My Crazy Summer: August 2013

Sunday, August 25, 2013

MN Renaissance Festival

We try to get out to the Renaissance festival every year. Every year we try and see new shows and to change things up a bit. We took advantage of the BOGO offer the first weekend. As soon as we pulled in to the parking lot and saw the castle gates my two year old light up. The only problem was once she went through the gates she still wanted to go into the castle.

There was a lot to see and do there for people of all ages. She of course got to get some ferry wings and somehow suckered her mom into buying her a crown as well. The look on her face made it all worth it. Unfortunately the ferry queen was on lunch break so we were not able to see the new ferry wing forest. We were all a little curious as to why the ferry queen needed to be present in order for us to enter the forest, but there is always next year. We saw some very good shows and we even saw some of the royal court before we left.

If you are going with young kids, I recommend bringing a backpack full of juice boxes, water and other snacks. They have a lot to choose from at the concessions, but they are more geared towards the older patrons.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Irish Fair

The Irish Fair is my favorite festival of the year. They always have great food and entertainment. Due to scheduling conflicts, we ended up waiting until Sunday to go which actually worked out better with the kids. Sunday they have their headlining act start at 5:30 vs. 7:30 on Saturday. The entertainment was great. My daughter was a dancing queen. She danced almost the entier night. The weather was a little hot but as long as you come prepared, it's not a big deal.

The biggest downside to the fair is that they use the dreaded ticket system to buy food. I'm not sure why they do that besides to make a little extra money on the people that bought non-refundable food tickets and have extra's left over. As long as you scope out the food scene first and figure out exactly how many tickets you need, you will not run into that problem. All and all had a great time!

Lakefront Days

Lakefront Days was going on in Prior Lake this weekend. My daughter and I went and met up with some family to check it out. There was a misprint on their schedule and we ended up being late for their water ski show. There had a range of different abilities being shown, but it wasn't moving quick enough to hold my daughters attention so we ended up checking out the other activities before it got exciting.

The highlight for me was the food. Normally you end up getting the standard fair type food at these events. They had a food truck there though that sold teppanyaki style food and it was restaurant quality. The company was called Hibachi Daruma. If you ever see them, you have to get some food.

They had a lot of bouncy houses and a live band there as well. My two year old is still afraid of the bouncy houses, but my 4 year old nephew had a blast on them. The bouncy houses were very reasonably priced too.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Things To Do In August

Based on the calendar, it feels like the summer is starting to wind down. Most of the events I have found are towards the beginning of the month. We are also getting into the apple picking season. The MN State Fair and Renaissance Festival are starting up at the end of the month. They tend to cost the most, especially if you don’t plan for them. I included my tips to save money on the entrance to these activities. You can even get in free to the renaissance festival, if you are willing to part with a little blood before you go. If anyone else know’s of any activities or tips, please feel free to add any in the comments section.

Friday, Aug 2

Chanhassen- Carver County Day at the Arboretum

10am-8pm

Free to residence

Friday, Aug 2-4

Loring Park Art Festival

Minneapolis

http://www.loringparkartfestival.com

Uptown Art Fair

Minneapolis

http://uptownartfair.com

Saturday, Aug 3