Summerfest!

It is the weekend around which our entire year revolves - Orem Summerfest! Wahoo!

Before I go further, you have to understand something about Utah: it is the land of dinky town carnivals and festivals. Just to name a few, there's American Fork Steel Days, Spanish Fork Spanish Days (not a particularly creative name), Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days, and the most celebrated of them all, Orem Summerfest. Each of these festivals includes:

• A beauty pageant (oh, I mean scholarship competition)
• A baby contest
• Carnival rides
• A parade lasting no less than two hours
• Fireworks or a rodeo

Ok, so maybe Orem's celebration isn't really better than any of these others, but it's within walking distance of our house, making it the clear winner.

The parade and fireworks are on Saturday night, so traditionally we dedicate Friday evening to rides, games, and carnival food. The roasted corn peddlers and the kettle corn folks were both in attendance this year, so Steve and I made a meal exclusively of corn products. Perfect.

Sasha joins the ranks of proud Morningstar Summerfest fans. Here she makes an odd but happy face as she enjoys the carousel:
Sam triumphantly displays his trophy earned for a fine carnival-game performance. It's some sort of croco-dog
Another ride that gets two thumbs up from Sasha: the swings! Every time a ride ended, she emphatically signed, "More, more!"
Papa reigns supreme on the aptly named Fun Slide
We prepare our scared faces for the Tilt-a-Whirl. It was fun for the first few minutes, but Tilt-a-Whirling only stays entertaining for so long until you pray for it to be over and the nausea to subside. Even Sasha started signing, "all done" in the middle of this one.
Papa, Sam, and Ben (not pictured) before the Gravitron (that's the thing that spins around really fast so you stick to the walls)
Ben after the Gravitron. Don't worry, the green tinge to his skin subsided after a little rest on the curb and the magical rejuvenating powers of cotton candy
I declare Day 1 of Summerfest a complete success. Hopefully the rain holds off long enough tomorrow for us to enjoy our parade and fireworks!