Kansas' 150th Birthday parade

Although Kansas became a state January 29, 1861, celebrations have been going on all year. And since January really is a difficult month for parades - well, there was a big one today in downtown Wichita. So we went to this sesquicentennial birthday parade with the grandchildren. We knew that rain clouds were off to the west so we took umbrellas - just in case!
Messin' with Papa waiting for the parade to start.

Look Nana! My wite hand is ovoo my haht.
The Governor
I was just hoping these longhorns wouldn't get out of line and come at us!!


I am not sure what the Batmobile was doing in the Kansas parade. Any ideas? Maybe a Kansas guy bought it?

Miss Kansas
The cows and horses left a lot of evidence behind....
...luckily this street cleaner came along before all the marching bands and people came along.














The Pretty Prairie Bulldog marching band! I remember when I was on furlough in the 8th grade and got to march with them at Sterling College.

It was almost over when we began to feel drops of rain.
So we started to get ready to leave when it began to pour. Time to go! It almost rained on our parade! But glad it held out!
It was a fun and long parade and the kids got lots of candy thrown to them too. But we weren't done! We headed to Elbing, to Berean for their Country Fair. Kansas has so many country fairs in the month of October! We could have gone to several today.
Posing with Tante Hulda, who I painted probably 10 years ago when our kids went to school there. I painted her as an advertisement for the German food that they serve. Verenika, German sausage, New Year's cookies, zwiebach.

And now we are thanking God for the rain He has sent. So far about an inch, but we could get possibly up to 3 inches we are told. Great for the grass we planted and for the crops around here. An end to the draught perhaps.

Happy 150th Birthday, Kansas!

Country Fair

This weekend I took the girls to a very special country fair. They were pretty excited to be going. Hannah was talking A LOT in the car, probably because she was so excited. Then she said "How long until we get there?" "Oh, about 5 minutes." "That's good, because I'm tired of talking!"

The Vogts from our church are adopting a child from Russia. Read about their heart here. The Vogts' community life group from church put together this country fair to help them raise funds. I wanted to help out. Adoption costs are 5 times more than they were when we adopted back in 1984. Not an easy process!

This table had their story and a place to donate. And directions for another sale in the area. The Barn Sale (and yes, I went there too!)
There was a hay rack ride...
train ride... (my friend Connie told me that her granddaughter went on that ride 17 times!)


cotton candy!!....
farm animals to pet...
Hannah's favorite - horses!!!
Sophia is just a little more shy about horses


a bouncy house....
face painting...


games...
(see Hannah's shirt? Like I said, she loves horses!)
and instead of a sand box - this is a farm, so they had a tank of corn!...

And Balzer's brought their cooler scooter. Or is it a scooter cooler? Cool!
If you weren't able to go, I know the Vogts would still appreciate your help!