I remember waking up way too early this morning, to a very excited Keree. I remember mumbling something about it's almost 4am and you need to go back to bed. I know I went back to sleep and awoke to Keree next to me on the bed with a bowl of cereal. I guess my Mom took pity on me and thankfully took care of Keree this morning. We all got dressed and ready to head to the Festival when it opened to secure a good parking spot (it's on a one-way dead end street and there is only a handful of parking spaces by the building for handicapped/special permit parking). Once we got there we walked around seeing all the fun free things to do. Keree played a few games and won prizes, she made a bead necklace and watched my Mom and I take the Catsup taste test. We both got t
he taste test wrong and picked Heinz instead of Brooks. Finally it was getting close to Pageant time, so we took Keree back to the car to change her out of her everyday clothes and to fix her hair. I ended up leaving them because the chairs by the stage were starting to get full. I wasn't able to get the seats I really wanted but they were still at least in the front row....downside was that I had two judges heads to shoot around. I had
saved two extra seats thinking my Aunt and Step-Mom would show up but 5 minutes before it was suppose to start, neither one of them was there. I have to say I was a little disappointed that they weren't there because Keree has been working so hard to get ready. I was getting a little worried when it took my Mom and Keree so long to get to the stage after I left them. But luckily they still made it there on time. All the contestants lined up to the right of the stage and waited for the Official start of Festival. After the Color Guard presented the Flag and they sang the National Anthem, it was time to
start the pageant. The emcee/pageant director took the stage and introduced all the judges and then started calling the contestants up onto the stage. I do have to say, I had to laugh cause there was one Mom there who totally belonged on Toddlers & Tiaras. She was totally freakin' out and all I could think was this so isn't something to get nutso about. Keree was contestant #3. I was amazed at how polished she sounded when she took the stage (wish I could upload the video but I lost the cords to be able to download almost 5 yrs ago and haven't every got new ones). They asked her name and she said "My name is Keree middle name Vietnamese name
last name. They then asked her, her Catsup bottle fact and she said "The Catsup bottles was built in Louisville, Kentucky and was brought here on a big truck." Then it was time for her talent. Which of course I was worried about since she had such an about face a few days ago. And honestly I wasn't sure what she was going to sing when she got on that stage. Thankfully she did stick
with the song she switched too and wow'd them with God Bless America. After she was done singing, they asked on final question, What do you like to do for fun. Keree answered "I love to play baseball and watch the Cardinals." As soon as she finished her sentence, the crowd went wild. I couldn't believe it. As Keree was walking off the stag
e, that is when my Aunt showed up. I'm glad she showed up but sad she didn't see Keree's amazing performance. After the rest of the girls and boys were done, they called them all back on stage. The first thing they did was give all the kids their bottle of Brooks Catsup. Honestly, Keree was all about the Catsup! I mean the rest of the kids were like, oh catsup and you look at Keree and as soon as that Catsup was in her hands, she has a huge smile plastered across her face. If that was all she had gotten, she would honestly had been happy. They then announced tha
t 4th place went to Serena, 3rd place went to Adrianna, 2nd place went to Jocelyn and finally
they announced Princess Tomato 2010......I have to say I was a little in shock when they called Keree's name. They then placed the sash on her and finally the crown. They had a little trouble getting the crown on with her bows. They then brought her to the front of the stage for the group picture with the other winners. I couldn't believe all the newspapers that were there covering the festival. The other kids left an
d then it was time for Princess Tomato and Sir Catsup to get their pictures together, it was seriously some crazy paparazzi trying to get the picture. Once they were done, we could barely get her off the stage with out them asking questions, how to spell her name, who's her parents, her age, where does she live, etc. One Reporter even wanted to know how I
felt to now be the Momma of Princess Tomato. Honestly, all I could do was chuckle and say "I'm just so happy and proud of her." We decided to walk around the Festival afterwards because we didn't get to do everything ahead of time. It seemed whatever tent we stopped at there was a Newspaper Reporter wanting to take pictures too. Keree got her picture taken with Miss Southern Illinois, NFL Rams Cheerleaders and of course local celebrities, Punky Ray, Baxter J and ? . As we walked around, random Festival goers would stop us and of course Keree happily obliged them either posing for a picture or taking a picture with them. As we were heading out, my Aunt decided Keree needed a pony
ride. Both my Mom and I rolled our eyes because we knew it cost and honestly Keree isn't a big ride goer. But my Aunt keeps building it up about how she's gonna get to ride the ponies, my Mom finally goes why are you telling her that it probably costs a lot. My Aunt goes, I'll pay for it. I was shocked when it turned out to be $5 for a ride. But I have to say that Keree had a blast riding the white pony. We finally had to get going because Uncle's plane had landed and we needed to pick him up from the train station. Our evening ended by saying goodbye to Uncle and Keree refusing to take off her crown. After some negotiating, she took it off and is fast asleep.
I remember waking up way too early this morning, to a very excited Keree. I remember mumbling something about it's almost 4am and you need to go back to bed. I know I went back to sleep and awoke to Keree next to me on the bed with a bowl of cereal. I guess my Mom took pity on me and thankfully took care of Keree this morning. We all got dressed and ready to head to the Festival when it opened to secure a good parking spot (it's on a one-way dead end street and there is only a handful of parking spaces by the building for handicapped/special permit parking). Once we got there we walked around seeing all the fun free things to do. Keree played a few games and won prizes, she made a bead necklace and watched my Mom and I take the Catsup taste test. We both got t
he taste test wrong and picked Heinz instead of Brooks. Finally it was getting close to Pageant time, so we took Keree back to the car to change her out of her everyday clothes and to fix her hair. I ended up leaving them because the chairs by the stage were starting to get full. I wasn't able to get the seats I really wanted but they were still at least in the front row....downside was that I had two judges heads to shoot around. I had 
saved two extra seats thinking my Aunt and Step-Mom would show up but 5 minutes before it was suppose to start, neither one of them was there. I have to say I was a little disappointed that they weren't there because Keree has been working so hard to get ready. I was getting a little worried when it took my Mom and Keree so long to get to the stage after I left them. But luckily they still made it there on time. All the contestants lined up to the right of the stage and waited for the Official start of Festival. After the Color Guard presented the Flag and they sang the National Anthem, it was time to 
start the pageant. The emcee/pageant director took the stage and introduced all the judges and then started calling the contestants up onto the stage. I do have to say, I had to laugh cause there was one Mom there who totally belonged on Toddlers & Tiaras. She was totally freakin' out and all I could think was this so isn't something to get nutso about. Keree was contestant #3. I was amazed at how polished she sounded when she took the stage (wish I could upload the video but I lost the cords to be able to download almost 5 yrs ago and haven't every got new ones). They asked her name and she said "My name is Keree middle name Vietnamese name 
last name. They then asked her, her Catsup bottle fact and she said "The Catsup bottles was built in Louisville, Kentucky and was brought here on a big truck." Then it was time for her talent. Which of course I was worried about since she had such an about face a few days ago. And honestly I wasn't sure what she was going to sing when she got on that stage. Thankfully she did stick 
with the song she switched too and wow'd them with God Bless America. After she was done singing, they asked on final question, What do you like to do for fun. Keree answered "I love to play baseball and watch the Cardinals." As soon as she finished her sentence, the crowd went wild. I couldn't believe it. As Keree was walking off the stag
e, that is when my Aunt showed up. I'm glad she showed up but sad she didn't see Keree's amazing performance. After the rest of the girls and boys were done, they called them all back on stage. The first thing they did was give all the kids their bottle of Brooks Catsup. Honestly, Keree was all about the Catsup! I mean the rest of the kids were like, oh catsup and you look at Keree and as soon as that Catsup was in her hands, she has a huge smile plastered across her face. If that was all she had gotten, she would honestly had been happy. They then announced that 4th place went to Serena, 3rd place went to Adrianna, 2nd place went to Jocelyn and finally
they announced Princess Tomato 2010......I have to say I was a little in shock when they called Keree's name. They then placed the sash on her and finally the crown. They had a little trouble getting the crown on with her bows. They then brought her to the front of the stage for the group picture with the other winners. I couldn't believe all the newspapers that were there covering the festival. The other kids left an
d then it was time for Princess Tomato and Sir Catsup to get their pictures together, it was seriously some crazy paparazzi trying to get the picture. Once they were done, we could barely get her off the stage with out them asking questions, how to spell her name, who's her parents, her age, where does she live, etc. One Reporter even wanted to know how I
felt to now be the Momma of Princess Tomato. Honestly, all I could do was chuckle and say "I'm just so happy and proud of her." We decided to walk around the Festival afterwards because we didn't get to do everything ahead of time. It seemed whatever tent we stopped at there was a Newspaper Reporter wanting to take pictures too. Keree got her picture taken with Miss Southern Illinois, NFL Rams Cheerleaders and of course local celebrities, Punky Ray, Baxter J and ? . As we walked around, random Festival goers would stop us and of course Keree happily obliged them either posing for a picture or taking a picture with them. As we were heading out, my Aunt decided Keree needed a pony 
ride. Both my Mom and I rolled our eyes because we knew it cost and honestly Keree isn't a big ride goer. But my Aunt keeps building it up about how she's gonna get to ride the ponies, my Mom finally goes why are you telling her that it probably costs a lot. My Aunt goes, I'll pay for it. I was shocked when it turned out to be $5 for a ride. But I have to say that Keree had a blast riding the white pony. We finally had to get going because Uncle's plane had landed and we needed to pick him up from the train station. Our evening ended by saying goodbye to Uncle and Keree refusing to take off her crown. After some negotiating, she took it off and is fast asleep.
Oh I would love love love a copy of any pictures they print!!
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