An enjoyable day

So the big thing this weekend was Celtic Fest. I was really looking forward to going this year since I had to skip last year's. I was just too pregnant to walk around trying to contain Leanna and Justin. I wish it had been a little colder this time, both for comfort's sake and for atmosphere. I had fun nonetheless. The food is a little differnt than your average festival because of the Celtic theme. Unfortunately I did not have the budget this year to enjoy that part of it. Claire actually ate some Haggis. Sometimes I cannot believe we are related. If you don't know what that is check this link, but make sure you're not eating when you do: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggis ) But I did get to enjoy looking at the Celtic jewlery and clothes, scarves, & weaponry. They have the band performances with bagpipes of course, and the Irish step-dancers. I was really hoping to let Leanna see that again, because two years ago she really loved them. It's fun to see the little girls with their curls bouncing all over the place and the pretty costumes and the ENERGY! Dancing like that would be quite a workout!

And then there's the crowd-that's another major difference from other fairs. See at Celtic fest people wander around in costumes and Kilts! Yes, men in kilts, all over the place! I'm not a leg-woman, but I appreciate the bravery it takes for a man in America to wear a skirt in public. And there seemed to be more of them this year than there were other years. Oh, and then my sister goes, look over there! And it's this big burly motorcycle dude, complete with the hair and bead and tatoos and leather jacket-and a kilt! So of course when I turn my head to look at what she's telling me to look at, the guy turns and sees me looking. And smiles-cause he thinks I'm checking him out! LOL!

We looked around Downtown Bethlehem a little also. I particularly like the Foo Foo Shoppe ( www.thefoofooshoppe.com ) and Donegal Square & Granny McCarthy's Tea Room ( http://www.donegal.com/ ) . Later in the evening after Laura left we got to see the band, Enter the Haggis, which I really enjoyed. As they say themselves, "The music is primarily a fusion of Celtic, bluegrass and rock, however, elements of Latin, blues and funk can be heard throughout." I love the music and it's always fun to see a band live. It' is also real high energy stuff-there was a crowd in front of the stage dancing away the whole time they played. The last two songs they played Leanna got up and really boogied down to it! It was so funny it brought tears to my eyes. Claire bought one of their cds and burned me a copy. She was lucky enough to go back again on Sunday and she got to see another show (which my Mom said was even better) and there was a step dancing performance that they were able to see-actually see-which wasn't fair! Leanna told me that she would like to learn to step-dance( but she said she was afraid we wouldn't be able to afford to buy the costumes they wear!). Along with gymnastics I would love to have her learn that. I think it could really benefit her to burn off some of her excess energy like that!! Saturday night we really couldn't see the step dancers and at that point we were just really really tired. As the kids get older this sort of thing will get easier.

I was realizing Saturday night that I think I'm finally at point where I've learned how to get all the enjoyment out of something like this despite all the demands of the kids. It's hard not to get pulled down when they're tired and struggling to behave and you keep having to stop to feed or change or discipline a child or two or three. And I didn't get to see all the stuff I would have liked to see because I had the stroller or even just Timothy in the sling. The booths were quite crowded and it gets hard to push a stroller around people and I don't like to take up too much room. I'm not saying it didn't drag me down a bit-it's not like being there alone. But I didn't let it take away from my enjoyment of things, and there was a time when I would have. So I am still growing-as a parent and as a person. Because I think that actually relates more to me personally than me as a parent. It's really an attitude change. And besides, if you look at it right you realize that there are certain things added to the experience by the kids too. I'm glad I get to expose them to something like this because it is part of their herritage too.