Pioneer Days

Ah traditions. Here we are again at the Mapleton Pioneer Day Extravaganza!! It's the one time of year we honor our pioneer heritage by eating fake eggs and frozen juice. My parents were sick and my sisters didn't come to the breakfast so it was up to the Dyes to represent.

 Taking selfies will never come naturally to me. I am of a different generation. But until I can trust Sarah to not chop our heads off, I'll try.

 Then to our usual spot to watch the parade and we met up with my sister and her family and Justin's parents.

All the kids really care about is the candy.

 James was pretty whiny so I let him have candy so then he was sticky but slightly more pleasant.

I thought this train of 50 gallon barrels was pretty creative and funny to watch.

 Then we high-tailed it outta there and went to the Scera Pool in Orem where our neighbors kindly rented out the whole pool for their friends and family. There were only like 50 of us which is the perfect amount for a public pool.

 The kids went down the waterslide so many times and Sarah and Erica had fun jumping off the diving board.

Then we went home, James took a nap, I shopped in vain for mallow bits for some cookies I wanted to make, I started to feel ill and took a nap. Then we got some sandwiches and went back to a different park in Mapleton for the fireworks.

Helicopter dropping ping pong balls to win a bike.

 I was so happy it was cloudy and not so hot.

 And then the wind and rain started.

 Erica and I huddled under blanket for a few minutes before the blanket go soaked and we had to join the crowded canopy.

 

We were having a great time but it did start to get a little soggy under here.

 I don't know why I'm making that face but this is just to show how much James was freaking out. It was pretty chaotic. It poured pretty hard for nearly an hour maybe. People were running around shrieking, packing up. By the time the rain let up, only 1/3 of the crowd was left. I thought it was exciting. Sarah is a pioneer at heart so this weather doesn't intimidate her at all.

My boys on the other hand....

We all emerged from our shelters and people started trickling back in. I'm not sure if they were people that returned or new people.

Once the sun went down, we were still pretty wet so we got cold! What a weird feeling.

 The kids live for glowsticks. I love seeing the creative things they come up with.

 After an hour delay, the concert finally started--which I was fine with since the concert is my least favorite part of the night. 

Then we spread out our damp blankets, laid down to watch the fireworks which never disappoint. Hooray for pioneers!

So that was Saturday, July 21. On REAL pioneer day, I took the kids to my parents' house who were feeling better and I made breakfast and we watched the parade together. Then Sarah touched a dead mouse in an old slide projector she found in my mom's storage room. Everyone has a mouse story, now Sarah has one too.  Justin got home early from work, we grilled burgers, ate these cookies, rode bikes in the sunset and put the kids to bed. We could see fireworks from the rodeo grounds before Justin and I went to bed at 10:45.

Saturday July 28, since my parents missed out on all the fun, we had a late pioneer celebration at their house complete with pioneer activities, homemade rootbeer and sandwiches.

Sarah and Allison are playing a game where you blow up a balloon and then use the air to blow cups off the table.

 Outside we dipped candles. I hadn't done this since I was a teenager and we did it a lot back then. Usually things escalated to dipping our hands but for the kids, we stuck with candles.

I talked Justin into dipping his fingers. It only burns for the few first layers then the wax protects you.


I'm so proud of my candles!


And I'm so proud of my pioneer ancestors who would probably laugh that we make candles for the novelty and not the necessity.