Parade Day!

I am convinced that John and I are creatures of habit.  

We love our schedule, our routine, and our holiday rituals.   

This became especially apparent to me a week or two ago as we celebrated our local Heritage Days.   

John's sister Sarah (and her son Mala) came up to visit and the day was pretty much set in stone, whether any of us knew it, or not;)

It started with the annual parade.

And, of course, we had to all draw our poop circles.

(It's our favourite part about attending a parade.  You draw a circle on the road with chalk and if a horse poops in your circle, well - you win!  How fun, eh?;)

After the parade is finished, we made our way over to the agridome to watch the annual Mod Bog and Ranchers Rodeo.    It was a sweltering 30 some degrees outside and way too hot for any sane person to want to sit out baking while watching others race a bunch of old trucks through the mud - 

but this is what we do every year.

In the evening we always attend the annual Chinook Rodeo.  

(We love the bull riding and other events, we love the smell of hay and manure, and we love watching our local farmers and ranchers compete.   And, it's just what we do every year!)

The culminating event of the day is always the fireworks.   We always go sit on the hill to watch.   We always sit in the same spot.  We always pick out our favourite fireworks.  

See?  Creatures of habit.

I suppose a few things were different this year.   

For starters, we shared the day with company which is always nice.  Then, thanks to a malfunctioned firework, dry conditions and a strong wind - there was a tense moment in which five grass fires began, putting an immediate halt on the fireworks display.   We'd certainly never seen that happen before.   And finally, we enjoyed the most delectable and unforgettable Huckleberry Cobbler (a recipe of Sarah's) as a bedtime snack.   It was a divine way to spend our annual parade day.

For this reason alone, I am now convinced that it is ok to throw in a little variation every now and then.    Especially if it comes in the form of company and fresh Huckleberry Cobbler!