The day after the state fair (7th Sept) we went to the Zoo where a couple of trees already think its Autumn
8th of September and Dan is back at school, ready to get onto the school bus with his name tag which he has to wear for the first couple of weeks Then off to San Francisco for me with work, had a social at the Giant's game which I stayed at for 10 minutes. I've said it before and I'll say it again, rounders in pajamas. Back in time for the 20th September and Becky's birthdayDan makes do with a stick on tattoo
Its that time of year again when the entire population of Minnesota embark on their annual pilgrimage to the state fair. Part of the attraction is to find out what new things are on a stick
Fried Fruit
Mocha
Gator
There's also chocolate covered bacon, sweetcorn and pretty much anything you can think of, all on a stick. There were a few foods not on a stick, including some found at the stall of a food invented in Minnesota and that is an institution in the stateOf course, no state fair would be complete without the annual - how much milk can you drink without vomiting competition - All You Can Drink Milk for $1 - can't beat it Once filled up with a gallon of milk all that is needed is to turn it into a milkshake, plenty of ways to do this now the kids are a little bigger Dan and I went on this one But not this one..Being Minnesota you can't get away from the agriculture and animals, both small.. and big And the tractors One of the things the kids liked the most was an interactive mock farm where they went from station to station collecting seeds, planting them, feeding animals etc..
Bit of a work interlude here with my visit to Chennai - or Madras in old money. Chennai was the headquarters of the East India Company who pretty much ruled India for several decades. I'm sure our journey was a lot easier than theirs but still about 34 hours door to door - at least we had the weekend to recover. On the Saturday we went to the second longest beach in the world (after Miami) which is next to the Bay of Bengal Then some driving to some sites, however the streets themselves are always fascinating. We played the 'how many people can you spot on a single scooter' game - 4 was the most we saw although these guys deserve a special mention - look what the guy riding pillion is carrying We went to a temple at Kanjipuram Kanjipuram is famous for its silk, poeple travel from all over India to buy silk saris fromKanjipuram and we went to one of the most famous silk shops, drink tea made with about 12 sugars and I bought a scarf for Andy. We were also there just at the tail end of a 2 week festival for Ganesh (the elephant god) and there were loads of processions where people took their statues to the ocean and therew them in to mark the end of the festival. Next day was Mahablipuram - the temple by the sea. Here I am holding up Krishna's butterball its always a good idea to stock up on the handmade suits while in India, here are Bo and Fardeen (Bo is shopping and Fardeen was back in India visiting family but who acted as our tour guide while we were there). We also toured the local electronic shops, I had to get this photo as it is almost certainly the last time I'll ever be in a shop selling CRTs. We spent a lot of time with the team over there where I got a new found sense of respect for how hard life is over there. The team on our project typically have a 60-90 minute bus ride each way to get to work in 100+ degree heat with no air-conditioning, then put in 12+ hour days every day and go home to houses that I'd be uncomfortable staying one night in. Still the team were cheerful and when you're in the office it really is no different from an office anywhere else in the world (apart from when they decorate the floor with flowers as part of a celebration). on the last day we spent some time with the team on an offsite event, playing games and one of the guys is an excellent drummer, I might put on some video later
8th of September and Dan is back at school, ready to get onto the school bus with his name tag which he has to wear for the first couple of weeks
Then off to San Francisco for me with work, had a social at the Giant's game which I stayed at for 10 minutes. I've said it before and I'll say it again, rounders in pajamas.
Back in time for the 20th September and Becky's birthday
Dan makes do with a stick on tattoo
Making trifle
Being measured on her last day of being 3
Mocha
Gator
Of course, no state fair would be complete without the annual - how much milk can you drink without vomiting competition - All You Can Drink Milk for $1 - can't beat it 
Once filled up with a gallon of milk all that is needed is to turn it into a milkshake, plenty of ways to do this now the kids are a little bigger
Dan and I went on this one
But not this one..
Being Minnesota you can't get away from the agriculture and animals, both small..
and big
And the tractors
One of the things the kids liked the most was an interactive mock farm where they went from station to station collecting seeds, planting them, feeding animals etc..
Then some driving to some sites, however the streets themselves are always fascinating. We played the 'how many people can you spot on a single scooter' game - 4 was the most we saw although these guys deserve a special mention - look what the guy riding pillion is carrying
We went to a temple at Kanjipuram
Kanjipuram is famous for its silk, poeple travel from all over India to buy silk saris fromKanjipuram and we went to one of the most famous silk shops, drink tea made with about 12 sugars and I bought a scarf for Andy.
We were also there just at the tail end of a 2 week festival for Ganesh (the elephant god) and there were loads of processions where people took their statues to the ocean and therew them in to mark the end of the festival.
Next day was Mahablipuram - the temple by the sea. Here I am holding up Krishna's butterball
its always a good idea to stock up on the handmade suits while in India, here are Bo and Fardeen (Bo is shopping and Fardeen was back in India visiting family but who acted as our tour guide while we were there).
We also toured the local electronic shops, I had to get this photo as it is almost certainly the last time I'll ever be in a shop selling CRTs.
We spent a lot of time with the team over there where I got a new found sense of respect for how hard life is over there. The team on our project typically have a 60-90 minute bus ride each way to get to work in 100+ degree heat with no air-conditioning, then put in 12+ hour days every day and go home to houses that I'd be uncomfortable staying one night in. Still the team were cheerful and when you're in the office it really is no different from an office anywhere else in the world (apart from when they decorate the floor with flowers as part of a celebration).
on the last day we spent some time with the team on an offsite event, playing games and one of the guys is an excellent drummer, I might put on some video later
And here is the full team
