52nd annual Castroville Artichoke Festival

I was going to give Joel a hair cut this morning and Ethan somehow broke the clippers so the blade would not adjust. Anyway, it was stuck on a short clip. Joel let Ethan have the clippers and start cutting his hair. He of course started on the top. Joel's hair cut was short. The kids love feeling his head with his super short hair. It's cute.

We're at the 52nd annual Artichoke Festival in Castroville. The Artichoke capitol of the world, so they say. Castroville is about 35 minutes from Santa Cruz. It's only 5 minutes from Moss Landing, a fantastic place to pick up fresh produce right out of the fields. We always stop for fresh strawberries and herbs.

And, it's time for the parade to begin. Castroville had a small town Nebraska feel to it. So did the parade. The kids loved it. Especially when candy was thrown from the floats. It brings back fun memories from my childhood.

The Artichoke King and Queen float

Lots and lots of old cars. Some were on hydraulics, which always got Joel and Ethan's attention.

And there is always some time for some daddy wrestling

This lady was covered in plastic store bags with a sign to recycle used bags.

This camper had a huge artichoke on top with a little train track going around it.

And taking a potty break in the bushes

Everyone got a kick out of the guy riding a cow in the parade

So after the parade we headed straight for a birthday party for a girl in Ethan's class at school. Unfortunately he fell asleep in the car on our way and missed half of the party. Joel and I felt like snoozing too. It was cute when Ethan woke up. He looked around in wonderment and then jumped up and ran to go play.

Evie had a blast. It has been a lot of fun to have both kids at all the parties. The grades share recess so both of them know each other's class really well.

This is the gym that we will most likely start the kids gymnastics classes in the fall. It was a nice chance to see it before we sign them up.

And it's cake time. The birthday girl (Scarlett) is across from Evie with straight brown hair and a pink tutu on. The rest of our evening was perfectly relaxing. We also had a birthday party Saturday so it felt like a busy weekend that went by way too fast.