Tumbleweed Film Festival

Ikey, Theo, Christina, Jovie and Aimee at opening night.
(I commonly do this weird thing with my foot in posed photos...reminiscent of my junior prom photo. I've been awkward for years.) 

Our friend Holly invited us to the Tumbleweeds Film Festival downtown. We met Christina and Theo for the opening night dinner party (grilled cheese, tomato soup, and Girl Scout cookies) and watched the US premiere of "Oddball", a very enjoyable Australian dog-and-penguin show. 

Christina and Jovie enjoy the opening night dinner, including grilled cheese sandwiches and Thin Mints.

Salt Lake Comic Con was in full effect this evening, and we saw a lot of cosplayers, including a big group of official-looking StarWars characters. Darth Vader asked Isaac his name and said, "The force is strong with this one. He has a sister, if he won't turn to the dark side perhaps she will." Jovie said, "Oh yeah sure. No problem." Dudes, she would. 

School update

The kids like their cheerful school.

 The Fun Run was an exciting event. 

 Grandma Rainey sponsored the kids at the event, and I thought their thank you cards were so cute. 

She drew the bill shown above with a green, long-haired president and asked, "Hey, Is Hillary Clinton elected yet?" I said, "Not yet." She said, "Well, I already drew her on the money." The president drawn in blue is Washington. He has a long pony-tail and curls on top. 

Piglet Plunge at the Dirty Dash

Jovie tells us that she has been practicing for the Dirty Dash for practically her whole life. She recruited TB to run the mile course and brave the muddy obstacles. 

Here's the video: https://youtu.be/MNJBgUOknJ8

After the race, they paid $6 for a warm shower (cold ones were free) and Ikey and I delivered hot chocolate and dry clothes. We checked out the cool crater pool at Homestead in Midway, and ate a burger (along with all the other muddy people) at Dairy Keen. 

Ikey's cheering poster for the racers.

Ikey and I went to Scheels to register Jovie for the race the night before. 

Pre-race tattoos. This baby didn't scrub off for a week!

Jovie's motto

The first event of the Piglet Plunge was to make a mud beard for your parent.

Ikey and I cheered and cheered. We chased the racers along the one mile course and yelled and photographed. We were hot. They were cold.

Two obstacles in and the racers are a little muddy. 

Very muddy at the finish line!

Jovie shows off her biceps.

Dad is such a good sport!

Warm showers!

It was a beautiful day at Soldier Hollow.

This is the bridge overlooking the crater at Homestead. We yelled down to the divers and they complimented the kids race shirts.

Calvin Smith Library

We still use the SL County Library system, even though we are half a mile from a SL City Library and really kind of far away from a County Library. We have to go to the library about once a week, which was very convenient when Jovie's dance class was at the Millcreek Community Center. I could switch over to the City system, but I have my 14-digit library card number memorized and our hold list is at the county, so it's harder than it sounds. 

This week, Ikey was desperate for a new book, so I traipsed all over the county to find the next book in the Heroes of Olympian series. I found myself at a library we haven't been to yet, the Calvin Smith branch in Millcreek. 

 

Look at this happy face! He's glad he's got his 600-page book and we're glad too, until he told Jovie and me to "cut out the distractions" so he could concentrate. He finished this book in two days, school days when he was in class for about seven hours. Since school started, he's read the Percy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus series, and the Kane Chronicles. 

Utah State Fair

As is our tradition, we went to the State Fair on opening day with Grandma Rainey. Our list of must-see items are: butter cow, 4-H displays, horticulture, photography, fine art, home arts, farm animals, bee hives (no bees at the fair this year).  

The vegetable oddities are our favorites! This is a giant pear squash.

This was the first time we rode on the squeaky and rikety Ferris Wheel.

Idaho Wedding

We traveled to Idaho Falls to celebrate Kelly's wedding. It was a beautiful/chilly affair. 

Ikey came on the trip too, but he chose to stay at the hotel to "roughhouse" with Ellen's teenage boys instead of attend the wedding.