The last weekend in June was our local Dug Out Days - a full weekend with lots of activities around town, and a carnival to boot. But it's seriously the highlight of the year as far as our little town goes.
The fun started on Friday evening with a chicken BBQ followed by a tractor pull. We had never seen the tractor pull, but thought we'd go see what it was all about, and have the kids join in the contest, too. What is a tractor pull, you ask? It's a small pedaled "tractor" that pulls a trailer with weights on it. You try to see how far you can pull/pedal the weights. They have various age groups from 5 years old to adult. The boys were a little reluctant to try it at first, but changed their minds after seeing many of their friends signing up. And they did fair - ending right in the middle of their age group. But Karis, despite not wanting to do it in the first place, ended up agreeing to try after she realized it wasn't a "relay" kind of race, but just a one-at-a-time type of deal. More her style, I guess. Well, wouldn't you know... for her age group she took first place for the girls, and placed second overall for her age... meaning, she beat all the boys except one. Ha! We got a good chuckle out of that one. Sadly, I don't have pictures as I had forgotten to bring my camera. But those would have been some good pics. Especially since Kurt gave it a go for the adult bracket... and he won, too. We have quite the talented family. :)
The next day of festivities started in the park - where Karis got her face painted.
Then they had running and bike races for the kids. Here's Karis doing her thing...
She lucked out because it was just her and one of her girlfriends for the girls in their age bracket. So she thought that was kind of fun. (Plus the fact that running in the race got you a quarter... and winning got you a fifty cent piece.)
The boys raced, too - although with many more "opponents". They still enjoyed the competition of it all, and the chance to run and ride their new bikes. (And of course, getting the money at the end!)
Early in the evening the town put on a little parade. Kurt being a Chamber member, as well as helping coordinate the whole Dug Out Days events, was in the parade and asked the kids if they wanted to be in the parade with him. As hard as it is to believe, the kids would probably prefer to be in a parade than to watch one and get all of the candy. I won't complain, though! So, the boys walked with Kurt in their Chamber exhibit,
(Ben on the left, Nate on the right)
...while Karis rode in the back of the truck and threw out candy. Now here I was, thinking we were going to get out of this parade candy-free, when what did I see? Kurt and the kids were the second entry in the parade! So as soon as they finished their part, the kids ran back to find me in the crowd and watch the rest of the parade... and gathered gobs of candy. I'm not thrilled to have candy laying around, but am at least glad the kids got to enjoy and experience both sides of the parade.
After the parade was the carnival - like a mini state fair in the downtown of our small town. It's quite a sight! The kids had a ball... enjoying the rides and a game or two. Here the kids enjoy the dragon ride...
... amongst many other rides. After a super long day, we went home to crash. It was just a very full and tiring couple of days. But fun. Very fun.
A couple of days following the Dug Out Days was the boys' final baseball game. This was their second year playing and they thoroughly enjoyed it. And this league has a great way to play. No one kept score... each team member got to bat every inning... and each time they were at bat they stayed there till they got a hit (whether that was the first pitch or the twentieth).
And this is something sort of comical... most of the teams we played had huge kids on them. After about three games, I was seriously wondering if we were in the wrong league or something? But then Kurt filled me in on the reason. In our town, every person who signs up to play baseball gets to play in the games. So we have three teams for our small town. Well, in the other towns, all the kids who sign up get to practice, but at game time they only let the "best" players play - meaning those towns just have one team w/ all of the biggest and best players. For a league with 7-10 year olds - that age span can make a BIG difference in size. For our boys' team, most of the boys were age 7... and then they'd play teams with these 10 year olds. Yikes! Here's a shot of Ben on base w/ a bohemoth second baseman (in yellow on the left) standing next to him. Just quite a crack up.
The boys never got down about it, though. Especially since we weren't keeping score. ;) But the part of it all that I didn't care for was the traveling. (When I signed them up I didn't realize we'd have to be driving to so many games... so far away. *sigh*) But I think it was worth it. The boys have improved their skills a bit, and Karis got to come along and play with other little girlfriends during game time. :) Here's a shot of the team:
Nate is in the front row on the far left, Ben on the far right.
Aren't they so cute?! :) (I suppose I shouldn't say that around the boys, huh?)
For the 4th we got together with family and enjoyed some wonderful food, fun and fireworks. We did a traditional BBQ along with lots of fruit, salads and goodies. I wanted to try out some July 4th cookies a friend of mine made - and they were a hit! I didn't get a picture of them before they were all gone, so thought the kids might want to color a picture of what they looked like. So even though this is a far cry from the real thing, you at least get the idea. (And note that the frosting wasn't really yellow, but rather white. Ben just thought it looked good in the coloring with the yellow.)
Just your basic star-shaped sugar cookies (although I used a recipe of my sisters - which got rave reviews - so nothing "basic" about it! Thanks, Andrea!), then a cream cheese frosting (found an awesome recipe online), and then put sliced strawberries on each star point, and some fresh blueberries in the middle. Super simple - and fun for the kids to help. And seriously a huge hit at our gathering. I think these will become a new July 4th tradition. :)
So aside from the food, our relatives out here just go bonkers with fireworks. The back of their truck was packed full. Before the "big" show, though, the kids got in on their own fireworks time...
Here Ben lights some fireworks. Cousin Emily (who supervised them) was very good about teaching them how to carefully light the fireworks.
Karis just smiling for the camera.
Nate with a sparkler.
Ben and Karis standing in the middle of a smoke bomb.
Okay, and I realize these next couple of shots aren't the best picture-wise, but the expressions are priceless! In this first one Karis, Ben and Nate wait for Emily to light the "grand finale"...
Oh, the anticipation!
And then.... BANG...
Woohoo! What fun! :)
And here's a group shot - with cousin Emily, Nate, Karis and Ben, along with a friend, Matthew, who also joined in the fun.
And I have to say (as I've said SO many times)... oh what a difference a few years makes! Holy cow! Four, three, even two years ago, fourth of July was a total drain for Kurt and me... with kids afraid of the fireworks, crying from the sound, etc. Now, oh NOW they love them. Who cares how loud it is, they think it's great. And we think that's great -- that they're having so much fun with it. So now we can ALL enjoy the festivities. :)
Following the kids' show we had our "adult" fireworks - for a rip-roaring show with lots of oohing and ahhing. I have to say, for a personal show (as compared to the ones our town does), our relatives pull out all the stops. It was probably enjoyed by the rest of the town, too. :) No pictures of these, though. I don't have a camera set up to do that (yet!).
Well, I think that's about it for now. Thanks for hanging in through all of the explanations. :)
I'll be back with some good swimming lessons shots soon. :) (hopefully!)
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