Ahhh…Quiet Monday…

We had one of those crazy busy weekends that makes Monday actualy enjoyable.  Last Wednesday through Sunday was the town’s annual “Corn Festival”.  I have never seen a town get so wrapped up in an event like this one does about the ‘fest.  Little by little, we’ve been getting drug further and further into the chaos, especially as the kids get bigger.

We initiated this year’s fest on Wednesday with a trip downtown to watch the firefighters water fights.  Basically, there are two teams of firefighters going head to head, directing their hose to spray a barrel suspended between them.  The team that sprays the barrel to the opposing team’s side is the winner.  This went on for a long time as there were a lot of teams and it was a best of 3 situation for each pairing.  It’s good entertainment for a while but after an hour or so, one needs a diversion.

Thankfully, there were ample people watching opportunities to spice up the evening.  I think bets were being taken on how many firefighters/EMT’s would be called when the (likely intoxicated) apartment dwellers two stories up decided to sit in their windows with their feet dangling outside to watch the event.  And then there were the kids playing in the water, splashing everyone around without a care in the world…or a parent to tell them to knock it off.  Just good, old fashioned, irresponsible fun.

When we got bored of the waterfights, we were off to walk the main downtown street, which is closed off to traffic during the fest.  We were in search of a corndog…William’s bribe reward for being good at daycare.  En route, we met up with some friends and ended up staying much later than we had anticipated.  The kids were predictably exhausted Thursday morning…and William earned no reward for good behavior at daycare that day.

On Saturday, we made our way downtown bright and early so Alex and a friend could sign up to do the kiddie waterfights (just like firefighter waterfights only with kids and garden hoses).  Again, lots of great fun but watching for 2+ hours is not so exciting.  Thankfully, there was a petting zoo plenty of food vendors within walking distance.  We tried to get home in time for the kids to take a nap before attending a neighbor’s Corn Fest party Saturday night.  Actually, we were home in time…but the kids didn’t cooperate with the whole nap thing.  Ugh…

The party was a great time, complete with hay rides and a pig roast, although I do belive the man-eating mosquitos had the best buffet.  Not even the bug spray could deter them!  We left around 11 pm when the kids went into total and complete meltdown mode. 

The oldest boys and I went to church on Sunday morning while Mike stayed home with the tired younger two.  William ended up sleeping until 11:30 am!  We were off to the carnival for an hour of ride riding before the parade. The kids really enjoyed the rides but my bank account did not so much enjoy the $60 it took to buy them all wristbands. 

The parade started at 2pm.  Alex, Aiden and Mike all walked in it with their Cub Scout group.  William, Katey and I enjoyed it from the sidelines.  Well…enjoyed the first hour of it anway, until the lack of sleep and decent food caught up with them.  We somehow managed to sit through the second hour of the parade without too many crying fits.  Yes, you read that right, the parade was a whopping 2 hours long.  I think the festival fathers need to learn the great mantra “everything in moderation”.  They could have eliminated all of the politicians and the Shriners in their tiny cars and shortened up the parade quite nicely.  (More on the Shriners and their cars in another post.)

We drug the kids kicking and screaming past the carnival and back to the car for a loud, whine filled drive home where we made a desparation dinner of tuna casserole and peas.  Then all 6 of us crashed in the living room and watched TV.  We sent the kids off to bed at 7:30 without so much as a complaint from them…and spent the rest of the night doing absoultely nothing.  It was a beautiful Sunday evening!

So, this quiet Monday is much appreciated.  It’s the calm before the storm, I fear.  This is going to be another busy week.  But aren’t the all, anymore?  You would think I’d begin to accept chaos as the norm, but I just can’t.  One of these days, life will get back to normal.  I hope I recognize it when it does.