Chokecherry Festival

"Eight years ago, a group of Williston 6th graders, later dubbed 'Chokecherry Kids,' were assigned to construct a persuasive letter as a writing exercise. Their letter to North Dakota lawmakers proposing the chokecherry as our state fruit was so persuasive, it inspired legislation that did just that! The first North Dakota Chokecherry Festival was held in Williston in 2007 as a celebration of the accomplishments of youth, community, and our new state fruit."

This was our third year attending the Chokecherry Festival and it is still our favorite Williston activity. On Friday night, we went and ate burgers and then had ice cream with chokecherry syrup on top. We listened to a great group called Tigirlily perform during dinner. I think we have seen them perform a few times now. After the boys finished eating, we played on the playground, on the swings, and in the sand.

Later that evening, we went over to the Colton's house for a movie night. We watched The Lego Movie.

The next morning, we went back for the pancake breakfast with chokecherry syrup. Sam ran in the 5K. He got 4th place so no prize for him.

Mike Tyndall (SLB Ops Manager) and Sam

The boys ran across the finish line we Sam and they were given medals. I bought them shirts for $1 and then we played some more.

We participated in a stroll. We paraded from a nearby church down to Harmon Park. By doing this, the boys got their names entered into a drawing to win a bike. We had just bought Alex a bike a few days earlier so I told Sam that if they drew one of our three numbers then to act like it was Edison's number since Alex already has a bike and Declan is too small. It was funny that we were already acting like we had won. I guess that's a perk of a small town. I wish I could have stayed but I was already late for a baby shower so I had to run off.

The baby shower was really fun. I loved having time to visit with friends and celebrate Jenn's first baby girl.

I hadn't been at the baby shower for long when Sam sent me these pictures. Edison had won the bike!

After the baby shower, I went back to Harmon Park. The boys were eating lunch. They were looking a little sleepy but were not ready to quit so we went back to Harmon Park so they could play on the bounce houses.

About 30 minutes later, it started pouring. It was coming down so hard and we sprinted to the truck. We threw everything in and then I climbed in to wring out my hair. It was such a fun end to a very fun weekend. I love the Chokecherry Festival! And the boys love their medals they got for running twenty feet! So it was definitely a winning weekend.