River Fest

This past weekend, we took part in many fun activities lined up for River Fest. River Fest is basically "Monticello Days" where the town takes time to celebrate Monticello and it's community members. We have never been to River Fest before. Since we live in Big Lake, we just didn't think of it. But since we are a big part of Monticello (I teach there, kids go to school there, we go to church there . . .), we just thought we should really jump into the community and enjoy what this celebration had to offer.



It all kicked off Thursday night with family activities in Pioneer Park. The park was packed with people eager to see the car show, the fire trucks, the police dog demonstration, the vintage tractors, the petting zoo and the pony rides.



Jocie was excited to see one of her good friends right when we got there . . . so like most tweens, we hardly saw her for the rest of the evening. She was busy running around and catching up with her classmates. When I look back at my tween years . . . that is exactly what I would have done :)



The rest of us headed over to the petting zoo. It was basically your run-of-the-mill petting zoo equipped with goats, bunnies, ducks, an alpaca, a chicken, etc. Ella was just fine watching from outside the fence . . . but not our little Claire! She had to be right in with all of the action!

She really took a liking to the goats! She patted and petted them, and loved watching them eat. She even tried to kiss the goats, but daddy said, "no no" to that. :)

After quite a while with the animals at the petting zoo, we stood in line and finally got a pony ride. Claire is really getting daring! She loved riding the pony, and by the end of the ride she was getting frustrated with me holding onto her. She wanted to ride herself!

Ella was a real pro, and rode by herself, so daddy could take some pictures.

After the pony ride, Ella got her face painted by a real princess! Well . . . not exactly. She was a candidate for Miss Monticello, but she was a princess in Ella's eyes!

The next morning we woke up early to head down to the race activities. Monticello puts on a 5K, but also does 2 Kids Fun Runs. One is a 300 meter dash (which Ella took part in) and the other is a 700 meter race.

Here is Ella lining up and listening intently to the instructions. We coached her a little before the race and told her to jog a little in the beginning and then run really fast at the end. But, when the race official said "GO!", she took off like a shot and went streaming towards the head of the pack!

When she turned the corner and was on the home-stretch, she started to slow-up a little as she looked for us (mainly Carl).

Once she heard daddy yell "Run hard Ella!", she turned on the jets and and flew towards the finish line!

Just look at that form . . up on her toes, knees driving, arms pumping, pony-tail flying . . . oh, it was a great sight! That's right . . . I was living through my daughter for that 45 seconds, and I am not ashamed to admit it!

She crossed the finish line in second place! Woo-Hoo! As she crossed, she was handed a freezie-pop . . . what could be better?!?

After the race, we headed over to Art in the Park. Ellison Park is butted up right next to the Mississippi River, and is a gorgeous piece of land. It was filled with Arts and Craft vendors, live music, a beer garden, and yummy foods from the best restaurants in Monticello.

As soon as we arrived, Ella saw a little train that she wanted to ride on.

Ella and Claire took a seat in the caboose, and away they went! We had a ton of fun browsing all the great vendors and enjoying everything the park had to offer.

The next day was the parade. We were amazed by how many people came to this event. The streets were packed with residents both young and old. People lined the streets on their lawn chairs, blankets and candy bags in hand, anxiously awaiting the marching bands and colorful floats.

. . . I think Mette and Ella thought that the candy would actually land in their bags :)

There were tons of floats that we loved!

The Big Lake Royalty riding on a huge potato!

Richfield's princesses rode on this patriotic float.



And even some floats that we didn't care for . . . Michelle Bachmann . . . Boooooo!

For two hours, it literally rained candy. Kids scurried around, frantically scooping up as many tootsie rolls as their grocery bags could carry!

Even Claire got into the candy obsession!

All-in-all it was a fantastic weekend that really made me appreciate the communities that I live/work in. Sometimes we feel a little torn, because we live in Big lake but teach in Monticello and St. Michael. But does it really matter?? All the communities are so close to each other . . . so really, it's all one in the same anyway . . . right? :)