The Minnesota State Fair: Come for the Food, Stay for the Thrill of Seeing It All Through a Kid's Eyes

Sadly, summer seems to be winding to a close. We visited the state fair today, which highlighted the ending of lazy days swimming at the beach, playing in the sand, and sleeping in until noon. Well, the first two at least.

Being the jaded, old people that we are, neither Steve nor I had been to the fair in several years, always grumbling about the exorbitant costs and the toll taken by trans-fat-laden foods on our aging bodies. But this year, we decided we had to make the trek for Bry, and we were richly rewarded for our efforts by the unbridled enthusiasm of the kiddo at nearly everything we saw, from the tractors and trucks:

Drive! Drive!

To the giant slide:

(Bry and daddy are in the lower right corner.)

To the food:

Torn! (i.e., Corn!)

Being an equal opportunity enthusiast, Bry also proclaimed the virtues of every trash can, street sweeper, balloon, and various letters and numbers that he spotted. We of course visited all of the animal barns, glimpsing numerous "sheeps," bunnies, horses, cows, pigs, and randomly enough, pigeons. Who knew that pigeons were such a big exhibit at the fair? Because we had spent roughly 45 hours ogling and climbing all over various farm tractors, "eh-vers" (excavators), dump trucks, and "buh-doze" (bulldozers), Bry was listing a bit by the time we got to the animals. We chose to forge ahead, bravely skipping naptime in the service of further educating Bry in the art of sounds made by various farm animals. Bry proved his mettle in recalling that sheep say "baa," cows say "moo," horses say "neigh," and pigs say "oink, oink!" Bry seemed most impressed by the rabbits for reasons beyond our comprehension. He carried on lengthy conversations with the quivering fur balls, saying, "Hi bunny! Doing? Sleeping! Eating Casey food! Hopping!" (i.e., "Hello rabbit, what business are you carrying on at the present moment? Oh, I see, you appear to be sleeping. And you over there, you're dining on some delicious chow that resembles cat food. And goodness, the hopping! Bravo! Carry on, then.") (In my head, Bry converses in a British accent. Not sure why.) As Bry was falling asleep tonight, he mumbled, "Hi Bunny!" to himself over and over.

I'd say our fair experience was a success. In short, to shamelessly steal a major credit card company's marketing slogan:

Fair admission: $22
Assorted foods on a stick: $38
Watching your son enjoy the fair for the very first time: Priceless.