Small Town, Big Heart (part 2)

You can read Part 1 HERE

The Final Day

Saturday. There was no sleeping in for us.  We were up early to compete in the 5k race.

(When I say we, I mean these four.  I sat this one out. Although I did wake up and 'run' #1 to work at 6:15 am- so totally counts.)

 After the race, our family enjoyed a big hearty breakfast courtesy of the city.

Pancakes, eggs, ham, and chocolate milk!

 Breakfast of Champions right there!

 After breakfast it was time Parade-Time.
(Look how long and big #3's legs are!  That's what a Breakfast of Champions can do for you!  Okay, just kidding.  It's the camera.  It has distortion issues.)

 I love this small town parade.  It consists pretty much of the local high school's marching band, the city's Royalty, and the student body council riding along the parade route in the back of a pickup truck. 

And of course the local businesses parade by in decorated trailers throwing out candy, t-shirts, popsicles, and frisbees to the excited children along the way.

It's like Halloween- only nice and warm AND the candy comes to you instead of you to the candy. SCORE!!!!

(Wait!  Did that even make any sense?)

Small Town, Big Heart (Part 1)

Man have these last few weeks been busy.  Actually, this whole summer has been one activity after another.  I'm not complaining.  It has been really fun.  Last week, as I briefly mentioned here, was our town's week to celebrate.  

Our town host tons of family-friendly activities. I mentioned mud volleyball.

We also watched the Cardboard Duct-tape Regatta.

More about that HERE

 

 And for all you farmers out there, here we are watching the Tractor Pull-

Each tractor hooks up to the yellow trailer loaded with heavy cement barricades.  The barricades slowly move up from the back of the trailer to the front.  The judge measures how far each tractor can pull the weight before it just can't go any further.  The farthest tractor wins.

 This was my first time to ever experience an event like this.  As you can tell, I was pretty enthralled. 

Actually, it just took this city girl a long time to figure out how the whole thing worked. 

 Wednesday night was the movie in the park.  This year the movie was what we refer to as "Baymax" or Big Hero 6.  

 Popcorn, a drink, and glow-sticks are included in this free event.

It's a great time for all!

The adults visit with each other, the kids run around playing made up games, and for the teenagers, it's like a back-to-school social.  This is probably my favorite activity.

Friday, was the Children's Parade.

This is a simple, and short parade where the children ride their bikes or scooters about half a mile from the elementary school to the park.  Once they reach the park, they get a popsicle and we go home.

The kids are happy, the parents are happy.  It's a win-win.

              

Weekend Festivities

This past weekend was full of good times.

(We were pretty much singing "Nah Nah Nah We're Gonna Have a Good Time- Hey Hey Hey!" all weekend long.)

Friday Night, Mr. Collins took me on a date to Cubby's.  The food is good, and by good I mean not only delicious but also good for your body. It was a win-win for us both.  We'll be back - really soon, I hope!

 Saturday was the kick-off of our small town's "Days".  Every city in Utah has a week or weekend they celebrate what makes them unique.  This week is "Our" week!

Here we are watching the Mud Volleyball event.  Bodies were slipping and mud was flying everywhere.

 These two were smart and stood way back out of mud's reach.

Later Saturday night, we headed up to HVC.  It was our last turn this year, to visit our missionaries up there, but more about that later. 

The best thing about the weekend was that this boy finished his last day of work and is home!  I had no idea how much not only I but everyone would miss him.  We're so glad he's home for good.

Celebrate!

This past week we celebrated "Livin' the Dream" in our small town. 

Tuesday we lived it up at the Cardboard Duct Tape Regatta,

Wednesday we braved the rain and enjoyed ourselves watching The Lego Movie in the park complete with popcorn and drinks. (Did I mention these were free!? My town rocks!)

 Saturday morning we filled our bellies with breakfast in the park (again totally free)-pancakes, ham, eggs, and my kids favorite, chocolate milk.

 After breakfast, we partied it up at a parade!

These two came home with their bags full.

Even the big kids came home with their pockets full of candy, otter-pops, a toothbrush, and a pencil or two.

Everything is Awesome

We're still trying to keep busy as the summer days slowly begin to wind down.

A few days ago, we attended our small town's Cardboard Duct Tape Regatta.

Basically everyone is given a piece of cardboard, some duct tape, and two hours to build a boat.

They then race their boat around the pond.  Some sink, some make it, some almost make it but sink before crossing the finish line.

It's quite entertaining to watch!

Our favorite boat:  

(this was part of the freestyle category where you make your boat beforehand and aren't limited to how much cardboard and duct tape you can use)

Emmet from the Lego Movie

Everything is Awesome!

 Everything is cool when you're part of a team family.

Everything is Awesome when we're living the dream.

Speaking of Awesome, I think it's pretty awesome that this 16 year old  isn't too cool to hug on her little sister in front of everybody.