Yesterday I did a post about 7 of the 28 new foods at the 2014 Minnesota State Fair. Today I'm going to to talk about the new fun stuff you'll see this year. It starts with a new entrance. See that State Fair Streetcar Arch above? That's what will greet you just inside the brand new West End Gate, otherwise known as the Transit Hub. Nearly half of the fair's more than 1.7 million guests travel to the fair via mass transit. This new gate provides easy, safe access to Park & Ride and Express Service buses. The Streetcar Arch has been found and restored to its original 1934 state where it greeted visitors at the Como entrance. The old Heritage Square is no more. It has been leveled off and replaced by the West End Market. Featuring dozens of artisans, craftspeople and specialty merchants (many who have never exhibited at the MN State Fair), as well as The Schells Stage at the Hugh & Margaret Shilling Amphitheater, and stellar food and beverage options, this is … [Read more...]
New Foods and Fun at the Minnesota State Fair! Part 1
8/13/14-- The Great Minnesota Get-Together otherwise known as the Minnesota State Fair is a little more than 8 days away and I can't be more excited! I usually don't post local events on my main page but this is one thing I want to brag about to my National and International readers. Why? Because the Minnesota State Fair is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance boasting upwards of 200,00 attendees a day! The State Fair of Texas beats us out by overall attendance but they run longer than we do. The Minnesota State Fair is 320 acres and 12 days of pure fun and food (definitely food, and on a stick!). I was lucky enough to join 11 other Minnesota bloggers for a sneak preview of some of the new food and fun at the 2014 State Fair. One thing I learned...I need to broaden my horizons! We usually do the same things and eat the same foods each year we go. There is SO much I didn't know! This year will be an entirely new experience! New Foods... … [Read more...]
Raising Monarchs Part 2
If you've been following Toys In The Dryer on social media, you know that the girls and I have been raising a monarch butterfly this summer. It has been a ton of fun and a definite learning experience! I ended my last post, Raising Monarchs Part 1 at day 5, the day after our caterpillar hatched from its egg. Only 15 days later, we had a full-grown caterpillar that was ready to make a chrysalis! Though today is day 28, and our little monarch currently resides in it's chrysalis, I will end this post at day 20 because the next phase deserves a post of it's own. For those of you watching, waiting, and asking, yes, I WILL do a slide show of all the slides combined to show our caterpillar's growth but I thought I'd wait until the very end to show the entire transformation. In the mean time, I'll hit the highlights... Monarch caterpillars molt 4 times before molting one last time into their chrysalis. The stages between these molts are called instars and monarchs have 5 … [Read more...]
Back To School Shopping With Gordmans #Giveaway #ad
When Gordmans contacted me to partner with them to promote back to school shopping. I was all over it. The provided me with a gift card and the girls and I went to town! To be honest, I had seen Gordmans in our local mall but until now, had never actually shopped there. I don't know why. After this first trip, we will definitely be going back! Both Nutty and Tottie are picky when it comes to clothes shopping, especially Nutty. Shopping with her can be torture. I don't know if it's just this year's styles or Gordmans themselves, but Nutty had NO problems finding clothes she liked at Gordmans. She narrowed her selection to two shirts, a pair of pants, and a pair of boots. Tottie, who was less than cooperative for photos and shopping, immediately found a My Little Pony outfit and decided she was done. She would have liked a pair of boots too but the ones she liked were not in her size. Oh well. We'll be back to Gordmans for more Back To School shopping another … [Read more...]
VTech Kidizoom® Smartwatch #Review and Giveaway
It's no secret that we love VTech products so when they contacted us again to review their new Kidizoom® smartwatch, we immediately said yes! What is the Kidizoom® smartwatch you ask? Only the "coolest watch ever" according to my girls. "Mom, it's like spy stuff!" Ok, I'll be completely honest, my 8-year-old thought it was pretty "lame" when she first took a look at it. After all, she is on the higher end of the age range for this product. However, after watching her 5-year-old sister playing with it and loving it, she thought she would give it a try. Shortly after began the constant fights over who got to wear it, and use it when. I ended up having to take the watch away for an entire 24 hours just to stop the fighting! The novelty of having it wore off after three days and now they happily share it. Both girls think the watch is big for their wrist but that doesn't stop them from wanting to play with it. The pre-loaded games are a bit too easy for my 8-year-old but … [Read more...]
Tea Bag Rocket
My girls complained of being "bored" again yesterday so I hopped on the internet and searched for science activities for them to do. I came across this tea bag rocket on Kids Activities Blog and thought my girls would love it. Turns out they did! Our first rocket didn't work. I'm not sure why. It simply burnt down without lifting up. The girls were disappointed but as you can tell from the video, our second one went just fine! We went through 6 more tea bags before I told them I was done. I don't like to steal other blogger's ideas so you'll have to go to Kids Activities Blog for the actual directions and to see why this awesome rocket works. One final note, Kim did her rockets inside her house because she said any type of breeze outside will knock the rocket over. I was too scared of flying fire in my house so we did ours in the garage. Turns out, if you have a high ceiling, you can totally do this inside as the rocket burns itself out super fast. … [Read more...]
