Vacation: Day 1 Wisconsin State Fair

I'm on vacation this week.  It's my first vacation since I started working at UW.  I am a spoiled public worker, so I get a week's vacation--without pay.  How lucky I am!  Good thing I'm married to a librarian, and we are independently wealthy...

Anyway, we went to the Wisconsin State Fair.  I love going to the state fair.  I do not love going with my MIL.  She pretty much just wants to go to have a cream puff and go home.  So--we didn't go with her (I'm sure there will be repercussions later...)

So we don't usually ride the rides at the state fair, unless it is the Sky Glider.  And with the 20mph winds, we skipped that this year.  But we did the kids activities in the DNR area (denuded this year--you could see the budget cuts from past years, when they had passports to get stamped and would earn little prizes, like bird whistles.  No passports this year--just a temporary tattoo).

I love food on a stick.  I am a sucker for anything on a stick, and Wisconsin State Fair has an entire section on their website about food on a stick.  Not joking.  It's here.

So we started with Deep Fried Oreos (not on a stick, but still good).

 

Next, we stopped at the sponsor-of-the-day PATRICK CUDAHY.  Doesn't get better than bacon samples--and their bacon samples were cinnamon rolls with bacon bits.  Sounds gross, I know...but it was yummy.

Then Emily got a "Fair Do".  It looks awesome.  We haven't attempted to wash it out yet, but it looked good:

We had our traditional corn on a cob, with Emily and Nick opting for frozen bananas on a stick.

We had cream puffs (Anna opted for the colossal brownie).

We had bacon wrapped tater tots--on a stick.

Then we went to the WE Energies arena to look at the art work, and found Information...on a stick:

Emily and Nicholas had (very messy) chocolate covered bacon...on a stick:

Other notable foods on a stick:  Cream cheese and bacon on a stick (not bad) and Fat Elvis on a stick--peanut butter cup deep fried in banana batter.  It is uber delicious!!

It wasn't all just food on a stick however.  We went to the draft horse judging and had front row seats.  Needless to say, Anna was thrilled.  Our other 2...not so much.

All three of them begged every time we went by the foot massagers, so as our last hurrah--foot massages for everyone!

It was a fun day, but by the end, the kids were getting on my last nerve.  I had a rum and coke, and a beer, and I was in a much better mood for the ride home.  I shoulda started drinking at 9am.  I love my kids--I hate when they whine and complain, especially when taking them to amazing things I never got to do as a kid.  Like EAA last year--we're watching the Harrier take off, it was an amazing, incredible moment in the middle of a thrill-a-minute air show...and my kids were bored, picking grass.  They are just spoiled.  Not bratty spoiled, certainly not rich spoiled, but they see so many fun things, they don't realize how special it is they are seeing them.

Coming soon:  Vacation Day 2: Farmers Market and Timber Rattlers :)