Peach Days

The weekend before Labor day is the annual Peach Days festival here in Hurricane.  It is a very looked forward to event for our whole valley, even those not living in Hurricane.  It is also a time for those who have moved away to return for class and family reunions.  Our girls usually clog on one of the many stages and there are tons of food booths, entertainment, fair-like displays (like extraordinary fruits and vegetables, pictures, paintings, etc) and of course, PEACHES.  This year was no exception to the wonderfulness of the weekend, except my girls didn't clog with the group.  Mady was too busy with volleyball practices to come and practice clogging, and I couldn't get a ride to practice for Cami.  It was OK though, I don't think any of us missed it for just one year. 

On Friday night I received a nice surprise, our son Austin came home and, while I was on the computer blogging, came into my room and said his usual "How are ya?".  I jumped out of my chair, barely rescuing my laptop so it didn't fall onto the floor, and gave him a big hug.  He had come down to surprise me for Peach Days, and to bring Mady her little Bronco II that she and Austin had purchased up in Logan.  Our cousins Brody and Tanner drove it down, and Austin drove his little pickup. It was a great surprise!  He hadn't been home more that a few minutes before all of his friends showed up.  (He always moves in crowds, I swear).  I was glad to have Brody and Tanner spend the weekend with us and Mady had a great time with them too.  (They are about the same age as Mady and Cody). 

Saturday morning we met everyone and went to the parade in Hurricane.  May parents came over from Leeds and my niece Kora was in the parade as the American Stampede Queen.  She looked beautiful.  Austin and Brody and Tanner came during the parade and we had a great time.

Cody, Mom, Dad and Dalyon  waiting for the parade to start.  Lively crew. 

Now the fun begins.  Austin, Brody and Tanner finally show up and Austin steals Mady's seat.  He is explaining something significant I'm sure.  The is always lots of candy, Frisbee's and an occasional t-shirt thrown out at the parade. 

We had a very enjoyable day on Saturday.  Mom and Dad hung around with us, we went home after the parade so my dad could lay down for a bit, then went back to the celebration for a Navajo Taco (another tradition) and to enjoy the entertainment.  Mom and I visited all of the exhibits and the kids found friends to run around with.  Dalyon especially liked the hatchet throwing contest in the Pioneer corner.  My friend Maria took Cami and Dalyon with her kids and Cody went with his friend Carsen and their "heirom"  (he has mostly girlfriends) and Mady hung out with Chelsea Cahoon.  We all had a very enjoyable time, and came home in the early afternoon to relax and watch a movie.  It was a really nice day to spend with my Mom and Dad, something that hasn't happened very often.

Later that night we all loaded up and went to the Peach Days Rodeo, a very small "hometown" rodeo that usually takes forever, but is fun to watch.  This year the FFA was in charge again so Mady was helping with some of it, and Austin was there too, somewhere. (I didn't see him but he said he was there.)  Cody decided to try his hand at riding a steer.  We borrowed the safety gear from Zac Wright, a friend of Austins, and he earned his money for the entry fee.  He is a lot bigger than any of the kids his age, and the steers were very small so it wasn't a very good first time ride, but now he can say that he did it. 

Cody is standing in the chute getting ready to ride.  He said he was trying to tell them that the steer was too small for him, but they needed to keep moving so they said just ride this one.

Here he goes!  He weighs about half of what the steer does and the poor thing could barely carry him out of the chute.  Its legs could only walk, let alone buck so Cody rode him a few feet and slowly fell off.  It was kind of like slow motion from our point of view. 

Cody gathers himself up off the ground and the steer runs away.  I'm not sure how many seconds he rode, but he didn't make the buzzer.  I was nervous for nothing. 

We enjoyed Peach Days again this year and was glad for the time with our family.  We are looking forward to next year!!