Grandma and Grandpa Came to Visit in August

Neither Chris or I have ever been to a State Fair. That means, of course, that our kids haven't either. 

But we decided this was our year.  We could manage it with the kids we had and we would have two more sets of helping hands. Next year, with an almost one year old....well, we just aren't so sure about how that will pan out.  So, this was our year.

We asked around about the best things to do and picked out some things that we wanted to do too.  We had a wonderful time!  Some things were interesting, some disappointing, some were tasty, some were totally awesome, but all things combined to make a fabulous trip to the fair for the whole family! 

Not necessarily in order (and I seem to be missing some...don't know where they are!)

We got Cream Puffs. Had to try them at least once since they are the most selling fair food at the WI State Fair.  They sell over 300,000 in the week the State Fair goes on!

 They were pretty big-one of their claims to fame.

 I had pre-purchased a number of tickets and we went on a day when all rides were three tickets or less. (Totally the way to go!) I was really amazed by how brave the kids were, even Sage.  They rode several rides that went high or went fast and they could have happily gone on all of them several more times.  Next time I will by twice the number of tickets!

We visited a number of the  livestock barns but those are among the missing pictures.  We briefly went through the horse barn and some of the drafts. They were quite impressive and I could have happily spent more time in that barn. 

 We also ate fried cheese curds, sampled flavored milk, watched a drill team warm-up, saw the pig races and went to the bathroom several times.  (I have to note that the bathrooms were surprisingly clean.  I noticed several being cleaned while we were there and really appreciated the seemingly constant attention they received throughout the day!)

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We were looking for one more adventure to have while Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Max were with us.  The kids had time to kill before school and it was hot and I was huge.  We wanted to do something fun with our time with our guests but I also wanted to take advantage of those extra hands that made a more elaborate outing more feasible.

Grandma hunted around online and suggested Cedarburg, a small tourist spot about a half hour north of us that had a covered bridge.  We decided to take a chance.  I wasn't sure how the kids would do with "going and seeing" things rather than "going and doing" things. But I had those extra hands...

First we walked around an old industrial mill converted into shops.  The shops had some cool/cute/trendy items but the neatest part was the up and downs and nooks and crannies of the old mill. Luckily one of those crannies had a bathroom because Ian had to go.  

The kids did great at looking and not touching and walking instead of running.  I was still in a good mood by the lunch!  We went to a restaurant in another old building but asked to eat by the river. It was picturesque and cool by the river.

 Luckily, the restaurant had a bathroom because Ian had to go again as soon as we sat down. 

And maybe best of all, all my kids ate their lunch!!  It seemed a miracle to me, so picky are my kids!

As we were finishing up lunch Ian had to go to the bathroom. Again! We had to wait in line this time and luckily, some nice old man let Ian go first.

After the miracle lunch we walked down by the river and started counting all the hidden and not so hidden frogs and let the kids throw sticks into the river.  I was a little worried about them falling in since I didn't really want to go swimming in the green stuff to get them out but we managed to stay dry..for a time.

 Grandma and Grandpa had discovered a fun surprise for after lunch. We went to investigate and found this:

You put marbles in and as they run down the spiral it sounds like the keyboard to a piano!  Very cool.  I wanted one until I realized how much I would hate in the first two minutes of my kids playing with it.  It got really loud with marbles at all levels!

As we walked back to the van we made a stop at a candy shop for dessert treats. Everyone got to pick their own thing which they loved, but they didn't have a bathroom.  Luckily, they could tell us where the nearest one was.  So, we stopped there before piling into the van to go find the covered bridge, just a few minutes out of town to the north.

The covered bridge was right by a park area and this turned out the be the kids reward for doing so well in the morning.  It was time to "go and do!"

 Upon arrival, Ian had to go the bathroom.  Luckily, (or unluckily?) there was a porta potty. Since it was a warm day, after checking out the bridge we ventured down to dip our toes in the water.  Well, dipping our toes was the original intention but that soon changed.  I tried to roll up shorts to minimize the wetness but I am pretty sure that by the time we left they had all fallen on their rears at least once!

 This turned out to be one of those rare perfect family outings.  We didn't have any break downs, fits, tantrums, disobedience, whining or anything else that can set parents or siblings on edge and take the fun out a a great little trip.  It was a heartwarming, fun, fall-in-love-with-your-kids-all-over-again kind of trip made possible by Grandma and Grandpa and the only thing missing was Daddy:)