jbrown-family: Oshkosh Irish Fest

The Oshkosh Irish Fest was held this past weekend, June 3-5. We decided to go check it out on Sunday because admission was free if you attended the outdoor mass prior to the festival on Sunday. (Yes, I'm always looking for a free or cheap event to go to...hahaha.)

Mass went pretty well considering the number of distractions for Garytt and the fact that he didn't really take a morning nap. Prior to mass, we were trying to keep Garytt occupied and in the shade.

The weather was pretty nice, although there wasn't much shade, so we tried to keep Garytt in his stroller with the sun shade up as much as possible since he wouldn't really leave his hat on.

After mass, it was time to get a bite to eat. We had Guiness battered chicken and corned beef and cabbage soup. Garytt, surprisingly, loved both! He ate more chicken in one sitting than I have ever seen him eat before. It must be the magic of the Guiness batter...how very Irish of him!

Mmmm...Guiness!

While eating lunch, there was a performace by a local Irish dancing group. I, personally, love to watch the Irish dancers. Justin is most entertained by the fake, extra bouncy hair that the girls have to wear.

Garytt seemed really pretty entertained by dancers, too. He is really getting into clapping when a crowd claps. So, he cheered the dancers on!

After the dance performance, we checked out the vendors and walked around for a bit. The next scheduled act was called "The Giant Leprechaun." I expected it to be something fun for kids or something...yeah, it was an old dude singing with a big green hat on. He wasn't even that good. I really wish I would have taken a picture of that. At that point, Garytt was really tired and the entertainment was going downhill, so we decided to call it a day.

So, Kansas City Irish Fest vs. Oshkosh Irish Fest: Kansas City has a better venue, green fountains (way fun!), and better entertainment (although we did like the Irish dancers). In Oshkosh, we parked across the street-for FREE, admission was FREE, and we could easily get a seat to actually watch the dancers. So, it's a toss up. Maybe we will just have to do both since the KC Irish Fest is held in Sept.

Here are a few more pictures of Garytt. He wouldn't really smile but he did make a lot of other faces.