Pioneer Fun

This past weekend we went back to our hometown of Kalida, Ohio. 

Every year "always the weekend after labor day" they have a huge festival called

Pioneer  Days.  It has been going on for over 140 years. 

 The best part of Pioneer for the kids is the rides. 

They had a blast going from ride to ride with their cousins.

 

[Kids with darts.... good idea?] 

 [skee ball ended up being dangerous too!]

[The best ride there.... the rock o planes!!]

 Even Lil Miss rode the rides.... around and around and around.

Saturday Afternoon, the three older kids even participated in a kiddie tractor pull.

Both girls did amazing and Bubba was not happy that both his sisters did better than he did, but what can he expect the tractor and cart was 5 times his weight! 

We made it just in time to see cousin Megan cheer in the cheer competition.

Bubba watched the girls (and a few boys) do the flips and seems to think it

looks pretty easy. 

 A real treat for Nate and I was being able to go out two nights in a row with very good friends.

That doesn't happen very often.... like never. 

It is probably a good thing it doesn't happen very often because going to bed after 2 am and up before 7:30 am  wore me out.  

We saw so many people we haven't seen in quite awhile. 

The last time we had been back to Kalida for a Pioneer Days was 4 years ago.

The kids were so little....

[4 years ago they weren't riding the scrambler] 

[Josh and Bubba fit in a single stroller back then] 

 We have great memories stored from our trip back home.

Our drive back to Iowa didn't go quite as planned. 

About 3 hours into the trip Nate noticed the tire light come on and the steering wheel get really "soft".

Whatever that means?

We were able to get pulled over to a Gas Station and see that there was a big screw in the tire.

Luckily there was a Walmart tire service 7 miles down the road which was open on Sundays and got everything patched. 

There can be worse places than Walmart to be stuck for over an hour. 

We did a lot of pre Christmas wish list looking and picked up a few items for the house that

didn't need to be refrigerated. 

Our little hiccup on the trip ended up being fun!!!

 

The kids have been talking about the rides, carney food, and kiddie tractor pull since we left.