Highlights from Orem Parade

Utah parade culture was once again thriving on Saturday evening. Here is just a sample, call it the best of the best.

Yes, if you own a freaky vehicle, you too can be in the parade.

The first martial arts to mix kicks with karaoke. Twice as deadly.
(Yes, folks, she really was singing.)

An old college flame. She hasn't aged a bit.

The theme of this "float" was so subtle I almost missed it. I told my kids that it should have read, "Drink down, throw up." That made the lady behind us snort.

"Some...bank?" Just a step above having the float be sponsored by Honeybaked with the slogan, "Some Ham!" Why didn't Charlotte think of that one?

My personal favorite, the rock bagpipe band.

Day 22/365: Fireworks

fireworks, originally uploaded by splingermoosebutt.

Death Turtles at Summer Days

I thought that Summer Days was supposed to be a family friendly event. But guess what they had at one of the booths! Yes, you guessed it—a whole nation of death turtles. Little J was thrilled and started begging for one. Good thing that J-girl stepped in and said no. One death turtle per little girl is enough terror to deal with. If there were two, they might invade the house, and then no place would be safe.

Day 21/365: Orem Summer Days

Little J loved the swings.

It was a lot more comfortable after the sun went down.

Mmm, cotton candy and caramel apples!

Carnival booths.

Day 20/365: Dashboard Turtle

dashboard turtle
Originally uploaded by splingermoosebutt

Little J has invented a little game that she likes to play with me. It's called, Stick the bobble-head turtle somewhere in the car where Dad doesn't expect it and watch him freak out. She used to put it on top of the dash, right over the speedometer. The first time she did it, I tried to tolerate its bobbing, beady eyes staring up at me. But after awhile, I could feel the eyes start to bore a hole in my head. I swear it started reading, and then manipulating, my mind. I was totally creeped out. After several chills when down my spine, I finally grabbed the turtle and moved it over to the middle of the dashboard where it was no longer looking at me. I felt immediate relief, as if someone had suddenly removed a pin from a voodoo doll of me.

Lately, Little J has become much more creative in where she hides the turtle. She's placed it down inside the dashboard and in the armrest on the door. Today, however, she went too far. As I was driving down the road and squinting into the sun, I reached up to pull down the visor, and there was the freakin' turtle. I gave out a loud, startled yelp, which was immediately followed by gleeful giggles in seat behind me. Even J-girl started laughing. I grimaced and once again moved the diabolical turtle to the middle of the dash.

I have started thinking that I need to hatch a plot to do the little guy in. After all, it's very believable that he might accidentally fall out of a window or get smashed by a careless teenager. Or perhaps he might start missing his family and feel the need to search them out, sort of like the animals in the movie Incredible Journey, except that this time the mountain lion wins. Hee hee, I chuckle just thinking of the little guy becoming a crunchy mountain lion snack. The only problem is, I don't know where he came from and to whom he belongs. I don't want to break anyone's heart by getting rid of him.

So for now, the twerp is safe. But look out, little shell dude, 'cause your days might be numbered!

Day 18/365: Dragon Boat Festival

We celebrated Dragon Boat Festival on Sunday. For us, the celebration is mostly about making and eating jungdz, pictured to the right. Jungdz consist of rice, stewed meat, eggs, and mushrooms wrapped in bamboo leaves, boiled, and then steamed. They are a pain to make, but they are very tasty and only have to be made once a year, so they're worth it.

You may be wondering what this particular form of food has to do with dragon boat festival. Let me take a moment to explain.

During the Warring States period in Chinese history (something B.C.), the many different people that comprise the country of China had yet to be united under one ruler. Instead, the country was divided into many fiefdoms, each with it's ruling warlord or king. Each ruler sought to extend his influence and the boundaries of his kingdom. Consequently, the country was riddled with intrigue and constantly changing alliances.

During this time, Qu Yuan, the main character of this story, was the adviser to the king of Chu, one of the warring states. When the king died, his son went against the advise of Qu Yuan and formed an alliance with the king of Chin. This wasn't such a great idea, because the king of Chin was a slimeball and was willing to use any method to extend his kingdom. Qu Yuan attempted many times to advise the new king to break the alliance, but to no avail. Finally, the new king got tired of listening to Qu Yuan and banished him from his court. Qu Yuan went to the countryside and proceeded to write some of the best poetry in all of Chinese history.

Eventually, the Kingdom of Chin took over Chu, just as Qu Yuan had foretold. Instead of reveling in self-righteousness, Qu Yuan became overwrought and threw himself into the river, committing suicide. The people were so upset at the loss of Qu Yuan that they jumped in their boats and raced up and down the river in search of his body. When it could not be found, they took clumps of cooked rice and threw it to the fish so that the fish would be too full to eat Qu Yuan's body. The dragon boat races held during this holiday symbolize the people's efforts to find Qu Yuan's body, and the jundgz represent the rice clumps that were fed to the fish. Cheery little holiday, no? At least the food's good.

Day 15/365: Utah Lake Festival and Fishing

We took Uncle Michael to the Utah Lake Festival this afternoon. There were lots of different booths, but the one that attracted us most was the face painting booth. Little J decided she wanted to be a blue bunny. The person who painted Julia did a fantastic job.


J-girl and I also got our faces painted, but just not to the same degree as Little J. Mine didn't look very manly, so I decided not to post a picture.


Seeing all the booths on fishing got Josh in the mood to fish, so we went down to Lindon Harbor and fished for a couple of hours. Can you tell that the fish weren't biting?

Bored bunny.

The Norman Rockwell version of Josh fishing.