Victorian Sleighbell Weekend

Gavin and me at the parade.

This weekend, December 3, 4 & 5, was the Victorian Sleighbell Weekend in our town. Our town started off as a huge logging town with a happy little Victorian history. We have many activities through out the weekend including a Victorian parade. Along the sidewalks of downtown people in Victorian dress roast chestnuts and give out warmed cider. Each entry into the parade is pulled by horses or manpower. Pere Marquette and his Indian guide, Victorian ladies and gentlemen. Children and adults, from our kids' school, dressed as angels and shepards. The parade ends with a huge tree pulled by horses, then Santa, and finally another tree, this one much larger than the first. At the end of the street the trees are displayed for the rest of the holiday season. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died just as the parade started. Now that I've replaced them I will get a picture of the trees.

Henry and Irene. It was very cold and they were not happy to be sitting for so long.

Mark's mom came up Saturday morning. She brought Mark's nephew, Shelby with her. Once they got here we went to the craft show that was going on at the high school. There were a lot of entries and a lot of very nice things. Some of the crafts made me laugh though. There were several things that I can and have made, like knit shawls, felted bags, etc. Overall, it was a nice craft show. After the show we had lunch and let the kids play. We decided to leave for the parade over an hour early but it was so busy that we ended up parking quite a long way away. We had to sit for so long that the kids got cold and cranky. Once the parade started Henry cheered up but ended up having to potty really badly. We left just as the last tree was coming towards us.

Mark and Gavin

After the parade we had a quick dinner and then went to the hotel. We went swimming which helped to warm us all up. Henry and Irene stayed the night with Grandma and Shelby. Sunday morning brought us snow so Grandma and Shelby left early. We had planned to go to the Festival of Trees which is a lot of trees decorated by area businesses and groups. I had a few other things for us to do but with Michigan snow you never know how much you'll get.

Dog Sled team that went racing down the street. They were fast! In the background you can see some of the crowd.

This is a not very good picture of the crowd.

My dad told me that he saw an advertisement for the Sleighbell Weekend in the Chicago Tribune. I think there were more people for this parade than for the 4th of July parade! I'm suddenly drawing a blank about what else I was going to write. Hmm...If I remember I'll add it later.

These two pictures I just wanted to share because Irene is such a darn cutie!