Windmill Fest '08
Ah, Part One of my busy Saturday. I am actually getting out and being social! Shock! The second part won't come until tonight, though.
So, it's Windmill Fest time. This is the annual summer festival my town puts on. I've been going to it since high school. Its schedule has changed in that time period, as well. When we first started attending, it was four days long (Thursday to Sunday), and then three (Thursday to Saturday). In recent years, it's only been two days (Friday and Saturday). However, this year they bumped it back up to three (Thursday to Saturday), and what happened? We had really bad storms on Thursday night and I think they totally got rained out. So much for that.
We did have storms last night around 11:40, and it was raining when I initially woke up today, but the day has turned out to be pretty decent. It's cloudy, and humid, but there's a breeze so it's pleasant. Mom and I left the house around 9:45 so we could go see the pet parade at 10. That is seriously one of the funniest things you will see in town. They have all sorts of categories for the pets to enter, like highest jumper; two owners even got on the stage at one point, supposedly to have their dogs jump up there; in both cases, the dogs started to run to the stage but chickened out, putting their front paws on the stage and nothing else. Some of the costumes were cute--one dog seriously looked like Eeyore. Actually, it looked like a hippopotamus crossed with a dog, but it still amused and it won Best Costume. One girl and her dog dressed like bees; that dog ended up winning Highest Jumper. There was exactly one non-dog in attendance, a chameleon, and it won Most Unusual.
After the parade, mom and I walked around a bit. Mom stopped by the festival last night after work and said it was smaller than in the past, and she was right--there were less food booths set up, and the set-up in general was different. It was a little disappointing, but I'm wondering if the economy played any part in that. My father is bummed, too--no funnel cake! Last week at the Fourth, dad was looking at the food booths for funnel cake, and there wasn't any. We said, well, try next week at Windmill Fest. Nope--no funnel cake there, either. We do have a recipe for it at home, so we may have to make it for him sometime to appease him.
Mom and I went around the Riverwalk a couple of times. She treated me to lunch, and we split a chicken and steak fajita and a cajun burger, and she got me a kiwi lemon-lime Maui Waui smoothie. It was good, but tasted more like bananas than anything else, and then mom said the lady put a banana in it to make it thicker. Luckily I like bananas, but I think that's something you should mention in case somebody's allergic.
The last thing we did before we left was watch the Irish dancers from the park district. It's so weird to see a casual dance troop--the dancing is traditional, but the dresses are far less intricate and they're not caught up in the curly hair. It's a change for me, since I grew up knowing the Trinity style of Irish dancing (they've won the world championship), but the kids are still talented and fun to watch.
The digital camera came with me, and the pictures came out better than I expected! I took 30 total, and there were still more pictures I'd have liked to take but didn't get a chance to. I was surprised the batteries lasted as long as they did; they didn't crap out on me until after I got home.
Selected pictures
Eeyore dog!
The east entrance to the Riverwalk.
We're not known as the Windmill City for nothing; this is the OK windmill along the Riverwalk.
(Large so you can see the detail)
The Fox River, reaching the top of the retaining wall on the side of the walkway. The walkway is closed due to unsafe conditions. Last August, it was all underwater (and then some).
Weber Irish Dancers (the little girls on the ground had a ball imitating the dancers)
I may have to make another post to get some of the other pictures in here, but this will do for now.
So, it's Windmill Fest time. This is the annual summer festival my town puts on. I've been going to it since high school. Its schedule has changed in that time period, as well. When we first started attending, it was four days long (Thursday to Sunday), and then three (Thursday to Saturday). In recent years, it's only been two days (Friday and Saturday). However, this year they bumped it back up to three (Thursday to Saturday), and what happened? We had really bad storms on Thursday night and I think they totally got rained out. So much for that.
We did have storms last night around 11:40, and it was raining when I initially woke up today, but the day has turned out to be pretty decent. It's cloudy, and humid, but there's a breeze so it's pleasant. Mom and I left the house around 9:45 so we could go see the pet parade at 10. That is seriously one of the funniest things you will see in town. They have all sorts of categories for the pets to enter, like highest jumper; two owners even got on the stage at one point, supposedly to have their dogs jump up there; in both cases, the dogs started to run to the stage but chickened out, putting their front paws on the stage and nothing else. Some of the costumes were cute--one dog seriously looked like Eeyore. Actually, it looked like a hippopotamus crossed with a dog, but it still amused and it won Best Costume. One girl and her dog dressed like bees; that dog ended up winning Highest Jumper. There was exactly one non-dog in attendance, a chameleon, and it won Most Unusual.
After the parade, mom and I walked around a bit. Mom stopped by the festival last night after work and said it was smaller than in the past, and she was right--there were less food booths set up, and the set-up in general was different. It was a little disappointing, but I'm wondering if the economy played any part in that. My father is bummed, too--no funnel cake! Last week at the Fourth, dad was looking at the food booths for funnel cake, and there wasn't any. We said, well, try next week at Windmill Fest. Nope--no funnel cake there, either. We do have a recipe for it at home, so we may have to make it for him sometime to appease him.
Mom and I went around the Riverwalk a couple of times. She treated me to lunch, and we split a chicken and steak fajita and a cajun burger, and she got me a kiwi lemon-lime Maui Waui smoothie. It was good, but tasted more like bananas than anything else, and then mom said the lady put a banana in it to make it thicker. Luckily I like bananas, but I think that's something you should mention in case somebody's allergic.
The last thing we did before we left was watch the Irish dancers from the park district. It's so weird to see a casual dance troop--the dancing is traditional, but the dresses are far less intricate and they're not caught up in the curly hair. It's a change for me, since I grew up knowing the Trinity style of Irish dancing (they've won the world championship), but the kids are still talented and fun to watch.
The digital camera came with me, and the pictures came out better than I expected! I took 30 total, and there were still more pictures I'd have liked to take but didn't get a chance to. I was surprised the batteries lasted as long as they did; they didn't crap out on me until after I got home.
Selected pictures
Eeyore dog!
The east entrance to the Riverwalk.
We're not known as the Windmill City for nothing; this is the OK windmill along the Riverwalk.
(Large so you can see the detail)
The Fox River, reaching the top of the retaining wall on the side of the walkway. The walkway is closed due to unsafe conditions. Last August, it was all underwater (and then some).
Weber Irish Dancers (the little girls on the ground had a ball imitating the dancers)
I may have to make another post to get some of the other pictures in here, but this will do for now.