The Great Minnesota Get-Together 2011

We left Illinois Wednesday morning and headed for Mike's parents house in Apple Valley. We made it in time for supper and then tried to get the boys in bed at a normal time as we planned to head to the state fair on Thursday morning. Jonah has been asking to go to the state fair all summer. He remembered it from last summer and decided he wanted to go again! We parked at the UofM this year and rode a bus to the fairgrounds. Jonah was thrilled to ride the bus as it was his first time experiencing a ride on one of his favorite vehicles. It was a HOT day at the fair, but we had a great time. We went to the livestock barns first. They are Jonah's favorite part of the fair. And, they get really stuffy and really stinky as the day goes on! After the animals, we just wandered around and tried to check out our favorite booths. We aren't big fair food eaters so we didn't indulge in any of the famous on-a-stick offerings, but we did find some Minnesota apple cider freezes that were a fantastic help in cooling us down. We also got to watch the first half of Kare 11's 11:00 morning show. If you were watching that day, you may have just barely seen us in the background! Jonah picked one ride to go on. Not surprisingly, he picked the kiddie ferris wheel. His face was the best as he went around. He was so happy! By the time we decided to leave in the early afternoon, the boys were exhausted. We were so excited to get back into the air conditioned comfort of our mini van and picked up some Caribou coffee coolers at the first chance we got. It was another great year at the fair!

The first building we went into was the Miracle of Life barn which was for mommy animals and their babies who had been born at the State Fair.

Jonah got a cow tattoo, but sadly it came off quickly because of all the sunscreen he had on.

Watching the Kare 11 show - it was hot in there!

Cooling off with an apple cider freeze 

 After our day at the fair, we enjoyed a meal at Applebee's with some dear friends of ours from our time at seminary who are originally from Minnesota and who are now pastoring in MN. It was such a sweet time! Jonah enjoyed talking with two of their children (maybe 7 & 10?). In fact, yesterday afternoon out of the blue Jonah asked to go to Applebee's. We asked him why he wanted to go to Applebee's and he said, "I want to talk to my friends!"