Gladiolus Festival 2008

This morning we four Cases plus Candice and Joey (my sister and brother-in-law) piled into the van and drove approximately 15 miles east to Momence, a small town bordering the Kankakee River. Every year Momence hosts their Gladiolus Festival--this year was the 71st--and every year you can peruse tons of stuff set out by hundreds of vendors at a giant flea market. Lots of adjectives, I know, but it really was pretty awe-inspiring. Part of Momence is actually an island on the river, and the flea market was set up on this island. Some of the vendors had originally created craft items, some had antiques, and some, quite frankly, were selling crap. I found a pretty wall hanging for the new baby's room, Stephen found the boys two "treasure boxes" (they began their lives as cigar boxes), and we also scored eleven bottles of multi-purpose solution for $1 apiece. (Note: This sounds sketchy, until you realize that the lady selling all of the toiletry items actually buys them from Wal-Mart after Wal-Mart deems the boxes too busted up to set on the shelves. The contact solution bottles themselves are sealed and within their expiration date limits. Stephen and I both wear contacts and have invested a small fortune in contact solution over the years, so this was a large victory for us.)

We all had a good time, and the boys were pretty cooperative. As long as they could take a couple walking breaks, see dogs, and drink juice in their stroller, they stayed fairly happy. The weather was absolutely incredible: in the lower and mid-70s, overcast, and pleasantly breezy. I am continually amazed at how beautiful summer is in the Midwest.

Stephen was in charge of photos, which is why there is no record of us actually attending the festival--he tends to take artsyish photos of old buildings and anything eye-popping, like the flowers hanging on the footbridge that connects the island to mainland Momence. Oh, one thing that we found conspicuously lacking: glads! Some people were selling them at their tents, but there weren't crops of glads planted anywhere on the island. Perhaps if we had attended more of the five day festival, which included a fair, shows, parades, and more, we would have seen more of them. Despite that, we had a fantastic time.