A Blue Ribbon Day

We watched a fair princess have her likeness carved in butter and robots play a game of tag. Sam got his Monkey with a Tool Belt book signed by author Chris Monroe. We walked through a haunted house and saw some cows being milked. We marveled at the prize-winning fair entries -- from commercial cheese and student art to pies and quilts. We ate fresh cut french fries while scoping out the midway, pausing for Sam to test his skill at a ring toss game. We walked from one end of the fairgrounds to the other -- for a second time -- just so we could eat meatloaf on a stick. We rendezvoused with Tom at the CSS booth and started a pin collection. We caught the tail end of a bee beard demonstration. We devoured deep fried Oreos. Sam rode his first roller coaster with his Dad, both coming off  the ride with big smiles and a little bit dizzy. We took pointers from a honey harvesting demonstration.

We liked everything we experienced at the Minnesota State Fair, except that Sam was a half-inch shy of being tall enough to drive a go-kart and we didn't have room for those deep-fried twinkies on a stick. There's always next year.