stick a plastic fork in us...

the wife, kids, and i clocked in at 8 and a half hours at the fair today, a new personal best. here's a short list of fair delicacies we indulged in (i skipped out on the pronto pup): sausage breakfast pizza, frappe', pronto pup, gyro, sweet martha's chocolate chip cookies, turkey sandwich, a trip to the all you can drink milk booth, and a gizmo (beef & pork italian sloppy joe). it sounds like a lot but it was spread out over the entire day - ok, maybe it's still a lot? an aggressive but talented salesman at the merchandise mart was able to procure me a "2 for 1" set of german towels, i.e., super absorbent chamois's. these towels soak up six times their weight in liquid and i was scant able to resist after seeing the demo with my own eyes. we also caught a glimpse of "squeaky" the states largest boar, checking in at 1,240 lbs., hit the giant slide, and little farm hands. i was also able to sneak away to check out some of the cool (and not so) illustrations, paintings, and photography at the fine arts building. we also enjoyed taking in a free show under the air-conditioned big tent at the state fairs version of big top chautauqua, a musical show by local legend warren nelson and friends, which is an entertaining an descriptive narrative of minnesota's history set to music. other attractions were getting a bunch of autographs from local news personalities including, alix kendall, erik matland from fox 9 news (not pictured - briefly forgot about the cell camera), mike pomeranz and julie nelson from nbc kare 11 news, and frank vascellero, and jeanette trompeter from cbs wcco channel 4. it's always fun, but by the end of the day i'm always done...at least til next year.