Tug-o-war, Gluttony & Hick Entertainment

Our family went to Spud Day on Saturday. It's been a tradition in our area for 78 years. It's kind of a fairlike environment at the city park and they have a pageant, a parade, give away baked potatoes and lots of other fun things.

We were expecting Kate and her family to enjoy the day with us, but the flu hit their house and they weren't able to make it. I was really looking forward to their visit but, as it happened, this year probably wasn't the best year for us to introduce them to the festivities. The celebration was fun, but it. was. so. cold! I would have felt really bad making her & Josh lug around their children in the freezing cold while they were still recovering from the flu! (Maybe next year?)

We got to Spud Day a little after noon and bought hot scones with honey-butter first thing. Then we met up with Evens and Kelly as we prepared to watch the Spud-Tug. This consists of 1 ton of mashed potato flakes and 1100 gallons of water being mixed in a cement truck. They then pour it into a pit and have a tug-o-war over the mashed potatoes. There were a couple of teams of kids and then they moved on to the adults. Even Evens was on a team - The Undertakers. They stayed in through 2 rounds but eventually lost to The Mutants. I downed a Pronto Pup while enjoying the great view of the losers as they landed face first in the potatoes. It looked so gross! As soon as Isaac saw people covered in the mash he said that it scared him and he wanted to go home. I think he was scared. And in spite of all our efforts of layering clothing to beat the weather, I think that he was also very cold and looking for an excuse to get inside. Eventually Uncle Joey took him and Kenley to Nana's house.

Jeremiah and I weren't exactly sure what to do without the kids - it doesn't happen all that often. And with the weather being so cold and windy all there really was to do was eat. A lot of the vendors had already packed up by this point and the only trailors left were perveyors of fine fair food. Jeremiah treated us to a giant turkey leg and I got a grape Slush Puppie - mmmm. After hanging out a little longer with Evens and Kelly and some of their friends, we too headed back to Nana's house to warm up a little bit before heading out to the rodeo arena for the Demoltion Derby.

It had rained a bit in between and so when we got to the arena it was full of mud - perfect for a DD. We spread out dozens of blankets and sat on the bleachers, drank hot chocolate, filled with anticipation. I have to admit I have little bit of white trash in me: I am a sucker for a demolition derby. I looked around and thought, "Man, these derbies pull the hicks out of the woodworks...and I am numbered among them." So I made the best of it by yelling and screaming and embarrassing all my in-laws. But my shining moment had to be when I left the bleachers to yell at a bunch of 9 years olds who were standing on the arena fence in front of us because "We can't see through your butts!" And none of us wanted to miss the smashing and crashing of these finely painted automobiles in the mud.

It rained a bit more during the derby and Isaac decided to leave with his cousin Caleb and go to Caleb's grandma's house. But Kenley stuck it out - probably because of the nachos. I suppose I have passed the WT trait on to her because she loved watching all the banging. She got a little squirmy between heats, but if there was action she was enthralled. There were three heats, a minis heat, a consolation round and then the championship. It was lots of fun and I left absolutely freezing and with a sore throat from all the screaming. True signs of a good time.

We all headed back to Nana & Papa's house where she treated us to poor-boy cookies and a warm fire. It was just a fun day.