Festivals, Dancing, and Heritage!

   This past weekend was an absolute blast! Will and I decided to sign Keelie up for her first Irish Feis, and crazily chose the Longs Peak Scottish/Irish Feis to do so! The kids, their Godmother Danielle and I drove up to Estes Park Saturday afternoon and met up with my parents. We had a fun evening at the YMCA of the Rockies lodging. Keelie went swimming with grandpa and some friends from dance and after a very wide awake Deklan finally fell asleep I managed to get a couple hours of sleep! O-dark thirty comes fast!!

     The process of putting Keelie's hair up and her wig on can be rather lengthy but I managed to get it done, go eat some breakfast and make it to the fair grounds in record time- an accomplishment for our family!! The Feis started at 9 with figure danced slotted first. Keelie was registered to dance the 2 hand reel- which is a 2 person reel dance. The solo reel and solo light jig. We got Keelie dressed, she ran thru a couple practice dances with her partner and then headed backstage. I thank god for Danielle, cause without her I would have been one lost confused mess!

      There were 2 stages one large and one smaller stage. Inside the large tent were 3 different stages all in a row. Each stage hosts the same dance but different age group. Dancing got underway, it seemed to end as fast as it started!! They get going and don't stop rolling- i made a rhyme, retarded I know! Anyways.... Keelie danced the 2 hand- and she did a really good job! I was so nervous I wanted to cry- sad I know, but I guess someone had to be nervous and Keelie sure wasn't! Very short break in-between, quick run thru of the next dance and back on stage. Keelie was a bit confused and grab the girl closest to her on stage- still thinking she was dancing the 2 hand and refusing to let go. Another dancer from the school finally told her she had to dance by herself and she let go! All week prior to the feis we had practiced with Keelie, she new not to wave to anyone and if she forgot the steps to just keep dancing! And keep dancing she did! Each school has different steps to each dance- so it can be very confusing. You try your hardest not to watch the dancer next to you and remember your own steps- of course for Keelie that was a little hard! It was so crazy in the tent with a million dancers and people watching. Keelie started her reel, in what seemed to be the right steps and from there on out I have no clue as to what dance she was doing! But hey she kept on dancing! Her third and final dance went about the same- her little butt danced all over the stage- she was even told by one of the helpers twice that her dance was over and she needed to stop- she gave him a not so happy look and walked to the back of the stage. 

     

       We did this feis to get the experience, and did not expect Keelie to place in anything, but to her happy surprise she got a 4th place in the 2 hand reel! We are so very PROUD of her!! She wore her medal proudly for majority of the day- showing it to everyone! Keelie loves the stage- she begged to go back on and dance - so to avoid temptation we went and walked the festival. After enjoying a few things with some family friends, we ate some yummy food and will and my mom spent some time looking into our family heritage. Will was able to find his family line- the Clan Macraes and my mom found the Clan Ross. After doing a bunch of research today we added the Clan O'Briens and the Clan Campbell's to our lineage line! Will is beyond excited to have discovered all his family colors and crests and is already planning our festival trip next year! I will enjoying the fair with my 2 men dressed proudly in their kilts( oh yes will is beyond stoked for his kilt and will be putting Deklan in one as well) and my daughter who will be dressed in her Shirley temple wig-- I can't wait!!