Last Sunday I went to bed with what I thought was just a bad cold. Then I woke up at 1 am hot, nauseous and in bad shape! I actually texted my mom to see if she would be able to watch Parker on Monday since Jimmy had to work. She was at my house that morning before I was even awake to give her an update. I was achey and still had a fever, but Parker seemed to be fine. I slept most of the day trying to fight off whatever fluish thing I had. About 11:30 that morning Parker just laid down on my parents couch so they knew something was up with him as well. He also had a fever and didn't want to eat lunch. She brought him back after a LONG nap and we lounged and commiserated together. The rare snuggles are the only good thing about a sick kiddo!
We all stayed home on Tuesday and really started to feel better by that night. But, this sickness would not let go. I tried going to work on Wednesday, my fever was long gone, but I was so hot and couldn't stop sweating! My manager ended up mentioning how flush I looked and told me it might be best just to go home and rest. I took a 4 hour nap that afternoon, so I was still fighting something! Finally by Thursday I was feeling operational! It has been years and years since something has taken me out for 3 days. Hopefully we got it out of the way and can enjoy the rest of the fall!
This post is a bit belated, but that reason is for the next post. Parker and I got the opportunity to go to the fair again last weekend with my parents. My mom got a cheap ticket from a co-worker so it was hard to pass up! We got there just before 8 and started eating exploring! We stopped for mini cinnamon rolls as a breakfast snack, Parker approved.
As always, the food was the highlight. The different ones we tried this trip were breakfast sausage/pancake corndogs, Australian battered potatoes and a chinese sampler platter.
Parker inspected the sausage pancake dog for a bit, then dug right in!
We stopped in the animal bars next, he was not fan of the pig ears like I am!
The sheep and goats were his favorite. He loved to pet them and laugh at them!
We stopped in Baldwin family park to give Parker some time to run about and burn energy. I brought our Ergo carrier this time and it worked well to give him a different perspective and stay contained. I just can't bring myself to get a baby leash...
We grabbed a quick slice of pizza around noon and headed back to the car for a break. He seemed tried on our way back and I thought he might nap. The idea of that was totally gone as soon as I took him out of the stroller.
Heading back in for another go!
He was showing signs of tiring during our second pass, but just relaxed and never fell asleep.
Minnesota Grown Exhibit
A newer feature at the fair is craft beer tastings. They had several flights to choose from. I don't know which one we got, but it had a really tasty cinnamon beer and one that was just awful!
They also has a wine tasting! We chose the fruity group and I loved them all! That is saying a lot because I am not a wine person normally!
We made a final lap and met up quickly with my brother and his family before hitting the road! We all enjoyed a fun dip in my parents hot tub! No better way to fight off the rigor than a hot soak! Parker made it the whole day without a nap, but he was also being pushed around instead of walking... It was so fun to get back to the fair with my parents, lets do it again next year!
We got up early today and headed to the Great Minnesota Get-Together, one of my favorite times of the year! We arrived just after 8 and the weather was actually pretty nice. It was mild and cloudy which made the humidity tolerable! It was breezy later in the morning which felt good too!
We explored a bit, then headed to the Kemps Little Farm Hands exhibit. We thought about going a couple years ago, but realized he was far too little to enjoy it. He enjoyed it, but still moved to the beat of his own drum!
We gathered corn, moved hay bales with the tractor, fed chickens, got an egg...
Planted a seed...
Watered it, then harvested our crop.
and then we milked a cow!
Finally, we sold our goods at the farmer's market....
and used the profit for a special treat! Thanks Kemps!
We went to the giant slide next. I was a little worried it would scare Parker, but he loved it (so did Jimmy!)
We checked out the animal bars last and even took a picture with some cows! I love cows!
Parker got the best tattoo at the Moo Booth.
And I got a souvenir at the Oink Booth.
It wouldn't have been the fair without a plethora of delicious eats! I think we kept it pretty tame this year.
Parker's favorites were the donuts...
and Sweet Martha's cookies!
He was very well behaved considering we kept him tied up for close to 4 hours. Just a few minor melt downs. We can't wait to head back next year!
We love the Mall of America, maybe a little too much! We aren't even big shoppers, we just like to get something fun to eat and people watch. We indulged a bit for date night because I had a $25 birthday reward on my Landry's rewards card. We don't have a lot of options in MN, but one of them is Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. We started with the hush puppies, even Parker was excited!
Parker got his own little shrimpin' boat (minus the shrimp) with pizza, fries and jello!
I got Shrimper's Heaven which has four kinds of shrimp: peel and eat, tempura battered, coconut and fried. I definitely was in heaven.
We stopped at the Lego play area before heading home. I love the two pictures below! Parker grabbed Jimmy's hand to ask for help and was so happy when he got it on!
I got a bit caught up in the other festivities of the week and forgot to post about the fun we had last weekend. On Saturday, Parker and I met our friends, Shannon, Simon, and Daphne at the Farmer's Market for a play date. The mini donut vendor there is the BEST! You get twice as many donuts as most places for the same price. We may have to go every week, just for these.
One of the vendors gave each of the boys a free cucumber (I think that's a cucumber...)
We walked over to a park next to let the boys run off some steam.
Parker was helping spin Simon!
We headed out the the free family fun day at Country Daze in my parents city. Parker is getting ever more independent so it is getting hard to keep him entertained and contained. The monster truck was one of his favorites!
There were also fawns that you could feed and pet. Parker was heading towards their water dish here...
Parker built a birdhouse with my dad last year. We built a bird feeder together this year.
Jayden and Cody got in on the action as well.
I had a family picnic for work on Sunday. There was a great bounce house that Parker loved (once he got comfortable.) He thought the other kids were a riot!
Today is Jimmy and my birthday! I love birthdays and today was perfect. I got some extra time with Parker this morning during the second half of his re-evaluation this morning. My afternoon at work zoomed by, then Jimmy and I grabbed dinner at Benihana with his parents. I look forward to Benihana all year! Shrimp Sauce!
We stopped at Nadia Cakes before heading home and I got a Tropical paradise, a pineapple, mango, and coconut cupcake.
My mom was at our house with Parker so we opened gifts with them when we got back from dinner. Jimmy got a new razor from Parker, "the Dyson for your face," as he calls it.
A new Huskers shirt from me that was purchased during our 4th of July trip. I am not good at keeping gifts a secret, but I did it this time!
And the complete Seinfeld series from my parents! We are both excited about that.
I got some wonderful gifts too!
We were even able to get a really great family picture! Only one year left in my 20's so I better enjoy it!
