MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk

The Fair's Fair

Yesterday marked my Third trip to the Minnesota State Fair this year. Usually I go just once, with DH and kids, maybe twice if DH and I can get away for a "date." But this year I went last Saturday with a group of Betsy-Tacy fans (we're friends from a listserv, and two people flew in from other states to go to the fair for the first time). It was interesting to go with a new bunch of people, to see what are other people's fave things to do there, to introduce newbies to the fair experience. We went on the Olde Mill ride, the very mellow rowboat down dark tunnels/lover's lane/silly displays ride, which I haven't been on since DH and I were young and in love/before kids. We went through the animal barns... which we used to do when the kids were little and into animals. We showed the newbies the biggest pig (1200-some pounds), the big mama pig nursing her babies, goats, sheep and assorted cows. We wandered all over and for some reason, ate lots of fish (walleye fingers, walleye on a stick, walleye-cakes, salmon) and other fried foods. And we took the Sky Glider ride, which is like a ski lift that takes you from one end of the fair and back again, slowly with your feet dangling. Me and my partner (one of the newbies) quickly discovered our fear of heights heightened (for me, the feet dangling made my legs and stomach feel whoozy), and the ride took forever and left us panicking. We had, however, bought round-trip tickets, so we knew we'd have to ride back. After we walked around awhile, we paired up with different (calmer) partners and I used mind-control to calm myself down and wiggle my legs so I wouldn't feel so afraid. It helped that we could look down on a motorcycle-parade going on under us, a good distraction.

The second trip to the fair was Monday night, when DH and I went after dinner, just a quick trip to go see a free concert. Brandi Carlile, a folk singer who opened for the Indigo Girls last summer at the zoo, was performing. It was totally packed and we were lucky to get a bench in the back where we couldn't see a things. We could hear though (despite the annoying people behind us who kept talking, things like, "Is this the song I've heard on the radio?" "I don't think it is." "It might be." Etc. At the start of every song, until when Brandi finally sang her most popular song, "The Story," I wanted to turn around and shout, "Yes, THIS is the EFFing song, so shut the F up!" Why go to a concert and talk through the songs, even if it is free? Brandi played for 90 minutes, so it was definitely worth the $8 admission price to the fair! We were there late enough to see the fireworks, too, which was fun. There are fireworks every night of the 12-day fair.

Then yesterday we went again, Dh and I with the two boys (DD didn't really want to go this year). Actually, the 13 year old went in the morning with 2 friends, dropped off by another parent. They had a blast and enjoyed their freedom, and by the time the friends left, the rest of us arrived and so DS met up with us then (he was out of money, so he was happy to see us!). We spent about 5 hours wandering around, going to see the art building (a favorite of us adults), the Eco building, the educationa and creative activities buildings. We shopped around the newly revamped and spiffy International Market (which used to be rather seedy and crowded, maybe like going to Mexico), ran into some friends and chatted, ate even more fried and non-fried food, and even sampled the Pig Lickers-- chocolate covered bacon (me and one DS liked, DH and other DS didn't). We topped the day off with a big bucket of Sweet Martha's cookies and milk from the All-You-Can-Drink Milk booth.

We were relieved to get a seat on the shuttle bus that would take us back to the park-and-ride lot, where we hobbled to our car, tired and full and Fairly Happy!

Re-discovering Fudgesicles!

I've been trying not to have ice cream in the house too much, since I'm trying to eat better/lose weight and I do love the stuff. It's too easy to eat more than 1 serving, and the kids always make themselves big bowls when it's around. So better to go out for a cone once and awhile, even though it costs so much more.

BUT, yesterday I picked up some fudgesicles on a whim at the grocery store. My mom bought these and ice cream bars a lot when I was a kid, so there's that comfort-thing going on for me with them. It was a nice treat last night, something cold and chocolatey, and it's much easier to eat 1 serving when that's all you've got on the stick. And they are only 90 calories, 1 gram of fat. There's still the high fructose corn syrup to contend with, but maybe I'll look around for a healthier brand (but I'm not doing the non-sugar-sweeteners). But for now, these are a good little treat to have when I want something sweet... small and satisfying.

And I can go back to those memories of ice cream dripping down my arm on a hot day, trying to lick fast enough to keep up with the drips. Licking the popsicle stick clean and then trying to sharpen them into pointy "knives" on the cement steps. Running through the sprinklers, scabs on my knees...

Home Again, Jiggedy-Jig

This is the summer of mini-vacations for us, which is turning out just fine (easier for DH to get the time off for a day here and there). There was Con-vergence, the sci-fi convention in town here in early July, which we got a hotel room for, a strange fun getaway on our own turf. A few weeks later, it was 4 days of South Dakota, driving-driving-driving and seeing lots of amazing landscapes.

And now we just got home from our 4-day trip to Davenport, Iowa, to visit DH's birthmother, who we are close to and who just moved there from Tennessee, and his half-birth-sister who has lived there awhile. Davenport is a mid-sized town with quaint older sections and expanding newer sections. We really didn't try to DO anything there--- we wanted to relax, so we hung out together playing games and watching the Olympics, cooking, talking, shopping a bit, going out to a movie, and visiting bookstores. The Sleep Inn hotel was nice with a good breakfast and a little exercise I managed to use twice! We let our twins with their permits practice driving on freeways there and back for awhile, and that was okay too.

DH and I even managed to go to a service at the little Unitarian church in Davenport. We happened to drive by it and thought we'd give it a try... it is always something we mean to do when we visit another city but usually sleeping in or doing something else is too tempting. But this time we let the kids stay at the hotel and veg out and we went. It was a little awkward to make small-talk in the social hall for coffee before the service. People were friendly enough but there were gaps when we stood around unsure of ourselves. The service was very nice and reflective, with an okay speaker (ministers are often on vacation in summer), good readings, songs from the same hymnals we use back home, and the great feeling of being at home in a new place because we all share the same religion. We really have only been to one other UU church besides our own, so it was interesting to see how another church does things. And the small building was gorgeous, with so many windows around their chapel with a view of their woodsy property.

August came on with such a whirl-wind for us, maybe now I'll have a chance to cool it down a bit. We had DD in the kid-section of the Uptown Art Festival the first weekend in August, showing and selling her work (she does drawing, painting, photography, mixed media and computer art). She has never done this kind of thing, so there was a lot for us to do in helping her get ready, like figuring out how to display work, what to sell, figuring out how to make prints of her work, putting together greeting cards made of her photographs, etc. In addition to that, she and her brother turned 17 that weekend, so there was birthday stuff to prepare, a birthday barbecue we held to have friends and family over... too much to do!

Now we're down to a few weeks of summer... it feels like a blur all of a sudden. We haven't gone to the beach even once (teens don't seem to be big on this). We'll have to see if I can get them there sometime...