Americana Festival

We've had a wonderful four-day weekend. Yes, four days. I had Friday off...Air Force Materiel Command called it a Family Day...I spent it sleeping in by myself :-)

We have had a wonderful weekend. The weather has been hot (90+), humid (90%+), and, to be honest, just the way Ashley and I like it (yes, we're freaks). We didn't do anything too exciting over the weekend. We went to the local pool Friday afternoon (along with half the state of Ohio), did some serious yard work on Saturday, and relaxed in our pool on Sunday. Today, it's only 2:30, but we are wiped out. Centerville (a small town just south of us) has a 4th of July festival called Americana. Since 4 July was on a Sunday, the actual festival was today, and it was 2AHSUM (I saw this on the license plate of a Corvette...vanity is a wonderful thing).

To kick off the festival, there was a 5k run this morning (3.1 miles for the non-European readers). The race started at 0800, and it was hot. I think the overnight low was 70. Add in the humidity and total lack of shade on the course, and you have one tough race. I knew I'd be slow, because heat and Jeffy go together like water and the wicked witch of the east (I literally melt). Overall, I finished 27th out of 1,093 participants, and got 3rd out of 59 in my age group, so I was quite pleased.

There was a parade at 10 am, so after the race, I had to speed home, shower, and load the team into the car. Bode was excited because he was wearing a hat. He kept saying, "I'm wearing a hat, Daddy." He looked pretty cool.

Two large main roads were completely closed for the festival, which was great...except that we had to park somewhat far away from the parade route. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but since Bode is not stroller friendly, and the fact we were running late resulted in us having to carry the little orca a long ways. Here's a picture of Bode and Daddy. You can't tell, but I'm already drenched in sweat. Plus, I have quite the farmer's tan.

At some point, we managed to convince Bode to walk. Here's a picture of him walking the lines. See that big expanse of road behind him. That's how far we carried him.

Fortunately, we made it to the parade route in plenty of time to stop for some much needed juice.

The parade was nice--typical small-town parade with lots of fire trucks, bands, and local floats. Bode waved his little flag, and watched the whole thing.

The highlight (for me) had to have been the high-five from the imperial clone-trooper.

Following the parade, we walked through all the arts and crafts displays. We also bought some lunch and enjoyed some cajun cooking. We then headed over to the entertainment/kid's section. Bode loves listening to music, and he really seems to enjoy watching/listening to a band. Here he is, mesmerized.

Next, there was this thing that shot air out of these tubes, and kids could put little balls in the air stream. The balls would float in the air. Bode had a great time, although sometimes he got a little greedy and wanted more than one ball.

There were these giant air-slides and jungle gyms that most kids love. Bode wanted to go in every one, so we waited our turn in line. Whenever it was Bode's turn, he decided he didn't want to do it. Evidently, it was "scary" for him. So we skipped out on the slides and headed over to the fountains. You can't really see the fountains in the picture below, but you can see Bode and Mommy walking. Little guy probably covered a couple miles today on his little legs, so he'll sleep well tonight.

After some fun in the fountains, we headed over to the highlight of the day. There were free pony rides. We didn't really expect Bode to ride the horse, but he showed no hesitation when Mommy placed him in the saddle. He looked pretty cute bouncing up and down on his faithful steed. Below are three action photos.

Finally, we have a smiling Bode at the end of the day. We had a great time.

Now, we are home. Bode was supposed to take a nap, but he's decided against that, so he's sitting in my lap as I finish this post. Hopefully the little fellow will go to bed early tonight so Mommy and Daddy can get some much needed rest :-) Pleasant week to all.