Sandy DaysEvery year the City of Sandy has the Sandy Mountain Festival during the second weekend in July. The festival is an arts & craft fair in the town’s Meinig Park along with music on two stages along with food booths from local non-profit organizations. Outside the park includes many other activities as well, which are to be enjoyed just as much. 
The Thursday before the fair is of course the much anticipated (and chaotic) parade that kicks off the event. After the parade starts the carnival for all the kids to enjoy - just the usual rides, carny games, and cotton candy. There are also smaller events Friday before the fair, as well as a beer garden with live music each night of the festival. Being that I moved into Sandy just 6 years ago I became fascinated with the festival and all it had to offer. We live only 2 blocks away from the park, our house is on the parade route, and the carnival is a block away from us. We are the center of the festival. Some years we throw yard sales, and some years we don’t enjoy the ciaos as much. As for this year it started off rough, but with the amazing weather and the delight of introducing Julia to our yearly summer event I was all set to enjoy the festival.
Saturday started off with watching all the traffic arrive into town and take over the sidewalks and roads around my house. I do get a little crazed by this too, people tromping through my yard and leaving garbage as they go can get a little overwhelming. But, I take a deep breath and call my friends to come park around the house and in our driveway. Of course there’s usually at least one incident of me telling people they can’t park in my grass, and have to stay in the gravel when they park on the side of the house and this usually ensues an argument from some white trash women who hasn’t figured out how to have a decent conversation with a person since all she does it talk to her dogs and smoke all day!
(That’s another story in it self.) So, anyways, Julia and I take off to the fair, first to visit Tickle Creek Candles – the family business. Jon’s sister and mom, along with anyone else in the family who helps out here and there, have a booth every year now for the past 4 years and make candles that look like pies. This a huge hit at the fair every year, and they do great business. Back onto the path we walk the entire park, meet up with friends, and then around 2 o’clock (after 2 trips back home to cool off and have snack) Julia and I head home for naps, and then back again after Jon gets home from work.
The Thursday before the fair is of course the much anticipated (and chaotic) parade that kicks off the event. After the parade starts the carnival for all the kids to enjoy - just the usual rides, carny games, and cotton candy. There are also smaller events Friday before the fair, as well as a beer garden with live music each night of the festival. Being that I moved into Sandy just 6 years ago I became fascinated with the festival and all it had to offer. We live only 2 blocks away from the park, our house is on the parade route, and the carnival is a block away from us. We are the center of the festival. Some years we throw yard sales, and some years we don’t enjoy the ciaos as much. As for this year it started off rough, but with the amazing weather and the delight of introducing Julia to our yearly summer event I was all set to enjoy the festival.Saturday started off with watching all the traffic arrive into town and take over the sidewalks and roads around my house. I do get a little crazed by this too, people tromping through my yard and leaving garbage as they go can get a little overwhelming. But, I take a deep breath and call my friends to come park around the house and in our driveway. Of course there’s usually at least one incident of me telling people they can’t park in my grass, and have to stay in the gravel when they park on the side of the house and this usually ensues an argument from some white trash women who hasn’t figured out how to have a decent conversation with a person since all she does it talk to her dogs and smoke all day!
(That’s another story in it self.) So, anyways, Julia and I take off to the fair, first to visit Tickle Creek Candles – the family business. Jon’s sister and mom, along with anyone else in the family who helps out here and there, have a booth every year now for the past 4 years and make candles that look like pies. This a huge hit at the fair every year, and they do great business. Back onto the path we walk the entire park, meet up with friends, and then around 2 o’clock (after 2 trips back home to cool off and have snack) Julia and I head home for naps, and then back again after Jon gets home from work. 
In the evening we meet up with all our usual friends and some of out new friends. Julia’s friend Sidney and her mom met us at the carnival and we walked around. One look at the rides and Julia wanted to jump all aboard. Jon was much more reluctant then I, although I still had my reservation about putting her on a ride, we went ahead and bought tickets. The ride operator tells us that if they kids freak out they will give us our tickets back, so ok…here goes nothing. Julia gets in and grabs a hold of the fake steering wheel, tried to rock it like a rocking-horse, and as the ride starts it jumps forward hard and the biggest smile and laughter erupts from her face! Phew, crisis averted and a new found glory has arrived for my child. The pure joy that was Julia that evening was something I will cherish forever. The giggles, the smiles, and then of course the hard crash of sleep in the end made all the stress of the day melt away for 
me.Now, Julia’s friend Sidney was also on the ride, and let’s just says she was a little more apprehensive about the whole thing then Julia. I think I have a very adventurous girl on my hands. Later on Julia rode the same ride again with her other friends – kids she will forever grow up with and call family.
The evening ended with us haveing a fire going in the back yard, the older kids falling asleep by the fire after chasing each other for an hour in the back yard, and me getting to hold Tyson and Dana’s baby girl as she fell asleep. Perfect!
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