Tomato Days . 2011

One of the things we really like about Hooper is the small town (but, yes, it is a city!) atmosphere.  The annual heritage days - Tomato Days - is no exception!

Labor Day weekend is Tomato Days in Hooper!  Saturday night all Hooper residents are invited to a FREE dinner at the park (this year, they did suggest a $1 donation/person - completely worth it!).  The same long-time Hooper resident smokes the pulled pork for sandwiches every year, volunteers shuck hundreds of locally grown corn, cookies are ordered, drinks are available, and the condiment table (with as many sliced tomatoes as you could ever want) round out the meal.  Last year Ryder mostly enjoyed the tomatoes, but this year he ate a whole meal!  Dinner was made even nicer because we met up with our neighbors (yes, again) at the park where we ate together, and the kids played on the playground!

Today (Labor Day); however, is the main event.  Last year we entered Ryder in the Baby Contest, so we of course had to enter Harvick and Jarrett this year!  Babies are actually allowed to participate up to 3 times - until they turn 3 years old . . . but, we figured it was probably best not to push our luck with Ryder again!

Super interesting sidenote: The "pre-registration" for the Baby Contest is on Saturday night at the city dinner.  When I signed the boys up I was asked for each of their names, plus parent/address/age info.  Each boy is assigned a number (the parent wears it on stage) in the order they sign up.  Anyone want to guess Harvick's random number ?!?!? . . . it was 29!  You know, Kevin Harvick's (main) NASCAR number!

Patrick isn't a huge fan of the Baby Show in general, so luckily my mom was willing to go up on stage with me and the boys, and Patrick was able to take a few pictures.

Notice the number on my mom's shoulder!
(Harvick on the left, Jarrett on the right)

Diapers only for the Baby show!

After the Baby Show we walked over the vendor area, where Ryder was able to play the Kid's Games this year!

A "Plinko"-like game.

Fishing for a prize!

Probably the favorite of the prizes he won . . . a ball!

This game involves dropping a ball (cat toys) through a tube, and trying to get them to land in the same colored-ring circles.  Ryder didn't care about the prize, he just wanted to play the game over and over.

Next to the Kid's Games was a face painting booth.  My parents thought it would be cute for the boys to all get one done.  We started with Ryder, and decided to have his arm painted - that way he could see what was happening, and also enjoy the end result!

Ryder was surprisingly very still while his arm was being painted!



The design of Ryder's choice (from a picture chart of options) - a flaming soccer ball.



(Harvick)

(Jarrett)

We spent the rest of the morning looking at various vendor booths.  Our activities ended with the Dog Races - literally a bunch of dogs racing across the rodeo stage!  As with last year, Ryder enjoyed watching the tractors till the dirt as much as watching the dogs run.

Playing with the flags on the other side of the fence provided for entertainment until the dogs were ready to race.

As we left the park, we made one stop to pick up some "Fried Doughnuts".  Ryder can be quite picky with new foods, especially messy ones, so we thoroughly expected him to be unwilling to try it . . . to our surprise, he dove in without hesitation.  The doughnuts are covered in cinnamon and sugar - by the time we walked back to the car he was covered!  I tried to take a picture of him, and when he wouldn't look at me, Patrick asked Ryder to "show Mom your nose" . . .

We really need to practice having Ryder just touch the tip of his nose!

Harvick and Jarrett were worn out by the end of our time at the park. 

(Harvick on the left, Jarrett on the right)

And, after they ate at home, they spent a little time playing with their prizes from the Baby Show.

(Harvick on the left, Jarrett on the right)

Tomato Days 2011 was a blast!  We're already looking forward to next year!