It never even crossed our minds to go to the State Fair in the beginning. But, my brother Brent did amazing in his division at the Crow Wing County Fair Talent Show, and thus he was invited to perform at the Minnesota State Fair. Our two trips to the fair, however, will always remain as days I’d like to live again.Not a Republican in sight, was my first thought when we arrived and the first thing I saw was the DFL (Democratic Federation of Labor) booth flashing like a neon sign welcoming me to say ‘GOP, who?’ Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s name and image was on several signs, as well as several others supporting various Democrats running for positions I had never before heard. That was the first time we went. My brother lost to, ahem, dancers that decided bikinis were the best costume type. Shortly after my brother’s performance and subsequent loss, my mother bashed her head on a pole so badly that we got a chance to see the medic’s booth and an invitation to take a ride in an ambulance. Silly mistake on her part. Those darn poles just didn’t get out of her way fast enough! Out of sympathy, those kind medics gave us all free tickets to return to the fare on another day, and so we did.During our return trip, we went for the booths. My favorites were the ones like the University of Minnesota booth, and the many food booths. The Minnesota fair is all about displaying talent including that of the culinary kind! Corndogs, people! You have to eat corndogs at the Fair. But mostly the booths are filled with home-made stuff never seen in stores like macaroni and cheese cupcakes. As it turns out, you don’t go to the Minnesota State Fair for the expensive rides and toys! You go there for the inventions you haven’t even thought of yet!Of course, we did get some awesome pictures out of it.
Love the blurriness! Three of my siblings and I sit on the colossal swing. You know the one? You sit and it swings you around? Well, that’s not the point. We had a ton of fun, that’s the point!
Now, this sign caught my attention. According to their website, www.mnaflcio.org, “The Minnesota AFL-CIO is the state federation of labor representing over 300,000 members of over 1,000 local unions throughout Minnesota. The mission of the Minnesota AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families—to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our state and the nation.”
Lastly, this is my favorite of all the pictures. On the far left you’ve got the uncomfortable blonde boy aka Saxon. ‘Course, his discomfort could be because my sister is squishing his face? Said sister is Lizzie Lion, the professional princess in the family. And finally, you’ve got Brent, the winner of the County Fair.
If you happen to decide to go to the state fair you might see people who look just like us there next year—it was a blast! I highly recommend this annual event around Labor Day each year—it’s one not to miss!
Source: "Minnesota AFL-CIO." Minnesota AFL-CIO. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
