Labor Day Weekend

On our way through Wisconsin we couldn't resist stopping by this "ear of corn."  Rather ingenious of this Pioneer Seed Dealer.  Friday we took the scenic route up to our friends house.  Leigh and Dave live near Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  We crossed the Mississippi at Dubuque and took scenic highways from there.  It was great!  The DVD players wouldn't work so we did the whole trip the old fashioned way.  There were times the kids were a bit restless but overall they did very well (considering it was a 7+ hour drive).

It turned out to be very cold up North.  Of course, I remembered long sleeves, jackets and pants for everyone but myself.  Brr!

On Saturday we headed to the Twin Cities to visit the Minnesota State Fair.  Unfortunately we arrived much too late (10:30 am) and the lines of cars to get in were horrendous.  We later learned that the fair set an all time one day attendance record.  We changed our minds and decided to visit Mall of America instead.  We had promised Clark a trip to the LEGO store.  Strike 2 -- the store was closed for rebuilding and won't open  until later this year.  Seemed we couldn't win.  We did visit their temporary store which still seemed pretty awesome to Clark.  We also went over to IKEA which Clark found exciting once we landed in the children's section.

On our way back to Leigh and Dave's we visited a Veteran's Memorial in Cadott, WI.  Clark enjoyed the tank and Grant just enjoyed being out of the car.

Finally able to play outside!  Loved the slide and swing set in the back yard while food was on the grill.

Grant loved the slide!

 Clark took over camera duty!

Sunday we arrived at the Minnesota Fair VERY early in the morning.  Here are the boys ready to head out to the fairgrounds.

Grant was a big fan of the cows!

Clark was a fan of the goats

and the cream puffs

and the tractors!

Daddy tried the corn dog pizza.  Yes, that's a corn dog on a pizza.

We also went over to the Christmas Growers display to check out some fun ideas for the Christmas tree shop this year.  Only two months until wreath and tree sales. Yikes!

It actually worked out better to visit the fair on Sunday since it meant we could spend the day with good friends Beth and Jamie.  Beth was great at showing us all the good spots to hit.  We also were able to see the dahlia show and all the Romer wins!  Congratulations!  Jim, Judy, Jamie and Beth had some fabulous dahlias and won big!  Still our favorite part was hanging out with good friends at the fair! 

After the fair it was to the hotel to unwind and relax.

Boys were loving eating in!

On Monday back to IKEA to pick some furniture before the trip home.  

And of course a stop at Cabella's to view the fish and animals.  Boys could have spent the day there.

That was our weekend.  Lots of fun!  We may have to make it an annual vacation.