Pioneer Celebration

The Mt. Vernon Stake Pioneer Celebration was really impressive.  I cannot imagine the amount of work that went into it.  Outside was pretty much Western-themed: Blue Grass band, free carnival foods, balloon animals, roping demonstration, lasso station, pie eating contest, nail driving competition, and so on.  Inside was internationally-themed: crafts from around the world for the kiddos, endless potluck dishes (I made countless trips to these buffets), and to cap it all off, the evening ended with a dance performance.  I think the dancers representing India were my favorite.

 

The girls wore the pioneer bonnets from Lizzie's Little House on the Prairie party.  Thanks again Nana!  Lizzie was also there, also wore her bonnet, but I have no pictures of her because she spotted a friend within minutes of our arrival and after that we almost never saw her.

The girls searched for candy amongst the hay.

 

 They didn't find any candy so we went to the cotton candy and sno cone stations instead.

 Bishopric Cow Milking Contest.  There were some issues with the udders staying on which really just made the whole thing more hilarious.  Another issue was the pigs.  There were supposed to be greased pigs for the kids to chase.  Liz was really looking forward to it (to watch or participate, I'm not sure).  Anyway, turns out the pigs escaped their enclosure the night before the event (also the only night they were kept outside).  Later on I heard that some people in the stake felt that chasing greased pigs was inhumane and had complained so maybe it's for the best.

 Andrew's favorite part was the Blue Grass band.  Pretty much all he wanted to do was sit and listen to them.  I knew he liked a range of music, but I had no idea he liked Blue Grass so much.  I suppose after 13 years of marriage it's nice that he can still surprise me.