Making memories at the 2013 Indiana State Fair – plus a Helper-inspired giveaway for you!

Have you ever been to a state fair?

Until last weekend, I never had! It’s hard to believe that in my 39 years of living in the Midwest, I never made it to a state fair before now, but it’s true!

I’m excited to tell you about my first trip to the Indiana State Fair, and also give away a fun prize pack to one reader!

Indiana State Fair

The 2013 Indiana State Fair is in Indianapolis, which is only about an hour from here, so we thought it would be a perfect day trip for the family. I went on the Indiana State Fair website to find out about ticket prices (hint – discount tickets can be purchased at Walmart and CVS!!), parking and event information, and was amazed at how big it all looked.

All I really knew about the state fair was that it was like our county fair, but on steroids. I expected to see all of the 4-H show animals, find a midway full of carnival rides, encounter all of the famous fair food and maybe hear a musical act on a big stage.

Wow, I was not prepared at all for the experience we had! Take what I was expecting, and blow it up 1000 times! It was nearly overwhelming, but we had so much fun as a family!

I’ve posted some pictures from our trip on my Tumblr page.

I was actually invited by General Mills & MyBlogSpark to go to the fair to visit the Helpers Food Truck, which is touring state fairs across the country. We looked for their big red truck all over the fair, but never did find it. We were bummed, but still had a GREAT time!

America's Helper Tour

We parked on the fairground property, because we didn’t really know any other option, and then hiked from our far away spot over to the middle of the fair. I was immediately greeted by thousands of people and probably about that many kinds of crazy fair food!! We wandered in and out of a few buildings that had information about various companies and products produced in Indiana, and then went back out to the food vendors to see what sort of lunch we could find. We even met some of the fair queens!

I’ve posted some pictures from our trip on my Tumblr page.

I was truly amazed at all of the food options!! Part of going to a fair is eating all of the food that you can only get at events like this, but with two little kids and a whole fair ahead of us, I didn’t want any upset tummies this early in the day. We wandered past drink stands, candy stands, fried food stands, pizza stands, pork and beef stations and actually found one healthy option in the middle of all that! One little stand in the second row of the main strip had salads and sandwiches and fruit. SCORE! The kids split some ham and cheese sandwiches and fruit and I indulged in a piece of pizza. Hubby hit up the pork stand for a pulled pork sandwich.

I know, I know. You’re thinking that I must be a horrible mom to come to the fair and only give my kids a lunch they can get at home any day of the week. Well, we did end up stopping right next to a stand that sold fried butter. Really – FRIED BUTTER. How do they do that? Anyway, we got a funnel cake, and it was TASTY!

fair food

After lunch we continued on to the kiddie midway, which was new this year. They have a regular midway on the other end of the fair, but this one was just for younger kids! We bought enough tickets to ride the Ferris Wheel as a family, and then let each kid play a round at the duck pond game. Both kids won….and of course, picked the BIGGEST prizes they could – huge inflated rubber balls. That meant we all took turns carrying those things for the whole rest of the visit!

winners

After the midway we made our way through the Family Fun area which was full of free, family-friendly activities, including a pioneer village. We ended up back on the total opposite side of the fair from where we started. That turned out to be a good thing, because were thrilled to find out we were right next to where we parked! We grabbed a pretzel for the road and loaded our weary bodies into the van.

We survived! We didn’t see everything, or eat everything, but we had fun as a family and all lived to tell about it!

I’ve posted some pictures from our trip on my Tumblr page.

We were exhausted by the time we made it back home! It’s days like that when I’m happy to have quick options in my pantry like Helper. They have quick and easy options for beef, chicken and tuna that don’t take tons of time – or energy, which I did NOT have last weekend! You can make it as intended on the box, or check out their website for ideas on how to get creative with it.

The Indiana State Fair is on for another week, so if you’re a Hoosier you still have time to check it out! Be sure to wear good walking shoes, bring some snacks, purchase discount tickets, and don’t plan to try and do everything in one day – it’s not possible! The Helper Food Truck won’t be there this week, but you never know when you might run into them!

Ready for a giveaway??

General Mills & MyBlogSpark sent me an awesome prize pack with some Chicken Helper and made my family trip to the fair possible. They also gave me another prize pack to share with a reader!

gift set