Mini Miss

The past weekend our city celebrated what they call Stagecoach Days.  Maricopa's Stagecoach Days is held annually to commemorate and celebrate the founding of our community, to promote cooperation and volunteerism, generate community spirit and recreation, and enhance the economic welfare of the community. With many activities going on, carnival, vendors, shows, stagecoach rides, beer garden, and more, this year we took part in the first Mini Miss Maricopa Pageant. I had never done a pageant (obviously) so this was all new to me. A good friend Noelle entered her daughter, Elle ,in it as well.

Now this wasn't a beauty pageant, but more of a natural pageant.  There were a few of those 'pageant moms' similar to what you see on the show Toddlers and Tiaras. Not us! It was just something fun for the girls and have them get dressed up and look pretty!  There were 3 groups; the mini miss (2-4), the little miss (5-7), and the junior miss (8-10). I think there were about 10 girls in the mini miss group so that was a good amount. After having to park a mile away and walk forever...we got to the tent, got all our outfits hung up, turned the curling irons on, and started to see what this was all about.

 The jeans/short and white shirt was the first outfit. That was the easiest! The girls paraded on the stage in order, waved, and smiled. Syl just sorta looked around... she really didn't care.

After they were done and the other groups were going on stage, we had to rush to get our next outfit on! That is why we did pigtails, keep the hair change to a minimum since not a lot of time! Onto the 'Spirit of Maricopa' outfit. We got to choose an outfit or costume that we thought best represented the spirit of Maricopa.

We had to write several sentences describing why we choose the outfit and how it represented the spirit of Maricopa and it was read while each girl came on stage. I put D's writing abilities to the test, this is what he came up with.

"Sylvia represents the spirit of Maricopa because of its rich history in ample farming, water sources and being a host to a main train station hub.  Her cow print represents the farming community and how this part of Maricopa is still thriving today.  Her boots and hat represent the many visitors that traveled through either by train or who were passing through, on their way out west.  Maricopa has a rich history and has played an important role in the development of major cities in Arizona today."

The last outfit change was the formal wear. Sylvia wore this dress last year for Christmas and it still fit (probably a little better than about a year ago) so we got some more use out of it! I attempted to curl Sylvia's hair but it was somewhat of a challenge. She wouldn't let me touch her pig tails with the curling iron since I told her not to touch since HOT. Well she apparently didn't want me touching her hair either! But with some distraction, I got some curls to stay! While they were on stage, the MC read a short bio about each girl.

"Sylvia Raelynn is a very happy, fun-loving two year old who has an addicting smile and a contagious little giggle. She has a tender heart for many things including baby dolls and puppies.  She is so eager to learn all the time and loves to look at books. Sylvia loves to spend time with her family by watching movies and football games and going on walks.  She is a very active little girl who loves playing with her two older brothers, Cole and Grant, and her favorite puppy, Gracie Lou.  Sylvia enjoys spending lots of time playing outside in the sandbox, at the park, or riding her bike, but also with her little friends where she likes to play dress up and play with her doll house.  Sylvia is such a special little girl and we love her very much!"

With all the categories done, we had to wait on the results. That seemed to take forever given the hot sun and lack of breezy shade, little girls who wanted to get out of their dresses, and trying to keep Sylvia away from the bouncy houses that she really wanted to go jump in! Another 20 minutes later the results were in and the girls got to take their last walk on the stage. Every girl got an award with 3 of them being the Dutchess, Princess, and the Queen. Nevermind those girls... our two beauties won the Best Dressed and the Prettiest Eyes!

We all had a great time and may do it again next year. We'll see! Given Sylvia was the youngest one up there, I think she did a great job! She didn't really wave or smile that much being the shy one she is, but we had hardly no crying! We had just a few tears when she wanted momma to hold her {A LOT}, but when I left to take photos, she just followed in line with the other girls! Sammy, Grant's Dad's girlfriend, was a huge help in consoling Via backstage as well when I was up front! (They were down visiting Grant for the weekend.) Syli  really wasn't into the whole photo thing though, So I got what she would let me! Elle and Via were the cutest ones up there by far! Great job little ladies! We are so proud of our Princesses!!