The Great Minnesota Get Together

Every year for a week and a half at the end of August through Labor Day the wonderful state of Minnesota hosts the annual State Fair. It’s known to us locals as the Great Minnesota Get Together and it truly is. People from all over the state and probably even the near surrounding states flock to St. Paul for rides, animals and food on a stick.

Going to the state fair has been an annual tradition in our family since I can remember. We had a brief hiatus while we were living in Chicago but started back up the year we moved back and this year was no different. This year it was just Angel, Rowen and I that went and we had a great time as usual.


I am not normally a large crowd kind of person but something about the fair makes being around and bumping into all of those people ok…just for one day. Here is a photo I took last year at the fair of the sea of people. This is what every street throughout the fair looks like just about every day.

We do our fair share of eating which is always my favorite part but we also take in everything we can stand within a 6-7 hour walk. One of the first spots we usually hit is the CHS Miracle of Birth Center. It is a large barn full of animals that have already given birth or are waiting to give birth. They all give birth in this barn for everyone to see. There are cows, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks, turkeys, and chickens. This year we had the privilege to watch one of the cows give birth. It was very cool!

Another area we usually go to is machinery hill. This is where they have all the tractors, lawn mowers, boats, RVs etc. Its fun to look at what is out there but mostly we go there because Rowen loves getting on the “tractors”.

We usually take Rowen to the Rainbow Playground "booth". They have a few of the playgrouds on display that the kids can climb around on. Its a big hit with all the kids.

It gets to be a long day with a lot of walking so breaks are needed…

and maybe a nap…

but it’s always a fun filled family day and we have always been blessed with great weather. We are already excited for next year!