In His Steps: Maple Leaf Festival 2010

The Maple Leaf Festival. A wonderful fall festival held the third full weekend in October of every year in Baldwin City, Kansas. On Saturday they host a huge parade with firetrucks from at least ten different government entities (cities, townships, and counties), lots of tractors and trucks and old cars and old people. Literally. They bring in vans of elderly from area retirement homes to ride in the parade. The parade was at least an hour long and if it weren't for the fact that the horses brought up the rear, the boys may have lost interest before it ended due to its length.

We've been attending the fall festival for years, but it seems recently it's really picked up in popularity. The road to Baldwin City from my parents' place is a two lane highway. The closer you get to Baldwin City the more it feels like Dallas/Ft. Worth traffic, but with out the eight lanes. And, don't even get me started on the parking. The crowds are always big, but this year the crowds were so large we had trouble walking down the brick-laden streets. And, it wasn't just because we were pushing strollers. People were literally standing shoulder to shoulder trying to get through.

In years past we have enjoyed milling around the booths, but this year we kept it short and sweet as the crowds were huge and the boys were near nap time. Dad got his annual bags of corn for old fashioned popcorn, mom got her witch's brew popcorn, and I got my all time favorite...fresh kettle corn.

Some years it's cold and rainy, and others blazin' hot. This year happened to be absolutely perfect. Cool enough for a jacket in the shade while watching the parade, but warm enough to shed the jacket once we got out in the sun. The maple trees were all shades of red and orange and really just all kinds of fall festive.

The photo taking was fun, so I did a lot of it. Here are some of my favorites. You'll probably get to the end of this post and think to yourself, "and those were just her favorites?". I know I take a lot. But, I also almost always have good ones to share. So, it's worth it.