Well, the 4th of July this year was quite memorable, (which is what we aim for.)
Salina, Utah! This small town is where I remember being for most of my childhood Independence Days, and the annual festivities left me with a wealth of patriotic nostalgia. Naturally, I wanted my girls and Juan to share in my experiences and after a lot of begging (a.k.a. nagging,) I was granted the 4th to plan as I pleased.
And thus goes the excursion:
- We drove down Monday morning to Salina and decided to hit up the carnival at North Sevier Middle School. Of course, we forgot to bring cash so had to limit the girls to 5 tickets each. Luckily, that didn't stop them from having fun. Stops included the bubble tunnel (I don't know what it's really called,) the ring toss, the cake walk, the ducky pond, the bouncy house, the races (which Siena was too shy to participate in,) and face painting.
- These are the things we didn't do (but that I really enjoyed as a kid:) grease pole contest ($ bills are stuck to an upright greased pole--about 20 feet high--and whoever can climb up and grab them gets to keep them;) animal races (the city lets a bunch of baby farm animals loose on the field and the kids at different ages get to try to catch one. Whatever they retrieve, they get to keep as a pet;) the jello tank (exactly what it sounds like, but with prizes at the bottom;) swimming races, diving contests, and free swimming at the city pool (the fire dept. threw quarters, dimes and nickels in the pool and different age groups would try to dive to get them. We collected a lot of $ on the 4th;) the pre-parade talent show (I sang "What's More American?" one year with my siblings and it was mortifying;) and the rodeo and fireworks show after the parade (buckin' broncos, barrel racers, rodeo royalty, clowns, bulls with valuable tags tied to them and crazy people chasing after them to snatch one--the whole works--plus a very patriotic fireworks show afterward.) Those are all traditions I will never forget.
- Then we drove up to the cabin to meet my family. First things first--go down the zipline! After lunch we drove the 4-wheelers to Skutumpah Reservoir, a family favorite hot-spot; all-together there were about seven 4-wheelers and 12 people. The mountain flowers are in perfect bloom right now; there were Indian Paintbrushes, Mountain Columbine, Blue Penstemon, asters, and Low Larkspur, just to name a few. Uncle Chad collected a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers for Siena on their trip up to the zipline and she cared for those flowers as if they were her wedding bouquet.
- We all drove back to Salina that evening to watch the parade. The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves. :) To finish the day, we all headed over to Grandma's house for the traditional (and yummy) Sloppy Joe dinner and said our goodbyes. It was a great ending to the day.
(This picture I have to just thrown in, although it was taken a few days earlier. It's too cute!)
