Popcorn Days

What a weekend! The boys and I just had a great time in Schaller, Iowa to celebrate their annual Popcorn Days event. We arrived at Jill's parents' farmhouse Friday afternoon and prepared for the kid parade. The kids were on a float that showcased making popcorn in 1883 and in 2008. Luke and Avery were from the past (an indian and a pioneer girl) and Ryan and Andrew were from the present...using the microwave. They did just an amazing job and won first place in the "float division". The only challenge was that it was so HOOOOOTTTT. It was just miserable and I think I sweat off 5 pounds. Anyways, as the sun went down it felt a LITTLE better. We cooled down while Ryan and Luke took part in the pedal pull after the parade. They had to pull weight with a little pedal tractor. It was so funny. The native Iowa boys were much more trained then my little Oregonians. After the pedal pull we hit the carnival rides and food booths. It was fantastic fair fun. My boys were on absolute cloud 9.

Saturday we woke up to a beautiful morning. A storm had come through and cleared out the humidity. The skies were blue and it was very comforatable outside. We hit the road by 9:00 so we could get to town to see the big parade. We had prime seats in Jill's Grandma Dollie's front yard. The parade was a neat display of small town community. We saw tons of farm equipment and 4 wheelers and trucks pulling floats. The highlight for the boys was the amount of candy that was thrown at them. Could this day get any better? After the parade we hit almost every event possible. We hit the high noon lunch, we swam at the pool, we rode more rides, we watched a drumming concert and played on the playground. One final highlight, to end our weekend, was watching 8 tractors square dance. I know that sounds crazy...but it was incredibly entertaining. I took a few video clips to prove its' existence.


We had such a good time at Popcorn Days. I asked Ryan what he thought of everything and he just sat back, sighed and said..."It's just the good ol' days." What a funny comment but so true. Being in a small town, sharing their favorite celebration was really special. It was fun to visit Schaller again, 8 years after Jon and Jill's wedding. Barb and Jim were great hosts and I appreciated meeting Jill's grandmothers, aunts and friends. It will definitely be a highlight of our trip to Nebraska.