The town we live in is well known for it's maple syrup making. Every spring, most of the houses in the center of town and metal buckets tapped to their trees. I'm not sure what they do with the sap once the buckets are full. They must sell it to the syrup makers. The pancake breakfasts that various groups put on in the area must offer REAL maple syrup. No Aunt Jamima for this town. To kick off the maple syrup making, our town has a small carnival in the square and call it the Maple Festival. It's usually held at the end of April, which means it could be 80 degrees, or it could be 30 and snowing. This year, it was 50's and rain. (As is the trend lately) There was one day that it didn't rain, so that was the day that the entire town decided to go. It was packed, and there was mud every where, but the kids had so much fun. I have come to discover that there are kids who love rides and and there are kids who don't. Isabella loved every ride and wanted to go on the big kid rides. Nicholas was happy to ride the cars all evening. The merry-go-round was too fast, and if the ride went up in the air, forget it. The older girls don't like anything about the carnival, and they don't ever want to go with us. They don't like the rides and (gasp!!) they don't like the food. They can't be my children, because I live for fair food! It is my favorite thing to eat. I usually map out what I am going to eat prior to arriving, and I scope out the best french fry place and the best elephant ear place.
I am patiently waiting in line for another elephant ear before the parade started.
The last day of the festival they have a parade, which is my second favorite thing to do. It's really small and has all the local teams, and fire departments, and the marching band.
Shea is the snare drummer with the smile on her face. Don't be fooled. She's not enjoying herself because she's marching in the parade. She is smiling from embarrassment because her friends were screaming her name a few people down from us. She's not a big fan of publicly showing off her drumming skills, and frequently changes her mind about whether she wants to join marching band next year or not. I'm really hoping she sticks it out.
No parade would be complete in the whole county with out these old guys. I think they are part of the American Legion. Every parade we've been to around here, these fellows are in it. They race around in their little motorcycles and their mini cars and scare the heck out of little kids as they whip by, inches away from our feet.
This is my kind of 4H group! A dog group?? This is so me! I wish I could join as an adult. I can just imagine my little Gigi-baby and me winning blue ribbon after blue ribbon for his total cuteness. We could walk in the parade and have a booth at the county fair!
What a great way to kick off the spring and summer line up of carnivals, festivals, and fairs. I plan to drag my family to every last one, and eat my way through all of them!
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