Maifest Magic

*I'm sure I'm infringing on BlueBell's copyright, but the title just seemed fitting.  This week has been magical!

If you're not from or in Brenham, you may not know about Maifest.  Click on their website to find out more about it, or here's the summary:  it's one of the oldest German festivals in the south.   We were unsure about it, I think, because it just seemed like such a "Brenham" thing.  Well, that's not a bad thing, and once we got involved we realized it is the LEAST exclusive event around--they work so hard to make it open to everyone, and then work hard to make sure every child feels special.   Last year, one of Kayci's friends talked her into participating and her mom included Kayci in one of the dance groups.  Remember this?

Kayci had so much fun, and we did, too.  She and Kate did the go-go dance in the talent show last spring, and then a bunch of the girls wore their outfits for Halloween this year.  We got our money's worth and then some!  But more importantly, Kayci had a great time, and she loved, loved the dancing.  This year, she was so excited to sign up for another dance number, and Maifest didn't disappoint.  Kayci was a Genie with a fantastic group of girls and parents.  From start to finish, Maifest 2012 was well-organized, kid-focused, and a ton of fun.  And most importantly, Kayci had FUN!

Here she is, waiting to go to her group before the Coronation.  Did I mention that Kayci ROCKED as a Genie?  She loved the dance, and it showed!  We love to watch her dance, and we're even willing to bend our "one activity" rule to let her take dance lessons...but she's content to dance for just a couple months each year.  I love that kid!

And afterwards, we snuck away to ride a couple rides while we waited for Daddy to gather his equipment.

We were up bright and early Saturday morning for the parade...the Genies' float was gorgeous, and so were the girls.  :)  This year they had to combine the Jr. and Sr. parades, so after we got the Genies off the float and back with their families, we went back to watch the rest of the parade.

When Daddy went back to film the Senior Coronation, the knuckleheads and I went back so they could ride the 40-ft. slide (YOWZA!) and get some more of the awesome fresh lemonade.

Did I say YOWZA already?!  Geez, that's a tall slide--the look of pure, abject terror on their faces...needless to say, nobody asked if they could go again.  :)

And I made them take the obligatory goofy picture...I bet next year we'll see his nose, too...they're both growing so fast!

After dinner, Noble was arguing that he was too tired to sleep (and trying to get out of taking a bath).  He lay down on the floor in protest...and proved himself wrong!

I hope you guys had as much fun at Maifest as the Pharaons.  Congratulations, Queen Kate and King Jake--you and your families did a wonderful job of making Maifest unforgettable for everyone!