Wellsville Days

The annual Wellsville Days celebration was this weekend, and what a wonderful time we had!  The weather was perfect (although I ended up getting a little sunburned during my 10 hours spent on the bricks of Main St. . .) and I loved meeting up with old friends.  As usual, the day began with the parade.  Different this year, however, was that we were IN the parade!  The theme for Wellsville Days was "A Walk Through Time" which was a perfect theme for Grandpa Denny and Grandma Jo to enter the newly-restored 'Dwyer 49' in the parade.  The kids were super-excited to actually be in the parade this year, but they were a bit disappointed when they realized they wouldn't be having any candy thrown to them. Oh well, they convinced some friends to share when it was over, so they got the best of both worlds!  Here are the kiddos ready to start the parade route in the back of the new, old truck.

Grandpa Evan and the rest of the American Legion presenting the colors.

 

The Grand Marshalls were Mr. & Mrs. Wright, teachers of mine from elementary and high school.  I loved how they were wearing their old football jersey and cheerleading outfit.

Jack and his buddy Tanner on the Middle School football float, wearing their dads' old football jerseys as well.

And when Joy asked if she could borrow my old cheerleading outfit, I didn't realize it was so it could be used as one of the "old-school" uniforms!  Oh well, I think it's held up pretty well (the gal walking in front of the float is wearing my nearly 20 year old outfit)! 

The best float in the parade hands-down, and the winner of the "People's Choice" was the Methodist Church's groovy bus.  Grandpa Evan and Grandma Shirley worked hard on this float with their congregation and it was awesome!

Up next: The Dwyer 49!  Violet was really good at waving for the first 3-4 blocks, then I don't know if it was stage-fright or what, but the waving came to a screeching halt when we actually hit Main Street.

Wellsville Days was held on Ammie's (Russ' great-grandma) 95th birthday!

Talk about a "Walk Through Time"!  Ammie has seen so much in her 95 years and I loved how everyone was applauding her as we passed by!

After the parade, our 1 year old birthday girl met up with the 95 year old birthday girl to exchange well-wishes.  Last year at Wellsville Days, Evelyn was fresh home from the hospital at 2 days old!

 We love you, Ammie!  Happy Birthday!

 Next up was Oliver's kindergarten class performance on the main stage.  Evelyn can't wait!

There's the whole class!  Where's Oliver??

 

Here's a closer view.  What, you still can't find him??

Yes, Oliver has perfected his father's technique of hiding in the back anytime he can.  If you still can't find him, he's wearing a blue hat. . .

 After Oliver's big performance, it was lunch and then time to hit the "Fun Zone"!  Grandma Jo is so nice to buy the kids wrist bands each year so they can play all day.  

 Uncle John and Grandma Cheryl were working this inflatable, and the kids went through many, many times.

The rockin' bull is always a crowd favorite as well. Calvin's best was 33 seconds and Oliver's was 11 seconds.  Last year, he never hit the 8 seconds mark, so definite improvement this year!

The "revenge of the seas" and the "tubs of fun" were also, well, tubs of fun for the boys.

But don't for a minute think the girls were left out!  They also found some fun things to do.  Daddy took Vi on the train ride with Rebecca and Wyatt. . .

 . . . and Syd took Vi down all of the inflatable slides, many times.

 And not to be left out, Evie also got her turn playing.  I'm fairly confident that she was the only 366-day old playing in the jump house.  She loved it!

 And Syd even took Ev down a slide, such a wonderful big cousin she is!

As I mentioned earlier, we were on the bricks for over 10 hours on this Wellsville Days Saturday, and I love it that my kids enjoy the day as much as I did growing up.  Such great memories are always made at Wellsville Days!