Linden Hills Festival

In the spirit of catching up, the next adventure (happening on May 20th) was the Linden Hills Festival. I've attended with Riley in past years. We did not, however, participate in the kid and pet parade until this year. Riley got to stay home this time and Katy got to ride the choo-choo stroller. At the last minute, I got some kind of crazy idea I'd make the stroller into a train. It was slapdash crafting at it's finest. Time from start to finish was about 15 minutes and by the time we got to the parade, two blocks down, the mist had taken a toll on mama, Katy and the choo-choo. Nevertheless we soldiered on and enjoyed a fine parade!

Here's the fabulous engine with a stack made from the spiral from the water table and a pinwheel whipped up out of scrapbook paper and a long ruler. The back has drawings of a conductor, which sadly ended up looking more like the doughboy than a train conductor. Hazard of working for the doughboy for so long I guess!

Southwest High School band starts it off! It was quite crowded at the beginning so we let a bunch of people go before we took off. I'm not sure Katy was enthralled with the noise of the band anyway.

Next stop was the pony rides! After the parade, this was the main attraction for me us. Since Katy hadn't ever been on a pony before, at least as far as I know, she was apprehensive at first. We were almost first in line because it was nearing nap time, freezing cold and rainy. The ponies were just getting saddled up and we watched for a bit.

Then it was our turn! Katy loved it! Because it was her first time, I walked next to her. Guessing I wouldn't have to do that again but I didn't want her falling off when I was across the pen just for the sake of a good picture.

I did get a little bit of video. The jolt at the end is from the ride coming to a stop rather suddenly. Didn't scare this munchkin a bit, I think she's going to be a daredevil!

After the pony ride we hightailed it home so we could warm up. Looking at the weather today which is somewhere around 90 degrees and tropical dew points I can't imagine how we were so cold. brrrrr.