Children's Festival and Safety Day

Saturday was the Children's Festival and Safety Day, an annual outdoor festival featuring free rides, free food and entertainment for the kids and family. We have been going the last few years with Monica's family. Since it started at 1 pm, we knew our saling would be limited today which was okay because the actual number of sales out there were very limited. Temperatures had been in the mid-90's the whole week with the "real feel" temperatures over 100 degrees because of the humidity. It was just too hot for anyone to have any outdoor sales and, unless the air conditioning was pretty good, indoor sales were even questionable. We only found two sales that both showed any potential and fit our route and schedule limitations. So...we decided to load Rob's car with Thrift Shop donations (the remaining leftovers from our June garage sale) and go there first...

A funny thing happened on the way to the Thrift Shop. We saw an "Estate Sale" sign on the way so we followed the sign and ran across a small outdoor sale. There were not a lot of items here but we gave the woman a lot of credit for braving the brutal outdoor temperatures. Rob picked up a couple of items but before we could get a price on them, we overheard her tell a customer something that no one ever wants to hear..."eBay is selling this for $25". Ugh...one of THOSE people...the ones who check eBay for every item they have and make note of the prices that are being asked for them. Most of the time, it is the ASK price they see, not the BID price. There was a really cute bride and groom salt and pepper set (marked "Japan") that we wanted. She wanted $5 for it stating "they are going for $25 on eBay". Rob tried to talk her down but she would not budge. In the end, we left that item behind but did come away with two cool old matchbooks and an old set of dice. 

Our next stop was our original destination, a Thrift Shop who readily and happily accepts donations. Monica is doing the "Bigfoot Step" in the picture. ha ha! After buying a Monty Python shirt for Rob, we emptied our car of our donations and set sail for planned Sale #1. 

We arrived at our first planned sale. The sign told us a familiar face would be running the sale. This Tag Sale company is run by a nice guy who always seems to wind up running sales in homes ravaged by Hurricane Sandy and without air conditioner. Luckily, the air conditioning was working well. There was not a lot here but we did walk away with a few small things.

This was the house where our final sale of the day was held. We think the people running this belonged to a new Tag Sale company but we were not sure. They had a mailing list sign-up in one room but everything else about the sale pointed towards family members selling off a family member's belongings. They did not have any clue as to what price to ask for anything. There was very little here for us but we did come home with one Tiki mug and one can opener.

Our small accumulation of stuff for the day:

A set of old dice, a Tiki mug, a Thanksgiving salt and pepper shaker (missing its mate) and a can opener from Ballantine Beer.

An "ART-EE-FUN" drawing book, an old stain removal guide and a couple of old matchbooks.

So it was off to the Children's Festival and Safety Day. We were meeting Monica's sister and Monica's brother and their families and we got there about half hour late because we were stuck in traffic behind a massive accident but we eventually arrived.

The line for the free refreshments were not long at all. There were free hot dogs (Rob and Monica's brother-in-law had three apiece), lemonade, cotton candy. pretzels, popcorn, ice cream and more! It was much more crowded the last few years but the intense heat limited the crowds. 

Monica wore her hat! She was the only one there with a hat like this!

A pre-gubernatorial era Arnold Schwarzenegger balloon?

Shannon loved the rock climbing and was so good at it! 

Looks like Peter just finished some blue cotton candy! 

Marissa just finished her turn on the bouncy ride

Shannon enjoying the slide

Peter loved the slide too...

...and so did Marissa!

Peter ringing the bell in the "strong man" attraction

There was a magician entertaining the crowd in a suit! His tricks were amazing but perhaps his best trick was not sweating in that suit on such a hot day!!!!!

There were balloon makers making balloon animals for the kids. Monica's sister, Marissa and Peter are awaiting the finished product.

And there it is! Peter showing off his balloon giraffe. From a side view, he looked a little like Homer Simpson.

Monica brought her hat and her parasol. Rob just simply brought Monica. It was a great day together!