Dragon Boat Festival

Our city hosted a dragon boat race and festival for the first time.  When we learned of this event, we put it on our calendar.

As we prepared to make our way to the river, it occurred to me that my brother and sister-in-law would spend the day preparing to host a birthday party with three children underfoot.  I called and asked if we could take a child off their hands.  Jonathan said that I could not just take one, and I definitely understand that.  We had the space and manpower for two, so Ira and Regan joined us for the races.  We were meeting my friend Kim and her two kids who are close to Regan's age, so we set out for a fun adventure.

We started by heading to the walking bridge for a bird's eye view of the river.

It was a long walk from the bridge to the park, so we stopped for a swing break.

I do wish the boats had the ornate dragon heads that you typically see in the pictures and in China.

My percussion family loved the Korean drums.

The boats looked like such fun.  They did have to fish a captain out of the water on one race, but the opportunity to participate was open to groups and individuals in the community.  Our county school system sent a team, and I do think this might be a fun thing to do sometime when they return.

Jonathan was very surprised that his kids were well behaved.  We had no problems.  Ira wanted to be carried back to the car, and he would not let Andy do it, but it wasn't a big deal. He was all about the bicycles and dogs -pointing them out everywhere.

Regan loved having the other kids around.  I think she liked the boats too.  She kept Wyatt in line, constantly telling him to stay with us:)

It was a tad chilly but otherwise a really nice day for the races.