Happy Fourth of July!

 EskDale, where we usually celebrate Fourth of July, observed it a day early this year because the fourth falls on Saturday, their Sabbath. Fortunately I had the third of July off, so we could go partake of the festivities, which began at a very, very early hour (we had to leave the house at 5:30 am!). We went out to run the 5k and kids' run.

Desert Boy had decided to run the 5k, and since his last one at the Snake Valley Slither had taken 52 minutes, I asked if he would like me to run with him to pace him. He said yes, and I told him our goal was to get 40 minutes or under. He started out kind of fast so I had to reign him in. We then did jogging with walking breaks. Of course getting the camera ready produced some bursts of speed!

He really wanted to run with his fast friend Adolfo, but Adolfo was quite a ways ahead (in the red).

Eventually we did catch up! This is what a lot of the runs out here look like--hardly any people! It's been so long since I've run in a crowd that it would be a really strange experience.

We didn't manage any finish shots, but Desert Boy finished in 36:28, and we were both really happy with that.

After a relaxing day, we headed back out to EskDale in the evening for delicious food and a fun program. The kids formed packs and wandered around.

I was part of the Snake Valley Shufflers, a tap dance group, and we performed Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. Hopefully someone got a good recording of it! It was so much fun, and so nice to perform after months of practice.

The next group up, the Friday Night Pickers allowed the kids to dance, and they were so happy.

I played the trumpet, then John the trombone.

The variety of musical numbers was quite entertaining.

It was a good-sized crowd.

The most amazing violin player!

The musical acts were interspersed with balloon games, with money in the balloons.

They passed out glowsticks to the kids, who had lots of fun being creative with them.

After the program we went to the field to the southeast to wait for the fireworks. The nearly full moon put on a show as it rose in orange majesty.

Then the fireworks started, and we were transfixed.

The kids had fun hopping from our truck to the next one.

It was a great night.

Happy Fourth of July!

Snake Valley Festival with Family

 We so much enjoyed having family here during the Snake Valley Festival! They went to so many events and even helped set up and move items. We enjoyed the community breakfast to start off the second day. (The first day was the ice cream social with music and the beer tasting and silent auction.)

The book sale was a hit with the schoolteacher!

Desert Boy put some money in the bag for his sister's road art project. It didn't end up winning (the amazing Mt. Wheeler bicycle wheel art won), but she helped raise some money for the Great Basin Water Network.

We had fewer parade entries this year. I'm not sure if it was because more kids than mine wanted to watch the parade than be in it. Desert Boy wanted more candy. But this wasn't an election year, and there was no candy! He has already said he wants to be in next year's parade. Fortunately we had a band, they fit in the back of a pickup.

And a few fire trucks.

And some horses! We love the horses and horse riders!

Later Desert Girl hooked up with some friends and convinced a papa to read a book she had bought at the book sale.

Then it was time for some games on the Baker Hall lawn.

And activities.

Desert Girl had a winning strategy for the kids' silent auction raffle. She bought tickets to put in bags for different items. She put most of her tickets in the bags that didn't have any other tickets and won a whole bunch of stuff. She didn't really care too much what it was, she just felt lucky. She enjoyed showing her friend Isaac the goodies.

Later we had a great water fight (didn't manage any photos of that but the kids and I were happily soaked from head to foot). Then we took a break to change and get ready for the evening. Desert Girl rehearsed for the talent show--a rendition of What does the fox say?

The BBQ dinner was delicious.

And then it was talent show time. Desert Girl needed a little coaching (I was teased for my impersonation of a pageant show mom), but Desert Boy had no qualms about being a weight-lifting joke teller.

Desert Boy and his friend Ava won the Junior Snake Valley competition.

We watched some amazing talents, such as eating a stick of butter, recycling water, tying maraschino cherry stems with a tongue, stepping through paper, and other things you would never even imagine. I did tree pose for a minute, with kids providing some wind to blow me over.

The crowd was duly entertained.

At the end of the night we had a Mr. Teen Snake Valley, Mr. and Ms. Snake Valley, Mr. and Ms. Junior Snake Valley, and Mr. and Ms. Senior Snake Valley. I'm sure they will all represent the valley well.

The next morning we got up for the Snake Valley Slither, a 5k race. Desert Boy ran it in his sandals, not very fast.

Spectators looked for shade, as it was hot even at 7 am.

Nevertheless, everyone who started finished, some even with big smiles!

Desert Boy rallied to run at the end.

Then we had a quick kids' race.

The little girls were adorable, and Desert Girl was so happy to get a medal. She had carefully picked out her running costume.

Even our little one-year old ran!

It was a great event, even though it was tiring, and we look forward to it again next year, the third weekend of June.

For more photos of the Snake Valley Festival, check out the Facebook page.

Visitors and Ice Cream Social

 We had some guests come to visit recently and we started off by going to the ice cream social at the annual Snake Valley Festival. Nothing like some cool ice cream at the end of a hot day!

These friendly ladies were dishing up generous scoops of delicious flavors.

Yum! says one attendee.

To make things even better, local musicians played on the lawn, making the event feel very relaxed. People hung out a long time, enjoying the music, chatting, and of course eating ice cream!

There was also an opportunity to buy 50:50 tickets for the next day's raffle. They sold over $900 worth of tickets, making for a nice pot.

It was a great way to start the visit.