Arts Festival Oklahoma

Labor Day weekend arrived, and I was feeling all regretful that the summer was over and I pretty much hadn't enjoyed summer at all. We moved over Memorial Day weekend, and then finding/unpacking/arranging the house and being hugely pregnant in record-breaking heat made it so the entire summer passed without us having done anything particularly out of the ordinary. Our options were pretty limited, what with a tiny baby at our house, but I insisted on doing something as a last hurrah of summer.
We decided on the Arts Festival Oklahoma, and it was pretty simple but quite fun. But we had an obstacle: How to take two-week-old June with us. I have two different slings, but she was not a fan. We don't have a travel system, and we weren't about to lug her around in the car seat the whole time. She's too small for an umbrella stroller.
Enter Craig's List.
A couple emails and $15 later, we have a Baby Bjorn with which to comfortably take June along.
Swish for us.

So we went to the festival and started things off in the children's tent. Dane spent just a few minutes in the giant sandbox.

Then he painted a watercolor flower and made a wind twister. I thought the tent had some pretty good crafts and activities, but after a while, Dane informed me that this festival had no roller coaster. Thus, he wanted to leave the arts festival and go to the blackberry festival instead. I was impressed at his memory. But, alas, we didn't have access to a small roller coaster this time.

Then we spent a little bit of time looking at the art. Joel was really interested in these wooden bowls, and I realized that it had never occurred to me that we might actually want to BUY some art. So we didn't bring enough cash to get Joel a bowl. Maybe next year.

We did, however, eat some pretty awesome carnival food.
A beef sundae:

That is mashed potatoes, roast beef, gravy, cheese, and a grape tomato on top. It was pretty awesome.
Also, a chopped brisket baked potato and a footlong corndog:

The baked potato included cheese, sour cream, and a half a stick of margarine. I scraped that part off.
They also had a shaved ice stand where you could add the flavorings yourself, which Dane was really excited about.


Then, the real reason we went, was to see the Riders in the Sky Concert!

You may not recognize their name or picture, but I'm sure you've heard one of their songs: The Woody's Roundup theme song from Toy Story 2!
They are a comedy/western band, and they are known for yodeling in harmony. They put on a great show.


I thought it was a great outing. The evening was warm but not crazy hot, and there was a cool, relaxing breeze. The Riders in the Sky played familiar songs, funny songs, and calming songs, and they were really entertaining. I felt so happy sitting there with my little family, listening to the music, feeling the breeze.

Even though both my children can sometimes make creepy eyes.

It was a Labor Day weekend well-spent.