Pear Blossom Day!

Ah....Pear Blossom Day! For those of you NOT from the Valley, this is a pretty big day for us :) First there are the races. We have a 5k, a 10 mile, a 2 Mile and a 1 Mile Fun Run for the kiddos. Anyone and everyone is welcome, walkers and runners alike.... and they come by the hundreds....or thousands!
Check out the run info here if you want! 

For the 5k there were, get this.........1,118 finishers!! WOAH. It is nuts out there! For the 10 Miler there were 1,580 finishers! Familes come, Dad's and Mom's with jogging strollers....Grandma's and Grandpa's walk with their grandkids.... it really is a family event!

After the runs are done, most people head home and shower and then head back downtown for a parade! Floats and cars and trucks and tractors and high school bands galore! This year there were over 120 separate floats! We have everything from the Shriners to the Girl Scouts and Papa John's Pizza to the YMCA and Cheerleaders and more! They pass out candy and flyers, do stunts, sing songs etc.

THIS year my dear hubby thought it would be super cool to have our Saturday Night Worship Band have a float. Sooo.....they did :) So after he ran his 5k he ran home, showered and headed to the staging location.

Oh...and the 5k starts, yes STARTS at 7:00am...

They loaded all their gear (drum set, amps, mics, guitars, keyboard and soundboard) on the float, plugged it into a generator and put it all on a trailer! They had teens pass out flyers for our church services and water bottles. They were at the END of the parade, so it was a long wait. But SOOO worth it! They sounded great!

In years past we have seen some church floats (no offense) that were just plain....boring. If I wasn't a church goer, frankly it would have turned me off. Loving God is an exciting thing! That should be represented! And this year it was! The played and sang their hearts out for over 2 hours while strolling along the parade route!

When they finally came past us, it was all I could do to keep Jack from running to Daddy! :)

The crazy part is that now they will tear it all down, set it back up at church and do a Worship Service tonight at 6pm. Wow. They all worked so hard, and it really came off good. Then several of them will get up tomorrow (my husband being one of them of course) bright and early and head to church for two more services! Can someone say CRASH afterwards!!!??? :)

Anyways....Pear Blossom Day is a fun family day and after the parade and through tomorrow there is also a little "fair" type thing downtown with booths and games to keep the party going!

 Pear Blossom is part of this community, and it's a fun tradition for the family. My Dad, sister an I all ran the 5k along with my hubby. Jack got to hang out with his Grandma and cheer us across the finish line! Although I think he was more interested in all the Police motorcycles and dogs :)

I will post pics of OUR experience this year as soon as I can!