Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Great Minnesota Get-Together

This past weekend Alex and I headed over to St. Paul for the Minnesota State Fair, also known as "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It was the first weekend and we were warned that it is better to go during the week. Unfortunately, we had no option. 

We were very impressed with how the whole thing was organized. They had free bus rides to the fairgrounds. All we had to do was go to one of the 20+ spots across town and hop on. They dropped us right off at the gates.


As soon as we entered the gates we headed directly over to the Miracle of Birth Center. They had a variety of farm animals all ready to give birth. This was one of my favorite spots at the State Fair. I could have stayed here all day. 

As we were walking around they kept announcing that a sow was giving birth. We walked over and saw all of the piglets squirming around. They were so cute! This pig was not so cute. I told her to stop being such a pig and close her mouth when she eats. 


Then we discovered the baby sheep. I almost died. They were so little and so fluffy. I just wanted to hold one. This little guy was my favorite.


As we continued to walk around the building we discovered baby ducklings and even watched baby chicks hatch. And then there was the cow. There was a cow laying down in a huge gated area laboring hard. We stayed and watched her give birth to her calf. You can see the Veterinarians pulling out the front two legs.


I was completely awe-struck by the whole experience. From watching her push, to the not so pleasant part of giving birth, to seeing the hooves and the nose and then whole baby calf. The Vets pulled the calf over to the front so that the cow could start cleaning her. This was by far my favorite part of the State Fair.


I wanted to stay and watch the baby calf try to learn and stand up but Alex was anxious to see the rest of the State Fair. We headed off to the Dairy Barn where we saw the butter sculptures of the State Fair princesses.


I was amused by this sign. 


Leave it to Alex to find hockey at the State Fair.


We went into the butterfly house which sounded fun and cool on the outside. However, once we were inside I felt completely different. My fear of multiples (strange but true) hit. All of the butterflies flying around and landing all over the place really freaked me out! So I was out in record time.


After that we headed over to the carnival part of the fair. We got sucked into the sideshow and watched a man swallow a sword and a little person eat fire.



There was so much to do at the State Fair. We weren't able to do it all. Perhaps next year we can hit up the rest of the stuff or pick and choose better what we want to do.
 

2 comments:

Kristan said...

Aww, baby aminals! Although "Miracle of Birth Center" as a name is kind of... yeah.

Haha, the fear of multiples strikes again!

Mattie said...

Wow! That state fair sounds WAAAAY better than the one here in AZ. Paul and I only go there for concerts!