WMSTR

After a fabulous Friday late-over and a Saturday Morning drive-by run to Sandy's Donuts (We LOVE Sandy's donuts- although the kids were really bummed we didn't ride our bikes down)-- the Larsens and us decided to head East to the 56th annual Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion!(http://www.rollag.com/about.php) It's something we've heard about for years from Sister Charlene Nelson but never have made it to. Well, with a fanatical tractor-lover as our new friend, (aka Ryan- he was like a kid in a candy store LOL!) this is the year! It's held in Rollag, MN every Labor Day weekend.

There was so much to see! (and found out later that we missed tons of the kids stuff- Oops!) Even if we had gone the entire weekend we still probably would have only seen half of it! I think I read that it's like 200 acres or something! Crazy! We made it there just in time for the Morning Parade! [Hey-- that is awesome timing considering the SMT that us and the Larsen set our watches to LOL] These machines were humungous and old! Pretty amazing!

They had a fabulous Kid Area! The kids got to try out old kitchen items, play playdough, play old-time games, do art, try on old hats & play clothes, and even do a little laundry! They could have stayed in there the whole time and been just as happy!

After pulling the kiddos away from the Kid house, we used the "bus" system (tractor-pulled rides) and made our way to the other side. We got to be old-fashioned farmhands. It was pretty neat! We got to pet the animals, grind corn and see how they took care of all the animals. It was hard work!!!!

We also got to take a Train ride. We rode in the cattle cars. Thanks to Kenzie we called it the Pollyanna Train. It was loud and smokey and tons of fun!

Of course, treats are always important! The kids all got popcorn to share while we were on Main Street. And after our train ride, we couldn't pass up the Triple Scoop ice cream cones! YUMMY!!!

Like I said, there was way too much to see. But we did check out the old schoolhouse, rolled down the big hill, peeked in the Ladies Activities room (see my post about Buggy Wheel Rugs- I am so excited for my new project!!), saw some displays, got scared of the Lochness Monster and did our best to stay out of the mud and dust! We're really glad that the Larsens dragged us along!

After our WMSTR adventure was done, we made our way to Hawley to eat at the "Lip Store". At least that's what Maggie calls DairyQueen. We ate outside with the scorching sun and the bees (Thanks love- it was perfect! winkwink) The kids are hilarious because even after spending last night until midnight AND the whole day together, there were still tears about it not being long enough! You can't buy that kind of friendship! LOL!

Thanks for hanging out with us, Larsens! We had a blast! Next Labor Day.... we got plans!