Nordic Fest '09

Nordic Fest is one of my favorite times of the year. It always takes place the last full weekend in July. Last year Mya was 6 days old when Nordic Fest occured, so Chris took Max by himself. I haven't gone to the Fest in a few years, so I decided to take Max with me and go up this year! We took in the parade which Max absolutely loved. He figured out the candy thing right away and wanted more, more, more!! He had the people around us getting candy for him left and right. They couldn't resist giving it to him when he'd go right up to them with his hand open saying candy please after they caught a piece!



My favorite part of the parade were the Nordic Dancers. They pick new dancers every 5 years. You have to be in 3rd grade at the time of the try-outs to be involved with it. This is the first Nordic Fest for the "junior" group and the "senior" group will be freshman in high school. Here's a little video of the junior group dancing during the parade. You can see Max getting into it at the end.



I was lucky enough to be a Nordic Dancer and each year they invite the alumni to come back and dance at the Courthouse Square on Saturday night. It's amazing, but once you get out there, it all comes back! My partner and I were discussing how when we were in 3rd grade, they used to harp on us to smile, smile, smile! Now, we can't get the smiles to come off of our faces while dancing. The only other difference between now and then is that I'm dressed in street clothes and apparently I'm out of shape. I was out of breath during some of the dances!

Another big tradition at Nordic Fest is riding Pokey Pete through the downtown streets. Max got his big chance this year and he even rode without any adults! Grandma put him on and he seemed okay, so she let him go and he did great! Here's a picture from my phone of him on the train.



All in all, I had a great weekend. Didn't get to see everyone that I wanted to, but happy to see as many people as I did. Next year we will go as an entire family when Mya can sit through a parade and stay up past 6:30 p.m.:)