We started the weekend off with a visit to the Edina Art Fair. It is a popular annual art fair with several vendor booths and options for food. A couple of the nearby restaurants had outdoor parties where you could buy beer and listen to music, there were also beer tents. A couple people in our booth bought art – metal work and a screen print. We all bought treats. As a nice surprise, a local jeweler was offering free ring cleaning. It was a fine place to kill time, but other options probably would have been more fun.

We made the trip over to Hopkins from Edina for the LDT Brewing Co Anniversary Party. None of us had ever been there. It was free to get in, but you needed to buy tickets for drinks. Several people in my group tried beers they really enjoyed. My husband was a big fan of the coffee stout; another in our group had a sour she enjoyed. We live a long way from Hopkins, but my husband wants to make the trip back just for a coffee stout. They had kids activities that kept our toddler entertained. While we were there just short of an hour, it was worth the trip.

We also made it to the rescheduled Touch-A-Truck event in Maplewood. It was great. Lots of different trucks, some had very long lines, but our son didn’t have a big preference so we avoided those. Kids could crawl around in the trucks, honk the horns, push buttons and almost every kid looked very happy to be there. We arrived an hour and a half after the event started; the fire truck was no longer there. I heard it had a very long line when it was there. We spent 45 minutes there, but I know some families had been there over an hour.

There were many fun options the weekend of May 20^th, but the weather did not cooperate. Several of events were rescheduled, including Plymouth’s Bark in the Park and Maplewood’s Touch-A-Truck.

Some events happened rain or shine, so we tried a few.  Saturday afternoon we headed over to Psycho Suzi’s Outdoor Waterfront Festival.  We were there from 2 – 3 pm.  There was no fair food or beer trucks.  They did have a tent in the parking lot selling some beer and sliced pizza.  Dogs were allowed in the tent and they had the dog fashion show on a stage near the tent.  The bands were moved inside, we didn’t stay to see any.

It was cold and few people brought dogs for the fashion show.  They did have three nice prizes for dogs, and I believe they had nine entries.  I imagine this would have been a fun event for adults, especially those looking to bring dogs with them, if key parts didn’t get canceled and the weather allowed people to roam comfortably from the heaters.

Finding there was not much to do at Psycho Suzi’s with a child or a dog, we headed to Saint Mark’s Grand Olde Festival around 3:30.   This is a long standing annual event and they talked highly of their rain plans.  They did have a nice set-up with carnival style rides, food vendors and an entertainment tent.  Unfortunately the weather made this event mostly a bust.  No rides were running and few people were buying food. There was not much outdoor covered space.

Our group bought drinks from a leaky and small beer tent and bought some donuts.  We ventured inside to a small crowd playing Bingo and participated in a game.  They appeared to have small table treats if someone at your table won and the game we played gave out a $5 and $25 gift card.  It was $2 per game to play.  In the next room, there were school carnival type games.  Each game was fifty cents.  Some games gave away small stuffed animals or other toys which seemed to be a good value for the cost of the game.  They also had games to win small food items.  Our son didn’t stand a chance of winning many games as they were more fitting for 3 – 8 year olds, but he did get a small truck toy from a duck draw and a sucker from a fish pond. He was pleased and many of the other children playing games also appeared to be having fun.

While they promoted this as a family event, they closed the indoor bathrooms and had no good place to change diapers, which was uncomfortable.  Overall I think this would be a fun event for families and something to check out next year, if the weather works out better.