scottish games

Two weeks ago, we attended the annual Scottish games in Woodland.  It's one of our favorite events of the year!  We first checked it out last year and spent the entire day there.  This year was no different! 

The first thing that caught Nathan's eye were some old cars...no surprise there!

This Triumph has a snazzy rear seat in place of the trunk, and those passengers even get their own windshield.

This car was beautifully restored, and I liked the little mirrors on the front fenders, even though I doubt they'd be of much use that far from the driver.

The MG was nice, but not as nice as classy as the Triumph.

Kristin, however, was more intrigued by the interesting animals, like the highland cattle. 

At noon, a parade of clans passed by.  They were led by some great pipe bands...

...then came the peasants...

...then the royalty! 

Mary Queen of Scots even made an appearance!

This is what we ate for lunch...tri-tip sandwich smothered in relish and barbecue sauce.

Here we are smiling...

And here's Kristin eating...

The fairgrounds were divided up into distinct sections.  There were craft and merchandise booths, a large field where the pipe bands performed, another field for the highland games, a large area set aside for clan booths, and then the royal camp. 

The royals have some great furniture, some of which folded up...

What they ate, though, left something to be desired.

The royal camp had some great displays, including swords.

They also had a WWI camp set up.  They did a weapon demonstration where they fired off some blanks and shot a tennis ball out of a grenade launcher.

Kristin enjoyed listening to a band called the Wicked Tinkers.  They play tribal celtic music - it's the kind you want to dance to!

We settled down for a while to watch the games.  We saw the championship caber toss and one of the weight throwing competitions. They're all so similar we can't remember which is which.  We also saw a little bit of the stone throwing and hammer throwing.

Funny booth...(no, they aren't a real clan).

We bought shortbread from McLaren's.  It was soooooooo good!  They also had teas, jams, curd, and scones.

Walking around the clan booths was fun.  This is Kristin's favorite family crest.

Kristin also found out that her mom's family would have belonged to the MacTavish or Campbell clan.  These are their crests.  You'll notice that either way, the emblem is a pig.  But what isn't as obvious is that both crests roughly translate to "Never forget."