Bonus Family Fun: Labor Day Edition

Labor Day means a longer weekend and yet another opportunity for family fun. Today we went to a small village about an hour away that hosts a very large festival every Labor Day weekend.

They've been doing this for over a hundred years, and it features a beef and bean feed. They cook the food overnight underground in a huge pit at the rodeo grounds, then dig it up in the morning and feed the crowd that comes. For free.

Sweet.

Unfortunately, we kicked off the festivities with Charlie throwing up in the car literally as we were looking for a parking spot in the village. At least he managed to get it off to the side of his seat and not all over himself. And it was just car sickness from the windy mountain road, not a debilitating virus.

He was recovered enough by the time the parade started about ten minutes later to chase down the incredible quantities of candy thrown from the floats.

I only got one photo at the beginning, because I spent the rest of the parade helping the children collect and store their ridiculous candy haul.

There were a LOT of political candidates in the parade, handing out campaign materials. (And more candy.) One of them, however, went the patriotic route and handed out little flags.

Patriotic Poppy.

After the parade, we wandered down towards the village park for the foot races. They had separate races for boys and girls in various age categories. So Jack ran with 3-5 year olds; Charlie ran with 5-7 year olds; and Cubby ran with 8-10 year olds.

I have no idea where Charlie learned this starting position, but he takes his races very seriously.

Charlie came in second in his race, and got a prize of two dollars*.

Cubby was very disappointed that he didn't place, but he was at the lower end of his age category, and the winners were all older and taller.

He got off to a good start, though. Next year.

After that, we went to stand in line for the food. We stood, and stood, and stood. We were in line for about 40 minutes. Luckily, we were in the shade most of the time, and the boys amused themselves with dirt, sticks, and rocks, creating pretend fires. Charlie tried to convince A. to light one of their fires with the matches one of the political candidates had handed out. A. declined. 

After we ate, we wandered back to the van, stopping so Charlie could buy a Coke with some of his prize money and so we could see the mobile museum the state of New Mexico drives around with exhibits in a big RV all about native people, plants, etc.

I have to admit that I did not have as much fun at this event as I usually do on Family Fun Days. It was just too many people, and too many vendors. I really dislike going to events at which I have to tell my children "no" over and over again when they ask if we can do or buy various things that cost money. And the crowds make it hard to keep track of three roaming boys.

But we got out of the house, and the boys had a good time, I think.

I guess I'm better off in the remote canyons. Luckily, there are plenty of those.

* I've never heard of cash prizes for children's races, but I think it's great. A couple of dollars is way more exciting to a kid than a useless ribbon.