Last year we jokingly had the idea to do an Okinawan themed fall festival. Well, things went the way things go and we never planned one. But this year the idea was revived and we got busy planning the first annual "Okinawa Oktober Fest" - or maybe better named the OctOkiFest. We had the idea to do lots of games and events typically found at a fall fest, but all with an Okinawan twist. Like instead of bobbing for apples - bobbing for goya. Not hay rides but sugar cane rides in the back of an Okinawan truck. Not pumpkin carving, but Okinawan gourd carving. You get the idea. There was also to be costume contests - kid, adult and animal - and a pie eating contest. Then some other games with a Japanese twist - like chopstick passing games and my personal favorite, the sushi roll.
No, this contest was not to be who was the fastest person to make a sushi roll, but who could roll their partner up in a piece of astroturf, secured with duct tape, and rolled down the hill the fastest!
We were all going to gain strength for these events from eating (and judging) the chili cookoff! We have some fantastic chefs on our hill and this was going to be a popular event.
So those were the best laid plans, but Mother Nature didn't get the invite so rain was in the forecast for the weekend. Boo. (That is not a scary boo, but a sad boo!) But we are a neighborhood that perseveres, or at least doesn't let rain dampen our fun, and so we decided to go ahead with the cook-off and bonfire and postpone the rest of the games for another weekend.
 |
| The weather cleared up just in time! |
 |
| Welcome to the Oki OktoberFest! |
Conveniently, the rain stopped around 5:30 and out came the neighbors - some dressed in costume...
 |
| Krimp and Dima |
 |
| Stevie and Lucy (I mean me!) |
Some not...
 |
| Eric and Ashley |
 |
| Jon and Stevie |
Most bearing crockpots and bowls of chili...
And lots of desserts.
The chili-cookoff was a tough decision - who knew chili could taste so many different ways? All were good, but it turned out that our local food blogger was the winner! Ashley! Krimp's vegetarian butternut squash chili came in second - it was tasty!
 |
| Tasting the chilis. |
 |
| Hmm??? Which one won? |
We were able to pull off one of the contests - the pie eating - since all the pies were made!
 |
| Licking his fingers, ready to go! |
 |
| Don't they look like a bunch of chickens at feeding time? |
 |
| Joe's the winner! |
 |
| Cannon got stuck on the whipped cream. |
 |
| Not the plate too, Stevie! |
 |
| Joe looking very glad he won! |
Hopefully the weather will be better next weekend so we can do more of the games!
 |
| Emmy and Ben |
 |
| Krimp dancing with the kids |
No comments:
Post a Comment