Saint Mary of the Mills Parish Picnic 2016

We attended the parish picnic at St. Mary of the Mills in Laurel, Maryland. The weather was perfect--sunny but breezy, warm but not hot. Everyone brought some food to share; plenty of activities kept us entertained.

Gathering for grace at St. Mary's picnic

The kids made a bee-line for the bouncy castles, which were the biggest hit for them by far. They came back twice; once they managed to get a castle all to themselves.

Bouncy castles

Jumping and falling

Big sis was a big help

Alone in his castle

Is it really good to be alone? Cf. Genesis 2:18

We ate a lot of delicious food. Even more fun was the American Heritage Girls' cake walk station where the kids won cupcakes. We ate them on the spot!

Food tents

Cake walk with other walkers

The Knights of Columbus were raffling off a car (though the drawing is not until October) so we bought some tickets. The car is a black Mustang. It isn't practical for a family of five but it does look cool.

A new car!

The Boy Scouts had some demonstrations but the star of their area was a rope bridge for kids to cross. My daughter was happy to give it a go. She did stumble once but the guys were there to catch her. She didn't give up and made it all the way across!

Rope bridge

My daughter starts

Carefully crossing

At the end

My daughter also enjoyed one of her favorites--face painting.

Her usual choice--a butterfly!

We heard some fun music by a live band, though the band never really said their name, so I'm not sure who they were.

Musicians hard at work

Another popular picnic activity was the dunk tank. It wasn't really a dunk tank, though, merely a "shower of blessings." All the clergy took turns under the heavenly spigot.

Holy cold shower, Batman!

The business end of the business

Around 3 p.m., the parish had a special flag ceremony and prayer. The picnic was held on September 11, so they commemorated the 15th anniversary of the attacks on America and prayed for all those who lost their lives that day. It was touching, with the Scouts handling the flag and an honor guard from the Knights of Columbus.

Beginning of flag ceremony (I didn't take pics during)

After a final visit to the bouncy castles, we bid farewell to a wonderful picnic. We can't wait for next year!