Well, our vacation in Minnesota is over, but I have to say, we had a blast! With a family reunion at Minnehaha Falls Park, a trip to the Minnesota State Fair, and lots of great family time, how could we NOT?

For those who don’t know, it’s been my husband’s dream to take his wife and child to the Minnesota State Fair. So this year, when Zoe’s school was closed the EXACT WEEK that the fair opened, fate was finally on his side. Plans were made immediately, including a review of the Fair website to walk down memory lane (and make sure that Tiny Tim miniature donuts and “All the Milk You Can Drink for $1” were still part of the deal). They were.

On the day before the Fair, Bart let his whole family know that we would be leaving at 6 am the following morning to arrive when the gates opened (he was insistent). Thankfully, it was more challenging than he thought to get a small child, her parents, her grandparents, two uncles and an aunt “all in” for a 6 am departure. We were there by 9:30 (and honestly, most of the vendors didn’t open until 9, so that was more reasonable).

Here are some highlights:

FACE PAINTING! (See tiger above – this happened instantly and let’s just say the tiger lost it’s mouth pretty quickly…)

PIRATE HOUSE with Uncle Don! (He’s still thanking us for having to squish down that slide)

FIRST ROLLER COASTER with Uncle Gary! (This did not go so well… She didn’t cry, but she didn’t like it. Apparently the “up and down was scary”)

SPINNING MONKEYS with Auntie Andrea! (Without much spinning – oh, and she kept calling it an elephant)

BUMPER BOATS – alone! (Watch out folks)

DANCING ON STAGE! (She dances like her mother…)

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And to top it off…

ALL THE MILK YOU CAN DRINK FOR $1 with Daddy (Turns out this was just one cup of milk, but hey, a guy can dream)

At the family reunion she got to see Aunts and Uncles and Cousins she hadn’t seen in over 2 years, which was really wonderful – Bart Johnson has an incredibly terrific family. And Zoe really enjoyed her time with Cousin Dylan, the closest cousin (Uncle Gary & Aunt Teri’s son), who climbed rocks, played with stuffed puppies and legos and dinosaurs and so on and so on.

And she got to blow out birthday candles with Cousin Molly (it was her actual birthday!) and Grandma Ruth, who shares Zoe’s birthday of September 1st.

And those are just the highlights. OH, and she got to meet Dora and Diego at the Minnesota Children’s Museum! OH, and AND I got ZERO mosquito bites. I’d have to say, this Minnesota vacation was a huge success :)