Labor Day Weekend 2014

Initially we didn't have any plans for Labor Day weekend this year, we were thinking it might be nice to just be home for an entire weekend for a change! We have been so busy this summer and havent had a free weekend since May! But, Friday night that changed! My parents were headed to Twin Falls to be with my brother's family for the weekend and also to ride in the Sun Valley Wagon Days Parade on Saturday afternoon, and since we didnt have any plans we decided to make the day of it. 

Mack went with them to Twin for the night and the girls and us drove to Sun Valley Saturday morning. 

Neither of us (The Man and I) have ever been to Sun Valley, Idaho before! I know- we dont go anywhere! It was only a 2 1/2 hr drive to! It was fun to see it and just enjoy the day with no plans. The parade didnt start until 1:00 Saturday afternoon so we took our time getting there. When we did get there we parked next to these crazy twig homes,  the girls thought they were "sc-ewy!"  They were huge and seriously in the middle of a parking lot- random! But I thought they were kind of cool- and kind of weird?!

We then made our way to Main Street Ketchum to find my mom so we could watch the parade. 

 The place was PACKED! I couldn't believe how many people came to see this parade! Its called Wagon Days because its the only parade in the country that entirely consists of Wagons- no motorized vehicles allowed! I was a little skeptical at first, but I'll admit it was pretty great! The kids LOVED it and the weather was perfect. 

My Dad and RJ were asked to bring their teams down for the event, they were both pretty excited. Here they are in all their glory, "R Hitch" is the official name of this set up- clever right?! Dick and Homer, Sherm and Tank did us all proud. 

 They carried a Man that has ridden in this Parade longer than anyone ever- he recently had a stroke and is in very poor health. He had a hard time when the Parade was over and didn't want to stop riding, so the guys pulled him around for a few hours more. This broke my heart, I'm sure the man knew it was probably his last time riding in a wagon. 

There were also some pretty crazy things in this parade:

 Tons of miniature ponies and mules pulling really big wagons or buggies...

 A Man riding a Bull- or some type of Cow?!! This was nuts, that thing was HUGE!! I've never seen anything like that before, he was at least 8 ft tall- the Cow not the man! Ha

 A fleet of "indians" riding bareback- These kids were dressed as Indians, but they had trained the horses to do a routine by only using their legs to give signals, it was really neat. 

 And a freaky squirrel and pig!! The kids loved these masks and begged for me to buy them- no way! They freaked me out! 

 The kids were completely entertained, they loved every second. 

 But the best part was the very last entry,  it was a team of 20 mules that pulled this huge 6-cart train. I couldn't believe how they came around that sharp corner! It was a impressive sight to see all those mules with hitches and how the cowboys had to work together to get it to all work smoothly, it really was one of the coolest things Ive ever seen! I can't imagine seeing this set up going across the country to deliver supplies like it used to.

The Men standing on the Carts are working together controlling the brakes- the road is a down hill slope so they had to really work to keep the carts from crashing into the mules. The announcer said that this Mule-Train went over some pretty serious Mountain passes in its day- I can't even imagine!

 Anyway, if you need plans for next  Labor Day weekend I highly recommend going to Sun Valley to this parade! It was really great and there were a ton of other activities planned throughout the town for the entire day. 

We ended up getting some pizza after then we went back to Twin to see my Brother's home. The boys went to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie while the girls went and did a little shopping. It was such a fun day and I can't wait to go visit again!

 Plus who wouldn't love snuggling this little face all day?

 This is my nephew Quaid- who is already 3 months old, What?!

 He is a snuggler and I loved every second!