Woke up early because….well…puppy.  I’m not sure I’ll sleep in again in 2018.  Gray (my youth) was supposed to arrive from St.Olaf via the Northfield bus.  They missed the early one and was now scheduled to arrive around 11.  I took the opportunity to get the blog started.  This is a time-consuming process.  I’m a slow, error prone typist who struggles with coordinating Google photos, photo editing and collage apps.  I made blog headway, and retrieved the youth from the bus stop in the pouring rain, returning home to continue blogging and prepare for an afternoon at the fair, rain or shine.

While unattended, the puppy decided to dig a hole to China in the newly rain-soaked back yard.  The mud was overwhelming, but with help from Gray, we cleaned up the dog and the house and departed for youth shoe shopping, lunch, a dental appointment and rain poncho purchase prior to arriving at the fair.

Michael started out to the fair early today and sent out news of his triumphant victory at Machine Gun Alley!  He won a drone!  

I was feeling like I was behind in my State Fair game, but we finally got over to the grounds around 3:30.

Gray (Stellan) Quale is now 21.  I’m not sure how exactly that happened, but they stepped up to O’Gara’s to purchase their first legal beer.  A Guiness…grandpa would proud.

 

The youth had a food agenda, Michael had no agenda, and I just needed a drink.

We headed to the Ball Park and on the way I remembered to stop into the U of MN booth and visit Sarah K (my graduation assistant!) in the CLA area.  I’m an Alumna now, so I’m legit!  They have a fun photo booth set up and Gray and I jumped in!

I, of course, forgot to take a picture of Sarah!

We stopped by the Ball Park so Gray and Mike could grab a burger, real, good, food.

These two, Nate & Shelly, still smiling!  It’s only Day Two!

With a nice burger base, my two companions wanted to get corn.  I had to stop for Pie #3.  Still Blueberry, and of course, ate it so fast, there is no photographic evidence.  This dear friend Julie can attest to the fact there was a blueberry pie consumed, because I gave her a bite!  

We’re all wet from rain and sticky from humidity, but somehow it’s still a bit chilly out!

Next stop, corn.  Another one of Mom’s favorites!  I brought along dental floss and picks, and was contemplating setting up a side table, selling picks or a foot of floss for a buck, so I could buy more corn!  $4/ear this year, but still so good!  I’m surprised the corn people have not capitalized on this concept yet!  After corn hull removal, we headed over for a margarita slush, or two.  Then to the West End, where the kid wanted to try the Nordic Waffles aka Vafler!  Gray went for the classic berries and cream and it was delicious!  On this rainy day, we didn’t even have to wait!

We ran into the Sue & Andy B. from church and apparently there is a drinking experience going on with a few church participants and I coined it as Brogger Beer Bingo!  They have a chart and list of all the new beers they need to try, and I wanted to know how many it takes to WIN!!

I stopped for the fried pepperoni chips from Lulu’s, and could only eat half of them.  They were not as deliciously greasy as those that perch atop a freshly cooked pizza, which I remove one by one prior to actually eating the dough below.  They were sort of dry but accompanied by a chipotle cheese sauce that made them better.  

Mike and Gray were completely uninterested in sharing them so I dropped half the boat with Sarah Sweet at her i like you shop!  Wished her “Good Fair” and meandered out to try to make a talent show!

After all the walking yesterday, the pace was quite slow and we knew we would not get to the bandshell in time for a 6 o’clock show.  We decided to head to Baldwin Park to catch the County Talent.  We trudged up the wet, soggy, and as Michael calls it, “rained on, street pizza” path but there was a glimmer of sun peeking through!  It might not be a total washout!  There was an act on stage as we waited for the talent show to begin and we just couldn’t bear it.  It was a menagerie of trash band music,  maudlin stories, and a magic act, where the audience had to use their imagination…because it ~really~ wasn’t even an illusion.   We were too tired to sit and endure it for another half hour until show time. Sadly I feel like we’re dropping the Talent Show ball.  Not sure if we’ll ever fill Mom’s talent show shoes!

Concluding there really wasn’t anything else we were hungry for, we made our way back to Mom’s around 7pm.   A text from home requesting cookies came too late and fell on four tired feet, and went unanswered for today, with a promise of donuts or the sought after cookies tomorrow!

A meager 4 miles and 10K steps today,

and this includes walking the dog, aka my black tipped lawn shark.  Here’s Lola!

 

Walking out, I snapped a quick pic of one of the beautiful floral troughs that adorn the main gate.  I should have tken the pics yesterday, as today they are a it tattered by rain and people.  BTW, the grass is almost all gone already and it’s only #2hardday.

 

 

Ending the day at Mom & Dad’s house, without them, pajama clad, retelling the parking stories of the day, and sharing their adventures, is such a very hard thing to do.  Walking by the bedroom window as we make our way up the driveway, there is no need to “be quiet, in case Dad is asleep”  It just makes me profoundly sad.

Despite the tears and sadness, I’ll do it again tomorrow.

#12harddays