Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Prairie Fest {2010}

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Usually the weekend after the 4th is Prairie Fest days in Clara City with a street dance, parade, pageant, carnival, great food, tennis/softball tournaments, fireworks, etc. It's always a great time as a lot of people come into town just for that. My Mom and I had made plans to meet at about noon-ish in Hutchinson, so that we could make the trip together to Clara City. That is my parents hometown and I guess you could say mine as well. I was born in Montevideo, MN, but grew up the first few years of my life in Clara City. We still travel back there on occasion as some family still lives there.

After getting caught in a hail storm and having to pull over on the side of the road for a few minutes, I finally arrived at the Burger King in Hutch and my Mom and I had a quick bite to eat. It was great to spend some quality one on one time with her. That rarely ever happens because one of my sisters is usually in tow with her at all times. But my Dad and my two sisters had gone out the day before. After eating we continued our drive.

We arrived at my Gramma Edna's house early afternoon and said hi. We then headed down to the park as we knew that's the place to be Saturday afternoon. We arrived down at the park and were greeted by: My Dad, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Jeff, Gramma Stager, Cousin Aron, his girlfriend, Kelsey, and their daughter, Anya.

I was so excited to see this little pumpkin, Anya:

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Last time I saw her, she was 2 weeks old. Now she is almost 7 months old in this picture.

Here are a couple of pics of what the park has to offer:

[Multiple bouncy games and laser tag for the kids]

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[Amie liked the rock climbing wall]

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After about an hour of socializing and a chocolate ice cream cone, we headed back to my Aunt Cari and Uncle Jeff's house for the parade. Every year we gather at their house because they live off the main road. We always see a lot of family and friends in the parade every year. This year I had a few people in the parade that I knew.

My cousin, Aron (Dad's side), was one of the Grand Marshal's of the parade. Him and a few of his buddies that he served over in Iraq with were honored for their service. It's kind of hard to see him, but he is sitting on the other side of the truck from us.

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It's funny to see the kids in pictures as they run to collect the candy that is being thrown. That's always a big hit with us adults, too! 

My 2nd cousin, Amber (Mom's side), was a Clara City Princess this past year. This means that her, the other princess and the Queen represent Clara City in the other parades throughout the state. They do a ton of traveling and appearances throughout the year.

[Amber is the blond one in the front on the right] 
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My cousin, Emily (Mom's side), was one of six candidates in the running for royalty this year. Even though she didn't win, it was still fun to see her participate in the parade and see her in the pageant that Saturday night.

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My 2nd cousin, Patrick (Dad's side), is the chef/cook at the most popular place to eat in Clara City, Donner's. He's obviously the one in the back with the chef hat on. Ha.

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My cousin, Brittney (Dad's side), was in the parade for being the State Girl. She rode with the State Boy. Basically, one girl is selected out of every town in each state and goes to a location to learn about the government. She stayed at Bethel University for a week. It is sponsored by the American Auxilary unit.  Approximately 300 girls went to Bethel this year and they learned about the different government branches. First they started with the cities, then counties, then the entire state. She's beautiful and smart!

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After the parade, a family friend, Steve, came and let us take a ride on their horses.

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That was a highlight of the day. Amie was a natural of course. One of the horseshoe's fell off of her horse as she was riding it. Steve ended up giving it to her. She was so excited! Everyone took turns riding. My Mom and Gramma Stager even went for a stroll.

After the parade we went back to Gramma Edna's to eat a quick dinner. Then we headed to the high school for the pageant, where the new royalty would be crowned. I didn't get any good pictures, because it was so dark. But it was fun to watch. I was so tired from the long day that I didn't make it as late as everyone else. I think I was in bed by 10:30 p.m. Haha.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

I woke up to me Gramma Edna making breakfast. Which is always super yummy. We hung out and visited in the morning. I took a cat nap. The Diekens came over for lunch and we visited. Before leaving town, we stopped at Jeff & Cari's to say goodbye to everyone that was there and then off we went.

It was a great, much needed weekend with family!


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