Every year Northfield has a Labor Day festival and parade. We've been walking into town the last few days to enjoy live music and the smell of fried food. Reid and Jenni and Magnus Mumford have been staying with us and it's been fun to see our quirky small-town festival through their eyes.
Gavin's favorite part of the festival was the clown balloon guy, who made him a balloon sword AND scabbard! So cool.
Lucy loved the National Guard climbing wall. She climbed to the top at least a dozen times.
We watched the parade from the front yard of my colleague Christie McCann, who lives in the perfect place on Main Street.
The best part of the parade, as always, was the Shriners zipping around in their little go-karts. They even have a setup where they drive over the top of their sweet stretch 'burban, then circle back around, giving the kids high fives along the way. I think it would be fun to be those guys, wearing their fez hats and stealing the show.
Austin and Reid taught the kids the universal symbol for "honk." All the antique cars, antique tractors, firetrucks, army vehicles, and even this awesome pink cement truck honked at the kids while they went by. Lucy was so enthusiastic a television crew interviewed her for the news.
But the very best part of the day was after the parade, when we drove up to Burlington to watch Reid compete in the final stage of the Green Mountain Stage Race: a loop up Church Street and through downtown Burlington for 50 laps.
Here's Reid leading the pack. I couldn't get a better picture. He was so fast! It was so exciting to watch, I had no idea bike racing was so fun.
And then ... Reid won a jersey! I don't entirely understand all the scoring -- it was based on performance in earlier stages as well as performance in certain special laps of today's race, not just which biker was first across the finish line. But Reid was awarded the green jersey for being the best sprinter among the professional cyclists. It was particularly remarkable because Reid usually does best in the mountain stages, which allow him to use his size and strength. (Doesn't he look about twice as big as that other guy?) We were so excited. Really, it was awesome. 
The winners of the spectator division: Magnus, Gavin, and Lucy.