Minnesota State Fair

We made our first trip to the Minnesota State Fair with Alice today. I have a ton of fond memories of the State Fair from when I was a kid (my Dad worked on Machinery Hill, and Carrie and I would run around all day), so we decided to start Alice early and get her used to the GREAT MINNESOTA GET-TOGETHER.


This gopher greeted us at the entrance right off of Como that Carrie took us to. We came in right behind the livestock barns and right onto the (then empty) Midway.


Our first sight was this zany Magnum PI ride. How old is that show anyway?


Then Mommy covered Alice in sunblock. Gotta be prepared.


Our first stop was the horse barn, and we got a few close-encounters with real live horsies. Theyr'e a lot bigger than in Alice's picture books.


Alice as a Mounty? Doesn't quite work for me.


We then had a quick breakfast, and then swung through the cow barn. We opted to skip the sheep and pig barns, because the smell was getting to us. Next stop was the DNR area, and Alice got some live music and saw a lot of freshwater fish.


My next great idea was to take Alice on the giant slide. I thought she'd like it. After climbing to the top, I started to wonder if this was the smartest thing for a 1-year-old. But, before I knew it, we were on our way down. I was holding Alice tight, and I could hear her making some "nervous" sounds. It wasn't until I got to the bottom, that Carrie and Jaime let me know that her hat had come down, and she missed most of the ride. This photo cracks me up.


Next stop was the grilled corn-on-the-cob stand. We shared our corn with Alice.


Carrie enjoyed her corn.


Lots of people there, huh Alice?


Had to get a bucket of cookies. We heard this gal makes over a million dollars a year selling cookies at the State Fair. Crazy.


Will Mommy share? YOU BETCHA.


But I won't share my Pronto Pup!


Just under 5 hours, and we were all beat. Alice totally passed out in her stroller and got a nice hour snooze in. We packed everything up, and were home by 2 p.m. Whew!

Playin' Round the House

What a clown. Alice having fun (ie: bothering) Nipsy, and mugging for the camera.


"Can you see my tooth? Kinda!"


One of Alice's new games is "close the door." She's getting pretty good at it.


"See ya later, sucker!"


A cute walking pic.


I brought Alice out on the front steps for some playtime on Saturday. She decided she'd just climb the steps...


...and hand me all the dirt on them.


Planning the next step.


Almost at the top.


Back down at the bottom. "Wassup, Dad?"


ABRA CADABRA! All our Harry Potter reading must have rubbed off on her.


Checking out a passing cyclist.


This is the "I want to go inside now Daddy" face.

Cutest Picture Ever

Is right here....


Will try to post some more this weekend, right now I need to go to bed. It has been a long tiring week.

Tooth and Stuff

We finally have a tooth! Alice's first tooth (bottom right) poked through her gums last Thursday. This would explain the crabbiness and continued clinginess. I was beginning to think we were going to have to have her fitted for baby dentures. ;)

Alice is getting more mobile by the day. She took her first unassisted step on Saturday (to Sara) and then did another the next day to try and get Nipsy. Nipsy was very relieved that she didn't make it too far, but she had better find a good hiding place soon.

Alice's other new trick: Drinking from a straw.

Playing with the magnets on the fridge (and the dust mop hanging next to the fridge)

Big smile

No Daddy, you can't see my tooth! No more pictures!

Alice trying to give Mae a hug. She is used to hugging the cats and gets a little aggressive.

Looking out the window with Ada and Mae

Let me out of here!

Rare not-in-the-car nap caught on film


Alice pulling ALL of Daddy's video games out the cabinet. You would think she would get sick of doing this after the third time in one day. You would be wrong.

More Birthday Pics and Beyond!

Alice loves her new bus. It moves too fast on the hard-wood floors for her to use it as a walking tool (for now), but she love to ride it around the house and the music it plays.



Playing with her cousin, Zach.



Swimming with Zach. The "Green Swim Team" was assembled, but not all in the pool at the same time. Bummer!



Opening some presents.



The big cake!



The little, messy Elmo cake that I made for Alice. She wasn't sure what to do with it at first...



But then she got into it.



Had to put on her party-hat!



Getting messy...



"Mmmmmmm.....sugar....."



The aftermath.



Party balloons!



Grandma feeding Alice post-party dinner.



The life-sized Elmo looked scary at first...



...but he's not scary! It's Elmo! Give him a hug!



A nice photo with Grandma and Grandpa before they flew back to Vegas.



I had to help Alice out with her building block toys.



Sitting in a box.



Some rare nap-time. She looks so sweet.



We had a garage sale this past weekend, and Alice was helping. It was cool and rainy most of the day, so she got to try out her rain-coat that Carrie got her.



Hanging out in the garage, on Nick and Sarah's tires.