State Fair and Twins Contest

On the very first day of the Iowa State Fair we headed out of the house bright and early for....THE TWINS CONTEST!!!! 

I had been looking forward to this all summer and I was so happy it landed early in the fair so I could go before school started. We had to leave our house by seven to get over to the fairgrounds, park and get registered at eight a.m. I think it was the earliest we've ever been to the fair! 

After we registered (which consisted of signing up on a piece of paper), we met my brother Sam and his wife Nikki and had some mini donuts while playing with the kids. It did seem like a long time to wait so next year I think we will try and push registering back a bit or plan to go eat breakfast before the show starts at nine. I just wasn't sure what to expect this year and I didn't want to miss anything! I was thankful it was still nice and cool at the fairgrounds this early. 

The infants under one category was first and so we lined up and headed on stage. It was really neat to see the other babies in the category- some were tiny and some were so chubby! We were the only girls and also the oldest so I wasn't sure if that would be in our favor or not. Once on stage, the announcer had us tell the babies names and how old they were and then after a few minutes of deliberation from the judges they announced the places, starting with 5th. As the places ticked by I started to wonder if we would get first and....we did!! Anna & Brynn won first place in the most alike under one category! yay! :o) 

It was so exciting! 

All in all, we were done at the contest by 9:17 so Sam and Nikki took Michael around for a bit while Scott and I got a coffee and sat and watch some more of the contest. It was really neat to see all the different twins and wonder what the future holds for our girls. You bet we'll be back every year for the contest! We put the blue ribbons on the girls' stroller and all day when people stopped us we could tell them they were blue ribbon babies. 

We spend the next few hours enjoying the fair...here's what we did:

Enjoyed the garden and the tunnel (of course). Michael had fun running in the fountains and I was happy I thought ahead to bring a towel and wear fast drying clothes. 

We also caught two shows at the fun forest stage- I love how the shows are right after each other and are very kid friendly. The girls liked being able to get out of their stroller for a bit and have some puffs. 

After walking around a bit, we really enjoyed taking a break in the baby animal barn. They have a nice baby care station with rocking chairs and changing tables- so nice! It was nice just to get out of the hustle and bustle for a bit and have a safe place to change the girls. 

Michael and I treated ourselves to a ride on the sky glider while Scott took the girls to get his lunch (Michael and I had corn dogs- so good!). We unfortunately only had enough money for a one way trip so we had to walk back to meet Scott but it was still fun. 

We ended out day with our favorite- a Bauder's peppermint ice cream bar!! YUM!! They are tricky because they are so good but you have to eat them fast because they melt quickly in the typical state fair weather. 

Meanwhile the girls were zonked out! They did such a good job being in their stroller for a big chunk of their day. I could tell it was getting warm in there for them so we did take off their dresses in hopes of keeping them a bit cooler. I think we managed to hit up the coolest day of the fair but it was still warm and humid. It seemed like most people were hot and grumpy. We tried to manage our expectations by not doing too much and staying in one area of the fair. Michael got a little tired of walking but I think we overall fared well as a family. 

We took one more swing through varied industries to pick up our Cyclone Football posters and then we were headed home!

Overall a great day at the fair! It was nice to spend some time with my brother and his wife, get stopped a million times by people to say hi to the twins, and have our two minutes of fame!