Pedal Tractor Pull

Friday Night we went to the DC Fair at Elnora. They had Pedal tractor pulls. We've never participated in anything like that but I thought it sounded fun for the kids to do. Les was planting beans so he didn't get to come with us. My nephew, connor, also decided to put his mighty legs in the action too. And when we got there we were pleastantly surprised to see Les' cousin, Matthew's little boy, Ethan signing up for the event too. He is 5 months older than Griffin. Matthew used to be the master at pedal tractor pulls when he was a little boy so we asked him his advice, which was, "don't stop pedaling". They had 3 weight classes. 30 - 40 pounds. 41-50 pounds. 51-60 pounds. So Ethan & Griffin were in the light weight divison and Natalie and Connor were in the heavy weight division. Poor Megan has a lot of muscle to her and she was too heavy to compete but she was an Awesome Cheerleader!

(Which tractor do you think you'll get to pull with John Deere or Case IH? And how far do you think you can pull the tractor?)

Here's Griffin and Ethan before the big pull. I was cracking up because they both had their hands on their hips and you can just see they are studying everything and figuring out how it all is going to work. Ethan's mommy Ida, and I think the hands on the hip is a Graber thing because Griffin & Les both do that all the time and Ida said Ethan does the same. We also noticed has a cute little belly growing baby Graber #2 due September 20, 2008! So Ethan is going to be a big brother!!
Griffin was first up, Uncle Kevin coached him along the way so I could video it! Griffin did a great job with this being his first time. He pulled the sled almost to the end but he got the front wheel off of the board and tried to turn it back on and it made him come to a stop pretty abruptly. He had fun anyway. And he got a blue ribbon and sucker from one of the fair queens!

Next up was Ethan! He was so fun to cheer on! He made a full pull and was in the pull-0ff. He almost had a full pull in the pull-off. I think he was like 3rd place. They gave trophies to 1st and 2nd place. He's a little mighty man. Don't you love the determination in his face and I'm sure biting his tongue helped too! I'll have to pass that tip onto Griffin! ha ha

Then my nephew, Connor, (he's 18-months younger than Natalie) was first up for the Heavy Weights! There was a Honkin' BIG strom cloud rolling in so the officials weighted the sled down with a big weight so the kids wouldn't have to do any pull-offs and end up being rained out. This was Connor's first time to pull too! He did a great job and made it about 3/4 of the way down the board!

Here's My Little Natalie-Bug with her power legs! She was only about an inch or so from a full pull! She got the tractor across the full pull line but the sled was just to the edge of it! She did a great job too! She said, "Mom, you didn't tell me that would make my legs hurt!" She ended up being 4th and Connor's little friend from school was the winner in their class so that was fun to cheer him on! They finished the pull just in time as the wind picked up. And heard a storm with 60 mile winds and nickle size hail was headed our direction. So I scooped up Griffin and the girls and I ran to the van! Man was that ever a work out for me! I don't know how those African women tote their kids around and carry a basket of goodies on their heads. Because My 38 pound Bambino was all I could handle! But we made it to the van w/o getting wet and headed to dry land in Loogootee. We got home before the storm reached our house! Yeah! But darn the luck We didn't get to have an Greasy Fried Fair Food, like Funnel Cakes! I guess the diet fairies were watching over me!