Highland Games at Loon Mountain

We were in NH last weekend and the autumn season is already wrapping up and the trees are ready for winter. However, we've had some great weekends there over the last couple of months I want to share with you.

In mid September, we had a great reason to go up and spend the weekend there, the annual Highland Games at Loon Mountain. Mike and I have wanted to go to this festival since the first year we bought our condo over 7 years ago. Somehow though, we've never actually made it there. This year we had an excellent excuse not to miss it - we knew a performer! Mike's brother in law, Joe, was competing in the bag pipe competitions and staying at our place for the weekend, as well as niece Emily.

We all went up Friday night and were up and ready to go to the festival first thing Saturday morning. Joe and Emily went before us. We left later, parked on some of the off site parking and took the shuttle to the mountain. 

It was a really cold morning and we felt under dressed. We weren't too worried because the forecast promised that we would be warming up quickly. Only problem was that the forecast was seriously wrong. The sun never made it from behind the clouds, the temperature never went up and we even had some good Scottish like mist We were FREEZING the whole day! We seriously spent the whole day cuddling up to each other and trying to share each others warmth. For that reason, there weren't a lot of opportunity for pictures. And the cold also drove our decision on what to get for a souvenir - a nice, warm, wool, tartan blanket! It was a life saver.

The coolest part of the day (other than the weather), was watching the pipes and drums band march and play down the mountain. It was quite a site. Then we watched them march into the arena, play and march out.

That's Joe in the center of this picture.

After they played we went to watch some of the "heavy athletics" competition. That basically means a whole bunch of guys in kilts throwing heavy stuff. We cuddled up under the blanket and watched the disabled competition (I started to feel my toes again at this point). It was pretty impressive to see guys with prosthetic legs and partial limbs toss a 20 some odd pound rock.

Me and the Boys Snuggling (that's our new blanket over Cade's arm)

Dylan "Falling" Off the Train

And here you can see his cute face.

Despite the cold, it was a pretty awesome experience for all. After the games, we went to a potluck at Joe's band's rental condo and the boys played at the indoor pool with Emily. Cade was able to "swim" around solo with his floaty back and forth between Mike and Emily. Yay Cade!

Cade, Emily, Dylan

Emily and Cade

Joe's individual competition was on Sunday. Mike had to head back to Massachusetts for his soccer game and Joe and Emily left early to warm up. That left with me solo with the boys.

Now, this might sound silly, but I was pretty proud of myself taking the boys to an event like this solo. Mike and I are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of baby stuff and life seems to be getting just a wee bit easier in many subtle ways.  Little things like Dylan being able to dress himself, open his car door and partially buckle himself and his brother in the car seat all really help to take the load off our backs. It's very freeing! So feeling brave enough to take my little guys solo to a festival where I had to schlep the stroller as well as them through parking\shuttling\traveling back and forth to events and being confident I could manage the two of them without stress....yeah, kind of a big deal.

And I did have a very enjoyable day with them! The weather did a flip flop from the previous day and we were actually too warm in our long sleeved shirts. We got to cheer on uncle Joe in his solo competition and we got to enjoy some more of the heavy athletics. Pretty cool.

Cutie Pop

Joe in Front of the Judge

The Clouds Over the Mountains

The boys wanted to take this picture for their daddy - a table made out of his favorite drink.

Emily Helped with the Boys of Course
Here they are hanging on the ski lift.

Battle of the Merida!
Which One is Cuter?

My Vote's For Cade!

He Also Makes a Pretty Cute Piper

Me and the Boys

Joe, Emily, Dylan, Me and Cade

Throwing the "Light Hammer"

Caber Toss (Aka Log Throwing)

Brother Abuse Caught on Film

Cade Cheering on the Competitors

Definitely a fun experience. I can't say I knew squat about Scottish culture before that day so it was nice to get an intro in that fashion. I mean, there aren't many festivals you go to where the majority of the population is in kilts! (Fashion....get it?)

If you ignore the snot running down his face, this is a cute picture of me and Cade.