Minnesota
Fair and Family Fun, August 2006
In August 2006,
we went out to Minnesota to visit with Robert's mother's family. We carefully
timed our visit to be on the opening weekend of the Minnesota State Fair--and,
as it turned out, on cousin Jerry's 26th birthday (on August 26th--his so-called
golden birthday) and Robert's mother's cousins the Blewetts' 50th wedding anniversary
on August 25th.
We stayed with
cousins Mark and Vanessa, and Robert's mother Judy flew out from Colorado and
stayed with her brother, our Uncle Frank, and Aunt Martha (and Jerry, and Brian).
Highlights
of the four-day weekend include:
- Getting
through security at Logan Airport in Boston
- Soaking
up Minnesota atmosphere (read: farm animals and food-on-a-stick) at the State
Fair
- Surviving a near-tornado
with golf-ball-sized hail our first night in the Minnesota
- Tapping a 2.5 gallon keg
of 1919 draft root beer and loving every brown-sugar-saturated sip of it
- Enjoying farm-fresh tomatoes,
basil, cucumbers, squash, and corn at every meal (and as snacks in between
meals)
- Identifying tractors and
construction equipment with three-year-old Brady and Mark
- Going
to the Mall of America with Mark, Brady, Brian, Anne, Judy, and Aunt Martha
- Experiencing
the female family members' Perkins brunch with spilled water and many shades
of green
- Treating Jerry (and Brian)
to a birthday sushi lunch at Sakura on 4th Street in St. Paul
- Feasting
on Aunt Martha and Uncle Frank's birthday bash for Jerry, with all-you-can-eat
sweet corn, fresh from the garden, and crab legs
- Being
climbed on, hugged, woken up, walked on, talked to, and showed stuff by Brady
- Going
on another one of Uncle Frank's famous hayrides Saturday night
- Visiting
with various relatives, including Angelina and Camille
- Eating leftover crab legs
for breakfast on Sunday morning
- Stuffing ourselves on
the Blewetts' anniversary brunch, complete with Aunt Mugsie's pizelle cookies
and delicious strawberries and zucchini bread
- Indulging in grilled sausages
and more corn for a farewell supper
As always, everyone
in Minnesota was so warm and welcoming that we can't wait to come back--I promised
we'd talk my parents into coming out another time, perhaps even next summer.
Next year in Minnesota! (Isn't that how the saying goes?)
Go back to web essays or over to links.
robertandchristina.com
was made with a Mac.
© 2003 C&R Enterprises
Email christina@robertandchristina.com
or robert@robertandchristina.com
Created: 8/28/06. Last Modified: 8/26/06.