Cheyenne Frontier days is over! Yea haw!!! It is so nice to
have our quiet neighborhood back again. CFD is always a fun experience but
after 10 days of constant noise it is nice to have the quiet return again. This
year for CFD we spent the days with friends at the park or with my family who
all (but Ben) came to visit for the last three days of CFD. That said Sophie
and I went practically every day to the park to see the Indian dancers, or the
old west town alone or with friends or family. Stewart and I also decided to
take Sophie to the carnival to ride the Ferris wheel and other rides she has
been dreaming about doing since we moved here two years ago. All in all the
last several days have been jam packed with good ol’ Cheyenne Frontier Day fun.
The first of the week (July 20th) my friend
Kathryn Ditson scored 5 tickets to the Rodeo so she invited Sophie and me to go
along with her and her two little ones. We had a lot of fun, but the kids got
board about 1.5 hours into it so we left early. Because we had tickets to the
rodeo it allowed us to get into the midway area without paying to get in, so we
took advantage of that and looked at a lot of the booths set up around the
area. We saw a lot of neat stuff but none we had money to buy :)
That night for FHE Stewart and I took Sophie to the carnival so she could ride the Farris wheel and a few other rides. I think she had a lot of fun, because she left with a giant smile on her face. I did not take pictures at the rodeo with Kathryn but here are some pictures from the carnival.
On Wednesday Stewart had the day off because it was Cheyenne
Day. Every Cheyenne Day the Air Force Thunderbird group comes and puts on a
show. We decided to skip the crowds and watch the air show from the solarium
room at the hospital. It was really neat to see them do all their tricks and
maneuvers, many times we were sure they were going to crash they were so close.
It was a fun day!
Later that week some of my friends and their kids got
together to go to the Indian Village and watch the dancers dance. Afterwards we
went and explored the Old West town and let the kids ride a pony. We also put
them in jail for not following the rules… it was a fun morning and a good way
to spend our time.
On Thursday evening my family arrived to spend a few days
with us. Like I mentioned above everyone was here with us but my sister Emily’s
husband Ben, who was missed. We started off our get together Friday Morning by
going to the CFD Pancake breakfast at the train depot. They feed several
hundreds of people three different mornings during CFD. Because it is such a
large crowd they mix the pancake batter in a food grade cement mixer
attachment. The line seems daunting but it moves quickly. Once you get to the
front of the line they give you a plate put three or so pancakes on it someone
puts butter on your pancakes if wanted and then someone else adds the syrup,
next you get a slice of ham and then you find a seat and enjoy. It is always a
fascinating experience.
After the pancake breakfast we came home and got ready to go
to the rodeo. I learned that this was Stewart’s first rodeo, I have no idea how
I did not know that until half way thru the rodeo. It was a good rodeo and our
seats were fantastic of course since I went to buy them clear back in January
to make sure we got prime seating.
Later that night we went back to the carnival where Grandma
and Grandpa spoiled the grand kids and bought some tickets for them to go on a
few rides. After we exhausted ourselves at the carnival we came home and had a
hot dog roast in our back yard. We finished out the evening listening to one of
the nightly concerts. It was a fun day, but we were all so tired I don’t think
any one of us had a problem falling asleep that night.
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| Ben called in and join all the fun via Phone |
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| See I was there too. |
On Saturday, we went to the last CFD Rodeo for the year. I
will be honest CFD rodeos are B.O.R.I.N.G! There are a lot of rodeo queens,
princesses, and other royalty, lots of wagons and cow folk. There were a few
high school bands and clowns, but really that is about all there is. We had fun
anyway and enjoyed the experience.
After the parade, we all came home and eventually made our
way to the Indian Village to watch the Indian dancers perform, and explore the
shops in the area. After that we then walked over to the Old West town where we
again took pictures in the jail and let Sophie and Bridon ride the ponies. We
tried to do all we wanted to do in this area since the following day was Sunday
and the last day of CFD so we would not have this chance again. When we tired
ourselves out we came home and relaxed.
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| When Rupert got scared he would go under Sophie's bed. Sophie is under the bed with Rupert helping him feel safe. |
On Sunday we went to church. Sophie had to give a talk in
primary so she invited her Gma and Gpa as well as her Aunts to come and watch
her. She did a great job and it was fun to have so many on-lookers cheering her
on, quietly of course :) After church we
came home had dinner, took a Sunday nap and then Sophie and I (Stewart had to
work) invited everyone to join us on a walk to Lions Park. We took them to the
Botanical Gardens and enjoyed showing everyone our beloved park and all there
is to do in it.
At the park.......
The next day everyone had to head back to Idaho so we helped
them pack up and waved to them as they pulled away. It was sad to see them go,
but we made a lot of fun memories while they were here. I think the best part
of waving goodbye to them was knowing we did not have a 10 hour dive to make to
get home. We know from experience that is one loooooong drive we hope not to
have to make too many more times.
So what did we do while my family was traveling back to
Idaho you ask? We loaded ourselves up with a picnic lunch and headed off to
Vedauwoo for a day hike and time as a family to explore the area. It was nice
just to be together as a trio, and we had fun climbing and exploring all
around. It was a good end to a fun 10 days of crazy CFD fun!
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| This is Chip he joined us for lunch |
