Mysteries Solved

After living here for almost a year, the mystery regarding the piles of dirt, cement blocks with holes and large logs has been revealed; apparently we host a mining/logging celebration.

May I say, it was fab.u.lous?

Our town usually hosts a large 4th of July celebration.  This celebration is one of the only opportunities the residents here are able to enjoy the sweet delights of cotton candy, the vast entertainment of pony rides and fishing ponds.  Needless to say, the lines are loong.  We may not have very many residents, but ALL of them show up and ALL of them want the good stuff.

Fortunately, not so many of them want to participate in a mining/logging celebration.  Which means: SHORT LINES.

Seriously.  Lulu's pony ride?  There was no waiting involved.  We paid our money, didn't even need a ticket because there was hardly anyone there, put on a helmet and by the time she looked up, the horse she wanted was ready to ride.

Cotton candy?  You just walk up, plunk down the cash and walk away with sweet, sticky fluff. Mmmmm....


The only long wait involved the opportunity to operate a front-end loader (you know - Scoop).  Quinn was the only one who signed up.  $5 bought an awesome hat and the opportunity to use Scoop to knock down colored balls, with the matching colored tine on the scoop, and pick up a ring and move it to the other side of the area. 1 hour wait, but so. much. fun.

Also, for the mercenary side of parenting, part of the deal in the celebration is that the companies themselves trying to establish goodwill in the communities (read that as plenty of free options).  Gold panning: FREE!  Children's Carnival (fishing pond, ring toss, helium balloons, bean bag toss, all with prizes): FREE!  Mining hat key rings with a built-in light: FREE!  Candy at every booth: FREE!

My kids had a blast.  They even deigned to watch a competitor or too but watching grown men shovel dirt, no matter how quickly it's done, really isn't that entertaining.

The logging events are tomorrow and I'm debating about dropping by, just on a casual Sabbath day stroll, so I can see some poor schmuck end up in the drink during the log rolling competition.