Splash

We had a great time this past weekend at our city's annual summer "Splash" event. Because of city budget problems this is the last big splash we will have for a while and the last one I will be the historian for. The city has decided to discontinue the Historian position until the budget is back to where it should be. I am not really upset because I knew it was coming, but I have really enjoyed this job and hope they will reinstate it when Wal-Mart is finally built and the sales tax fixes the city's budget crisis. Ok- back to the Splash- I was up early Saturday to take pictures of the 5K race and Police Breakfast. I went home briefly to grab the family and we hit the carnival when it started. It was a ton of fun- the kids played on the bouncers and kids games and even tried out climbing the rock wall. All of the vendors were giving away free stuff so we came home with our bags overflowing with toys, balloons, and knick-knacks. The kids had a ton of fun. Emma and I then went to take pictures of the City's Golf Tournament and sadly missed the World Record Water Gun fight that we were both looking forward to. We stopped at home to pick up Drew from his nap and the three of us headed back up to the carnival. Because it was getting late in the day, most people had left and so the kids had free run over the bounce houses- they did as much as they could until the famous Utah wind kicked up and sent us all running to our cars. The wind was horrible- all of the vendors were scrambling to save their merchandise while canopies and tent went flying through the air. Baby pools used in the squirt gun fight were rolling at high speeds through the park. Drew was freaking out and Emma was having a hard time walking by herself. I scrambled to get the kids, the balloons, and the toys all to the car unharmed- it was quite an ordeal. A couple of big pieces of sound equipment fell over in the wind and things were scary there for a couple of minutes. By the time we made the 30 second trip home everything was calm again, but the power was out. I didn't mind the power being out because it forced Andy to take a break from homework. We took down Drew's crib and officially transferred him to a bed. It has been an ok transition for now- but I will see how it goes after the novelty of the bed wears off. After a quick furniture readjustment we headed off as a family to watch the parade. Emma's favorite floats were the royalty floats that had the "princesses" on them. It was great weather and a ton of fun. We headed out to dinner with some neighbors afterwards who happened to be sitting next to us at the parade and then headed home for Andy to get the kids in bed. I ran up to the Ryan Shupe and the Rubberbands concert to take pictures and then made it home in time to watch fireworks with Andy from the front porch. It was a wild day, but lots of fun. I love summer and the fun times warm weather brings with it!