Nope, it's not Memorial Day weekend. And nope, we didn't go to Alma today. Turns out, the St. Andrews Society of Detroit hosts a Scottish Festival right here! So we attended their 156th annual games today. In our local paper yesterday was a blurb about it, and since we (for once) had nothing to do....

It was great fun. First benefit: it was just 4 miles down the road. It was at Greenmead, which is a little mini-Greenfield Village type place here. Very spacious. Second benefit: we arrived at 9:45, soon after gates opened. So it wasn't very crowded. Third benefit: lots of trees. Shady. Nice.

Roman, being his friendly self, said hello to almost everyone who caught his eye. We wandered to get the lay of the land for awhile, and then watched a border collie demonstration with sheep. We then wandered over to where the animals were penned, to discover border collie PUPPIES! They were so soft, and we were allowed to hold them. About 7 weeks old. Then we wandered through the Clan area, and had lunch of Fish-and-Chips (which were very good). Meandered back to the main field to watch the Opening Ceremonies and Massed Band. Not as big as Alma (less bands, no stadium) but was fun nonetheless. Before the bands, there was Scottish dancing and they were playing some reels and such. Roman couldn't stop dancing, and even grabbed my hands to turn around in circles. I taught him how to "dance sideways" from one spot to the other, and he was so sad when the music stopped! Our spot for the bands was right near where they entered the field, so Roman got a great view and listen. A very friendly "bam bam" player from Ft. Wayne let Roman actually play his bass drum, and Roman had a grin a mile wide.

After that, we were treated to the first (hopefully annual) Tug-O-War between the Livonia Fire Department and Marine Corps Reserve Unit from Selfridge Air Force Base. Both USMC commander and Fire Chief have Scottish heritage, so they challenged each other. The Firemen won 2-0 tugs. The entrances were great, however. The USMC came rolling in, in a huge transport truck, hopped off the truck, and came to attention while their branch song played. The firefighters, unfortunately without fire truck, came running onto the field to the tune of Jimi Hendrix's "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire." Funny. Even Roman was yelling "Pull! PULL!"

We wandered some merchants' tents but it was close to naptime by then, so we headed home. They also had a neat children's area where they could color their own "shields", learn to play Cricket, and in the afternoon they had their own "Highland Games". We saw the kids learning to charge and thrust their swords at British soldier dummies. Nice! We also saw the adult hammer throw, but always seem to miss the caber toss (too late in the afternoon) no matter where we go.

This is a definite DO AGAIN next year. Had a great day. Tomorrow - tasks around the house.