2010 state fair

even though there wasn't a great forecast, we headed out to the state fair this morning. matt and i took the day off so that we could avoid the weekend crowds this year. and the kids were both super excited. especially once we pulled into the parking lot and they could see the rides. even mason was pointing out the window and babbling excitedly.


thankfully, we were there early enough that the rides weren't running yet and we could get back to the rest of the fair first. that is after we waited 25 minutes at the ticket window for the staff to figure out how they were going to handle our prepaid "groupon" tickets that included cream puffs (a wisconsin state fair staple). we waited in three different lines before ending up in a line with all the other "groupon" people and some poor ticket window staff that just didn't know what to do. this lady behind me in line was getting very ugly and at 8:30am, it was just too early to be that angry. i let her go before me even though madelyn and mason were starting to cry because of the wait when we were so close.


once we got in it was great. here are some pictures with captions to share some of our day at the fair.

the day started with lots and lots of pointing. here we are gearing up in the parking lot and mason can't wait. and madelyn was so excited to see the ducklings swimming in the little kiddie pools. i wish that i had known that her reaction would be something equal to christmas morning so that i would have taken video.

there were lots of activities to do throughout the fair grounds. mason left the stroller for a few minutes to color but was too distracted by the 6 cows laying in the straw across from him. i think he was a little awestruck by their size and how close we were to them when we came through the door of the barn. madelyn was really excited that there was a dinosaur exhibit similar to the zoo's (except indoors and not nearly as scenic). and there was even a kid sized tractor pull. when the kid working this activity started loading her up with weights i wanted to laugh because i didn't think that she was going to get very far without the weight. madelyn was just excited that her tractor was red. mason missed the dinosaur exhibit because he was taking this uncomfortable looking nap. his only for the day.

and more fair fun. madelyn got temp tattoos, gave a stuffed pig a vaccine with a syringe (without a needle), and did a ring toss for another temp tattoo. temporary tattoos were by far the most popular giveaway at the fair today.

madelyn and i with the worlds tallest living horse (at least that was what the sign said). i mean why not take a picture? we were at the fair, right?
i think that there are two things that say "wisconsin state fair" to all that see them. one is the cream puff and the other is the slide shown here. matt's comment was that madelyn is braver than he thought. she climbed all the way up the stairs holding his hand (all the other kids her age/size were being carried). and here is a video of her first state fair slide with daddy:














next comes the food! anything and everything on a stick. madelyn and i shared a corn dog, we all shared sour cream and chive fries (this is one of my favorite fest/fair foods here), three grilled cheese sandwiches (wisconsin in the cheese state), cream puffs, and matt and my favorite - flavored milk for a quarter. madelyn enjoyed her cream puff, at least the part she didn't drop on her shoe. and mason gulped down my root beer flavored milk. he liked the banana milk too but the root beer one he couldn't get enough of and cried when it was gone.
madelyn said that her favorite part of the fair was the ride on the farris wheel. it is a good thing too because it cost $8 for matt and her to have a ride! we thought that was crazy expensive for such a short ride, but how often do you get the chance to ride a farris wheel? she liked that they could see miller park from the top. i was surprised that she and daddy would wave down to me from the top (when they were stopped up there for loading/unloading; that is something that i would not have been able to do.

all and all a fun day at the fair. it was nice to have the vacation time to go on a week day. and while naps didn't happen, leaving us with cranky kids, they were both in bed asleep for the night by 6:45pm! love.