I love the Minnesota State Fair!

We may have missed a year or two but we almost always have the Jones Family Fair Day - we have had babies in strollers, babies in tummies, babies from California and the Reluctant Participants who claim they hate the Fair but are the first to send out the reminders (Amy and Ross)!  So I thought the 12 Days of Fun photo was perfect.  Lucy and Alex like almost everything at the fair including the goofy stuff, the parade, cheese curds, bull bites, Sweet Martha's cookies, for the adults Minnesota beer flights, Minnesota wine flights and honey nut ice cream...in fact we all do...all Minnesota products.
So I had my list and told them I had to see Bobby Vee (one of the loves of my life) - hmmmm - it sure did not look like him then noticed it was Robby Vee - hmmm - so I got one little letter wrong when looking at the activities of the day - gimme a break! 

Second day at the fair - get up at 4:45 am, pick up my friend Mardelle at 5:30, pick up her sister, park at her friend's house for free, get in free, get free breakfast, lunch and fun.   To do this we served breakfast for 4 hours at Hamline Methodist Church dining hall (115th year at the state fair) - we had a couple minutes of training and the lines never stopped.  I read they serve about 1,000 people for breakfast - divide that by 3.5 hours makes it 285 per hour!!!!  Not bad for a couple of retirees.  We had a great system for the "special" - we traded positions a couple times, it was quite toasty over the steam tables and if I leaned over too far for the sausage links my glasses steamed up.  So after that we spent another 4 hours at the fair making it an 11 hour day - I was tired and M and I decided we either slept like a log or a hog!  It is one of the few places that serves "Not Food on a Stick"!  Next year we want to do this more than once - it is for a good cause.

So after a good night's sleep Amy and kids invite us to the beach today - heck ya - my theme is always "Sieze the Day" and never turn down a fun thing.  It was perfect and my favorite place.  The signs of fall:  falling leaves, lifeguards gone, free parking and swim rafts put away - wah wah wah!

Alex decided we would construct the Great Lakes so we had to name them, determine which was largest and have channels in between for ships and boats.  I am working on my upper arm strength by digging sand channels.

My next post will most likely be our upcoming with certain potential for fame The Great Minnesota Dinner on a Stick for 10 people.