Travers City National Cherry Festival

Festivals. They're mixed bag aren't they? They're crowded and hot and everything costs more than it should. And yet it's an experience and it's fun and it's about being there at a limited-time-only event.

The Travers City Cherry Festival had two sections; a cherry half and a carnival half. The kids couldn't resist the carnival.

Here's my youngest, just before her first ever attempt to pop a balloon with a dart. She got three tries and popped a balloon on her last try. She won a small stuffed whale and could not have been happier about it.

Her sister and cousin had a blast on the rides:

But they decided against the Starship 3000 once they saw how fast it went and how long it would keep them spinning.

Our endurance and our money seemed to run out at about the same time, so we returned to the cherry part of the festival where the kids each chose a cherry treat.

We tried the chocolate covered cherries, cherry jelly beans, and here, the kids are sharing a cherry slushy.  There was so much there--cherry flavored beef jerky, salsas and BBQ sauces, pastries, pies, tarts, licorice ropes and cotton candy.  Cherry everything.