Rose Festival = Start of Summer

Oh, hello tiny abandoned blog. I made a new years resolution to write more and blog more and it's June now so...doing great! Anyway, I'm here now and let's never speak of this again.

Now, I know that the official start of summer is June 21st but, to me, it feels like it's beginning coincides with Portland's Rose Festival. The timing of this years Rose Festival, coupled with the oppressive heat we had last weekend (yup, the New Englander in me has totally acclimated and I now consider low 90s oppressive) and I'm officially declaring it summer.

There are a multitude of events that happen around the city and this past weekend Kathy, Jill, and I partook in two: CityFest and the Dragonboat Races.

On Friday night after work, we headed down to the waterfront for CityFest which is basically a carnival with the requisite rides, games, fried foods, and perhaps a musical act thrown in. (Slaughter was playing in the concert area on this night. I know, right?) 

So, listen. A carnival is one of my favorite things. I was PUMPED and READY. Jill got in for free because it happened to be some kind of floral night and she was wearing a dress with flowers but Kathy and I were not quite so fancy and had to pay the 7$. Guess what else I was pumped and ready for? To spend a lot of money.

I remember carnivals as a kid - you paid an entrance fee and then you get to ride all the rides as much as you want for free. Well, we're in the big city now, guys, and each ride cost 5$.  The three of us rode the ferris wheel which was amazing and afforded us some beautiful views of the river and city.

Jill and I are somewhere in this picture, living the dream. Kathy took this from the safety of the ground.

Jill and I rode a couple other rides and we all hit up some games. We truly came at the perfect time before it got too crowded when we'd have to compete against children with way more skills than us and we all ended up walking away with a prize in the end. Don't tell anyone, but we also witnessed a worker giving a child a prize despite him not actually winning it and my grinch heart grew 10 sizes that day.

I realized this day that my skee-ball skills have gotten rusty. I thew so many zero point balls!? Younger me would be totally ashamed of older me.

But, what is maybe the best part of a carnival?

Fried food! Delicious in the moment and, now that I'm not 15 with an iron stomach, a tiny bit regrettable in the end. But who cares about the end - gimmie that elephant ear and sweet apple pie fries and get out of my face. Not pictured is the corn dog I also ate.  I know, I know. Stop looking at me.

The next morning, we headed downtown to the waterfront again to watch some lady Dragonboat races.

It was hot! But we piled on the sunscreen, toted our camping chairs to the grass, and cheered those ladies on. While there were many amazing things that happened, the highlights for me were a Planned Parenthood team that did a bunch of exercises in a circle near us while their assumed captain was dressed as a giant penis. Kathy heard them doing chants about birth control in the staging area to get pumped before their race. AND their flag catcher was dressed up like Ariel. God, can it get any better than that?

Second highlight (realize I may have blown my highlight load with how good the first one was) was a dad who clearly had a daughter on the St. Mary's team. He had a horn that he blew literally every time the announcer said the words "St. Mary's." Not to miss a single horn blowing opportunity, he had a stand in blow it for him when he had to tie his shoes or something of the sort. Perfect.

These strong, badass, rowing women were super inspiring and I honestly could have sat and watched these races all day, but the power of the sun and heat kicked in we all packed up our chairs and headed out. 

This weekend could have lasted forever for all I'm concerned, but I'm not too bummed that it's all over because the rest of the summer holds a lot more fun to come and besides, I live in this amazing city and get to do it all again next year.