka-Ka-Ka-County Winner!  Kaylee, Kayla, Kylee, Kinzie, Carley....

There is a guy who makes "canoe furniture", bookshelves, tables, seating...and apparently you can buy this "Vikings" Viking Ship for $675.

 I stopped in the Duluth Pack booth and they have some of the bags that were made from the recycled dome roof of the Metrodome when it was torn down!  I might have to stop back and get a picture.  The doors were closing an we had to duck under as we departed.  Walking by the Bazaar, we heard the music of Sonny Knight and the Lakers playing on the stage.

We sat down to enjoy it for a it, hoping the girls had found their way to the Leinie Bandshell to see Andy Grammar, the one hit wonder of a song called "Honey I'm Good!", that one it gets into my head, takes days to be rid of!

I was nodding off on the bench and decided it was time for me to collect my daughter at our meeting place and head home.

I found the girls and as Stella & I were walking down Cosgrove, just passing the bandshell, and what song begins, but the one I did not want to hear.  As I type this "nah, nah, honey I'm good...." is repeating in my head!  It gave me a little lift in my step for about a block, and then we dragged out sweaty sticky bodies home to bed around 9:30pm.  This was the latest we had stayed at the fair yet!  It was dark out!

When I got home, I remembered Hormel and ConAgra foods was doing a give away outside of Ag/Hort and I picked up a couple peanut butter to go packs for Stella!

 The Muscle Milk was tossed away.