The name of this post should actually be “terrible dog photos.”  But, instead I will write about my absolutely hilarious and fun trip to the dog park with my BFF, Jess,  her dog Remmy and my dog Barney. I decided to pick up Jess in East Peoria because that made the most sense to meet between our homes.

On the way to get Jess and Remmy, Barn (I call him lots of different names) did a really great job of riding in the back of my car. He sat for most of the time looking like a chicken…

I tried to get a good picture…but again I say, dogs (Barn especially) can’t sit still enough to get a good picture..

I’m sure it was really safe that I took so many pictures while I was driving.

Anyway, after getting Jess and Rem we drove about 15-20 minutes to the oh-so-confusing town of Morton. Remmy did such a great job of riding in the back.

After driving down a few country roads, we made it to Oakwood Park.

Barney and Remmy couldn’t wait to get out of the car. We walked down the long entrance gate, shoot-thing to get into the “large dog” part of the park–even though Remmy is anything but large.

As soon as we got through the gate, Barney took off running. Once he made a lap around the park, he came back and was not interested in any other dogs at all.  All he wanted to do was play frisbee with me.

Remmy, however was way more social.

So social, in fact, that he got mauled by some big huge dogs and Jess had to swoop in for a rescue.

Of course our dogs were super tired, thank goodness this dog park provided a little doggie drinking fountain.

After the dogs cooled off, we decided to take them on a walk–the bugs in the dog park were out of control. We took a leisurely stroll around Oakwood Park and called it a day. But first we had to get a quick picture of us with our pups…and of course that’s never easy.

The last picture was about as good as it was going to get.

The Oakwood Dog Park in Morton was my first dog park experience. I liked that it had separate areas for the large and small dogs–even though we didn’t take advantage of that. The doggie water fountain was a little gross, but appreciated.  There was a lot of area for our dogs to run and it was super shady, which made braving the heat much more manageable. Barn and Rem were a little dirty when they got back into my car, but I think it was totally worth it.

I can’t wait to check out the other dog parks in the area and hopefully head back to Morton (if I can find it again!).

Good night Peoria!

TP

Pssst! F-R-E-E fun again!

Even though it was absolutely sweltering out yesterday, 2 of my coworkers and I braved the noon hour heat to catch some local music down at the courthouse for the bi-weekly Brown Bag It. Brown Bag It happens every Monday and Wednesday throughout the summer from 11:30am to 1:00pm.  Local artists perform outside of the courthouse in downtown Peoria during the lunch hour.

JD, Rose and I brought our own lunches and found a spot in the shade to enjoy a local 2 piece cover band.

Besides the insane heat, we loved getting out of the office to catch some tunes. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch the name of the sweet artists, but they mentioned that they will play again for Brown Bag It in August. They played some awesome hits like the Eagle’s “Tequila Sunrise” and John Lennon’s “Imagine.”  Not only did I love the music, but I’m sure my dad would too. Which reminds me, it didn’t seem like a ton of young people came out to catch the music–which really bummed me out. It seemed like it was mostly Caterpillar employees.

I wish I had something funnier to write about Brown Bag It. I think it probably would have been more fun with more people–not that Rose and JD aren’t my favorite people–but I would have loved to bring a big group down with me and spend more than 30 minutes hanging out. I’m interested in knowing what other bands perform during the week and possibly busting out some really sweet moves during their set.

I’m now off to do my TP the Town duty for today/tonight–this one will have 2 special guests! Eek!

TP

Pssstt! Costs? Yep, there were none. It was all f-r-e-e.

One of my goals this summer is to seek out and support the local artists in the Peoria area. When I saw that Corn Stock Theatre was putting on the show Cats this summer, it was obvious that I had to go see it. Corn Stock Theatre is the only outdoor theater in the area. Over the summer they produce about 5 different shows. I decided that I haven’t done anything with my mom lately, so I easily convinced her to come with me (she loooves musicals, so I knew she’d say yes). On Sunday evening, we loaded up the ZUTI car (that’s her license plate, clever?) and drove to Bradley Park where the Corn Stock Theatre tent is located. It was my first time going, so I didn’t know what to expect.

The age demographic tended to be older patrons, but I saw a few families and younger kids…including the one who kicked the back of my seat throughout the entire show.

We purchased our tickets at the show, but we had to option to buy them ahead of time from Corn Stock’s website. Regular tickets are $18, but since I presented my (old) student ID, I got mine for $12. Since my mom paid for the whole thing, I guess you could say it was free for me.

Since we had some time to kill before the show, we thought it was completely necessary for us to photograph ourselves by the giant Cats sign out front to prove that we were actually there.

Several self-timed pictures later, this is what you get…

We walked over to the concession stand for some fresh popcorn and water…which was also FREE! (although they graciously accepted donations) My mom and I picked up a program, found our seats and did some light reading while we waited for the show to begin..

Finally it was show time!! I wasn’t allowed to take pictures during the show, so what follows is the stage without the dancers.

The show was wonderful. There isn’t a bad seat in the house. I was impressed with the extend of the cat-y make up and I loved that the actors were all different ages–from seniors in high school to senior citizens. I was reminded how much talent is in the Peoria area.

I might be back later in July to watch Footloose–pending the weather. It was a little warm under the tent last night, I can’t imagine how hot it would be in the middle of July.

See you tomorrow, CI!

TP

Psst! Costs to follow:

Adult ticket: $18

Student ticket: $12

Popcorn & water: FREE

Total: $30 (for two people)

(actual total for myself, $0 because my mom paid. What a gal!)

You would think that I’d be burnt out from small town festivals after crossing into enemy territory on Friday night at the Washington Cherry Festival…but I packed up my car, picked up Lindsey and headed out to Elmwood for the one day Strawberry Festival. It was a delightful day full of sunshine, strawberries and people watching.

When Linds and I first got to Elmwood (about a 20-30 minute drive from North Peoria), we walked right into the on going car show.

Cars aren’t my thing, but it was more fun to see the owners of these swanky vehicles lounging in the shade..I’m assuming most people who enjoyed this part of the festival would also chat it up with the owners–but we don’t know anything about cars other than how to pump gas. So instead we picked out our favorites for a little photo op:

This car looked like it was eating Lindsey–so I added eyes and teeth for a dramatic effect. Once we were bored with the cars, we need to cool off with a sweet strawberry treat (sans alcohol–the Elmwood Strawberry Festival didn’t have a beer tent in sight!).  As we headed to the food tent, we noticed these awesome sandbags:

Aren’t those hilarious?On our way, we passed a bags tournament, a hula hooping contest and a live band! Once we got to the dessert/food tent, we bought some desserts from some little old ladies at the one and only food tent at the fair. I got strawberry pizza and Lindsey got a piece of strawberry pie. (She later went back to buy a whole pie to take home!)

Holy strawberry party in my mouth! My strawberry pizza was awesome, but I had a bite of Lindsey’s strawberry pie and that won me over, hands down! Next in line was finding something to quench our thirsts–Strawberry lemon shake-ups, it is!

We walked around the festival with our drinks in hand to check out the local craft vendors.

We even ran into some friends of mine–Howie, Heather, and their adorable baby Dahlia (who was decked out in a strawberry onezie!!)

We made one last stop at the old lady booth to pick up some strawberry jam…which we found out that it was made with over 500 pounds of strawberries! Also the strawberries for the jam were imported because the strawberries grown in Elmwood weren’t ripe yet…I felt a little betrayed after knowing that.

After that it was time for us to hit the old dusty trail. It was sweltering and I needed my car’s A/C stat! Linds and I discussed the differences between the Cherry Festival and the Strawberry Festival. The Cherry Fest had a beer tent…but the Strawberry Fest had an all around better/cuter vibe. The Strawberry Fest also didn’t have hand sanitizing stations, which we concluded were unnecessary considering the Strawberry Fest made us feel way less dirty than the Cherry Fest. (Sorry Washington)

The Elmwood Strawberry Festival was a cheap and delightful afternoon. You can bet that I will be back next summer.

I’m excited about my “activity” tonight–my mom and I are going to kick it old school.

See you tomorrow!

TP

Pssst! Cost break down, anyone?

Strawberry pizza (slice): $2.50

Strawberry lemon shake-up: $2.00

Total: $4.50

(Lindsey spent $2.00 on a slice of pie, $2.00 on a strawberry lemon shake-up, $10.00 on a strawberry pie, and $5.00 on a jar of jam… $19.00 total)